S S Mesh Strainer

I bought this colander because I wanted one that would suspend itself across my sink. It does that very nicely.I've only got a couple of minor complaints:The interior ends of the arms tend to hit each other whenever the arms are pushed back into the strainer. Maybe the arms weren't intended to be flush with the sides when the thing's not in use, I dunno, but it bothers me that they seem to overlap by half an inch. No big deal.The fine mesh (which was another reason why I picked this model) is so fine that it's a little bit hard to clean. When stuff gets in lodged in one of the holes, you're not going to be able to get your finger in there to get it out. You might be able to get a toothpick in there. I'm thinking I'll have to get a wire brush or something to clean it more quickly. Still, I'd rather have to work harder to clean this mesh than watch my spaghetti noodles slide out of larger holes.It's big. Actually, that was yet another selling point for me, but it's so big that it's kind of hard to maneuver it under the faucet for cleaning.Finally, my only real complaint with this thing: The band around the top traps food inside it. The band loops around the mesh to give it a finished edge, and it's open on the bottom so you'd think gravity might keep stuff out, but somehow food always manages to find its way in there.The strainer is plenty big (could probably fit four pounds of pasta in there), the small mesh is wonderful, and the fact that I can leave it suspended over the sink makes working in the kitchen much easier. All in all it's a great product, I just wish it was a little easier to keep clean.

I bought this kitchen sink strainer a couple weeks back and have used it for several different tasks for my good ole fresh veggies that put I up in the freezer. IT COULDN'T HAVE COME IN THE MAIL AT A BETTER TIME. I raise vegetables and fruit trees abound my yard. The ones I don't sell I put up in the freezer. I'VE ALWAYS WANTED SOMETHING THAT I COULD STORE MY KITCHEN SINK WASHED VEGGIES IN THAT WOULD DRY THEM AND DRAIN OFF THE EXCESS WATER. It's the ticket for washing off summer sqaush,dirty tomatoes, or anything you might want to store in the refrigerator to sell later on. It also work's great for draining blanched vegetables like boiled corn and peas. The sliding handle can be adjusted to fit different size sinks and hold it up in the air for quicker drying and cooling. THE ONLY DRAWBACKS I SEE WITH THIS BASKET IS IT WASN'T AS BIG AS I IMAGINED AS FAR AS WIDTH, BUT FITS THE BOTTOM OF THE SINK LENGHT-WISE PERFECTLY. THE CHINESE MADE RUBBER ADJUSTABLE HANDLES HAVE A STRONG ODOR THAT MAY GO AWAY OVER TIME, BUT IS DEFINITELY A GOOD PRODUCT DRAINING OFF WASHED VEGGIES INSTEAD OF PILING THEM UP IN THE DRAINBOARD OR OTHER SIDE OF SINK. As a whole you will use this product if you garden any or love to bag up that good ole stuff for the winter freezer!!

We bought this Feb. 2008 for $16 as part of the buy 3, get 1 free promo. This stainless steel strainer expands to hang from a tradtional dual split kitchen sink (for lack of a better description).Our intent was to replace our plastic collander with stainless steel (getting rid of all plastics in the house due to "toxins"- just playing it safe). The bonus is that because it hangs from your sink, we now have extra space to put glasses to dry w/o dripping water onto countertops!It's functional, attractive (if you care), and makes a great addition to any kitchen. You can get one for roughly the same price at Kohl's (maybe less, if on sale), however if you buy it w/ the Amazon promo. then it's a way better deal online. See my ordering tip below:Ordering tip: if you're going to buy a bunch of items, split them in separate orders and put all the lower priced items together so you can get (at least) one of the more expensive items for free. By doing so, I got one $18 item free, instead of two $3.99 items free. Of course, just make sure both shipments are more than $25 for free S&H. I just made sure I bought some other needed items that weren't part of the promo! These 4-for-3 deals are AWESOME, especially when combined w/ FREE S&H and no sales tax! Way to go Amazon!

Only gave it 4 stars for now as I see how well it lasts. I have owned so many strainers that it isn't funny - and all the mesh ones end up getting icky after six months to a year - have had several rust, several fall apart, and several just not come clean. This one so far is working wonderfully. It seems very sturdy, has not gotten rusty, and the extension handles are great for different sized sinks. We moved after buying it - and our old sink was wider than the new on - this was a perfect buy for that! I could also take it with if I am doing food demonstrations and it would extend for just about any sink. I have seen a few HUMUNGOUS sinks it might not fit, but in general, this is the one! It cleans easily and dries quickly, too.

works great. I love that it extends to spread across my sink. The perfect tool for when I'm cooking large batches of beans.Four stars because the black rubber smells awful, which is an understatement. I ended up using a box cutter to slice the rubber off. The metal underneath is not sharp and does not scratch my sink, thank goodness!As for other reviews mentioning the difficulty to clean: I find every strainer difficult to clean. If they're easy to clean it's because the slots are too large and allow food to fall through. So I've stuck with mesh strainers. Every mesh strainer I use has the tendency to keep food particles in the mesh. I never, ever leave pasta in a strainer; I put it back in the pot because dried pasta comes off a pot easier than any strainer. Solution to small food particles: rinse immediately. Wash with soap later if necessary. And I use a brush to wash, not a cloth. That might make a difference.

This strainer is FANTASTIC! My sink's drain is in the centre and my sink is on the smaller size. As a result, it's more difficult to position a standalone colander over this hole without it tipping. I love the ease of this strainer. It fits diagonally and vertically perfectly over my sink. It's large which accommodates many fruits and lots of greens when rinsing. Great with the feet to allow it to sit perfectly on a flat surface. I should have bought this sooner. Everything drains from the mesh very quickly. Much better than a colander with holes as those don't necessarily drain right away. An excellent purchase and ery well made!

very useful n looks good too

Great Strainer. My only advice to the manufacturer is to improve the gauge of of the mesh and I would be happy to pay little higher for a better quality mesh. I bough a similar mesh from Germany at slightly higher price than this which had a high gauge strainers. Other than that, this is a great strainer. To the other buyers, please note that while there are other strainers on amazon that look similar, this is much deeper in height.

Item as described, superfast delivery

Fits my sink and works as expected. Good product at a good price.