Features:

  • PERFECT FOR GRAINS AND PASTAS: The holes in this colander are small enough that you can strain cooked grains, including rice, quinoas, pasta and most beans, pastas, as well as fruits and vegetables without any worries of clogging. Our robust sieve holds onto your spaghetti noodles and stops small foods from falling through. Perfect to rinse, sieve, cooking, and even as vegetable steamer!
  • MICRO-PERFORATED HOLES DRAIN FASTER AND PREVENT FALL-THROUGH – Small closely spaced holes on every surface allow for super-fast drainage so you don’t have to tilt the bowl to get all of the water out. A big difference over both old-fashioned colanders with gaping holes and mesh colanders.The sturdy solid ring base keeps the colander from tipping over so that you can fill it up without fear of dumping your food. Precision-cut drainage ports are added to the base to prevent backflow.
  • RUST-PROOF, DISHWASHER SAFE 18/10 STAINLESS STEEL – This 5 Quart stainless steel colander has never been easier to clean. The not sharp micro-perforations doesn’t clog quinoas, pasta and even tiny seeds. Easy cleanup - just run it through the dishwasher or under running water for a few seconds and use it again instantly.
  • INDESTRUCTABLE DESIGN WITH RIVETED HANDLES – Constructed of professional grade 18/10, 304 stainless steel is built to last a lifetime. Our heavy duty steel will never deform or bend as it’s 20% thicker than other colanders. Our premium handles are riveted to the bowl so it will never come off!
  • LIFETIME GUARANTEE – We are confident that you will love our product that we back it up with a 100% lifetime manufacturer’s warranty. If you are unhappy with your purchase for any reason at any time, just contact us and get your money back – no questions asked.
Better features, for a lot less money

This is an excellent colander. I've been using a plastic one that I got many years ago. Having replaced all my plastic food storage containers with glass bowls, out of food safety considerations, I decided it was about time I did the same with my colander that has to handle contact with boiling-hot liquids. Originally I came to Amazon expecting to buy the similar product from RSVP (having recently discovered America's Test Kitchen product reviews, which recommended the RSVP one several years ago). BUT then I noticed this one from LiveFresh. When I bought it, this colander was $7 less than the RSVP one - in other words, it's about 27% less expensive! And IMO, this LiveFresh one is the better product, which I will go into in more detail below. Note that the steel is apparently 18-8 and not 18-10 as the description says. I base that conclusion on this site: http://www.bosunsupplies.com/StainlessInfo2/ which says that "type 304" and "18-8" are two ways of describing the same steel. This is the steel used in all kinds of food-related applications. (And I mean ALL kinds - fruit juice processors, meat processors, stainless countertops, cooking pans and flatware, etc, etc - read the page if you want to know more. Or google "type 304 steel" and see your own results.) I conclude that the steel is the right kind for a colander, and note that LiveFresh also offers a lifetime warranty with this product. The steel feels substantial and not likely to bend under normal use. The colander is smooth both inside and out - nothing to snag your kitchen towels on. The handles are riveted on and very solid, and flush with the side of the colander. Some users with relatively large hands might prefer a bigger handle "loop," but it's big enough for my four fingers. (The loop measures 3 and 15/16" across its widest dimension, on mine.) The holes of this LiveFresh colander are 2mm, according to the label that came with the item from the manufacturer. They look to me like they may be too big for rinsing raw quinoa, but small enough for just about anything else, including draining cooked orzo pasta and rinsing raw short-grain rice. (I have a fine mesh strainer to use for rinsing quinoa, if this product turns out not to be good for that.) The base ring of steel is welded onto the bottom, and the product sits solid and level on my countertop. This product corrects at least one of the things that people complained about who bought the RSVP colander -- the base ring of this LiveFresh product has two big holes punched in it, so if you set the colander on the bottom of your sink and use both hands on the hot pot of pasta & water that you need to drain, the water will be less likely to back up into your food after contacting the sink. The holes in the base ring are there to let the water drain out the sides of the base ring. (The RSVP colander has a solid base ring, with no holes.) My colander came with a small, cosmetic scratch across each handle, near the attachment points where the handles meet the bowl. To me this does not warrant reduction of a star, or returning the item for replacement. But I mention it in case this would be a deal-breaker for others. You might want to order the colander in a separate order, so it would be the only item in the box, or specify the kind of packaging you want, to prevent the cosmetic issue. My colander will be stored inside a cabinet, not hung on a wall, so I'm not bothered by the cosmetics. (My definition of "cosmetic" in this case - The scratches are barely detectable when I run a fingernail across them, and not enough to snag a towel.) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

The Bowl's extra 20% in Material Makes a difference.

Don't look any further, this is the one. What a difference the 20% thicker stainless steel makes. This colander feels sturdy, the perforations are clean, not sharp. This is in comparison to another 5 star colander I ordered and received damaged. The other product was flimsy and it's perforations were sharp. I returned it, and went back to search for other well rated products. I found this one. There is no comparison to quality. The thicker material and clean perforations are worth the few dollars more.

Extremely well designed and top quality make this a "best buy"...

I tend to avoid writing any positive reviews unless I come across what I consider an outstanding product... and, this is one of those extremely well designed and very well made products worth using as the "go to" item in my kitchen or yours. The inside of the bowl area is very smooth, so food should slide out easily on this slippery surface. I'm sure this can NOT be used to rinse, wash, or strain some kinds of uncooked grains or small sized rice, as these might get stuck in the holes or pass through it. But, it should catch and strain most kinds of cooked grains and rice that will swell-up in size from "water cooking", and it fits well inside my double sink that is 14" x 15" inches on each side. One tip might be to order this as your only item for shipping, so it will come inside its own box alone and not risk getting dented by another item inside.

Very Well Made

I just purchased 2 LiveFresh 5 QT Steel Colanders. The reviews were good and they were accurate. The stainless steel seems very sturdy. The handles are attached with some kind of grommets, not just welded. The bottom is firmly attached. There are also two holes in the bottom for drainage. I'm very pleased with the materials and construction and look forward to using them.

Product lived up to the other 5 star reviews I read, quality product at a good price.

I was skeptical, and didn't think it would really be as good as many of the reviews seemed to imply it would be for the price, but It came packaged very well, seems very well made, robust material, strong and well attached handles, drains well. I made the mistake of placing it directly over the center of my sinks drain, so it didn't drain as well as it could the first time I used it due to the center ring base, but just place if offset the center so the water can fully go down your main drain, problem solved. It is very light, and I think it will make an excellent fruit bowl when not being used, it seems a waste to hide it away in a cupboard, it is so shiny. I'm going to hold on to my old plastic colander for a bit, but I forsee it shortly being given away/gotten rid of. Time will tell how well it holds up, I have some stainless steel knives that obviously are inferior quality as they have small rust spots, that you don't get on the higher quality knives, but I have a good feeling about this. Maybe it could use some more round holes in the ring base to help speed up non-offset water draining, but I'm not sure if that would decrease its sturdiness, in any event a minor nit to pick, perhaps they could update in the future if possible. If I start seeing micro rust spots, I will update my review. Until then 5+ stars!

Good quality "Micro-perforated" Colander/Strainer

The LiveFresh Colander/Strainer is well made, works as expected and will probably last a lifetime. It's made of high-quality stainless steel that does not stain and is easy to clean. The published hole size specification was incorrect for the example I received. Instead of the published value of "1.8 mm" the punched holes in my colander were actually 2.68 mm in diameter for most of the surface. for areas near the top edge the hole shapes were distorted because of the metal drawing/stamping process to ovals that measured approximately 1 X 1.5 mm. The colander is made of stainless sheet stock that is 0.3 mm thick. It has a diameter of 28.8 cm at the outside of the turned flange, and a maximum width of 36.7 cm to the outer edges of the two handles. The handles are nicely riveted and are stamped from 2.3 mm thick stock. Overall height is 12.4 cm. The total weight of the colander is 426 g. Although I've rated the colander at "5-stars", a rating of 4.5-stars would probably be more appropriate. The small deduction is the result of the sharp inner edges of the two stamped handles. As supplied, the inside edges are very sharp and uncomfortable to grip, unlike the outer edges of the handles which apparently have been lightly polished and are not sharp. I spend a few minutes with a small file to "break" the inner edges to remove the sharp edges. Otherwise, this is a very nice, very useful colander.

Don't over-pay on ATK rated

When I want a new piece of gear for my kitchen, I'll turn to America's Test Kitchen for guidance, but will rarely buy the exact one they suggest. By the time I get to seeing the review, every other idiot in the country would have seen the same exact review, and will rush out to buy that specific thing. The manufacturer (or is it the seller?) will notice, and jack the price up way more than it was when it started. I'm sorry but $45 for a plastic handle, and 8" is ridiculous (I'm looking straight at you, Victorinox knives). What I will do is search for a dupe that has the features I like from the ATK suggested, and get that one. I don't need my kitchen gear to last a lifetime. I just need it to be good enough for what I'm using it for. This is similar to the colander suggested by ATK, but a lot cheaper. The material isn't heavy duty or anything, but the handles feel nice and solid, and for my purposes, it's durable enough. I make pasta maybe once a week (if that). If it's spaghetti or something, I'm pulling it from the water with my tongs anyway. The only time I reach for this guy is when I need to drain a pound of macaroni or something. It's relatively easy to clean. I use one of those silicon scrubby pads, and it gets right in between the holes to clean this out thoroughly. It dries pretty quickly too. The pedestal raises it up off the bottom of the sink so that pasta water doesn't slosh back up on it. For the cost, this is a solid piece of gear, and well worth having in your kitchen.

Excellent strainer.

I bought this strainer to replace one that I'd been using for decades, and this was one of those rare instances where it is actually a significant upgrade. The old strainer had larger holes, and fewer of them. The result was that no matter how I shook it, a couple tablespoons of water would stay trapped in the bottom, while a few of the finer noodles or sprouts would escape. It also had a bit of texture on the back, that tended to trap food and made it harder to clean. This strainer is has none of those issues. It's just thick enough to be good and sturdy, although surprisingly lightweight, but it's perfectly smooth and easy to clean on both sides.

Good gear!

Smallwares get a workout in my kitchen so I usually buy commercial products. The problem is that I can't accommodate a 10 qt colander so I'm left to find consumer goods to do the job. I burned through a set of "Chef's Catalogue" strainers in less than a year, all ended up with broken handles and holes in screens. The LiveFresh strainer had good reviews so I decided to give it a try. It's been in use for only a while but has endured some strong tests over the holidays and seems be holding up well. I do see some deflection of the handles when dumping contents of a stockpot with turkey carcass and 3-5# of veg through it but no separation/breakage so far. I look forward to trying out some of their other products and "stress-testing" them in my kitchen.

Bravo! This is what I wanted

I research everything before buying...so I first ordered RSVP Precision Pierced Stainless-Steel 5-Quart Colander, as it won top ratings by America's Test Kitchen. It arrived with four depressions in the strainer bowl, no doubt caused in shipping or earlier handling. Hm? I buy quality and take care of it...I expect it to look good for a long time. So, back it went. After searching Amazon I came across this LiveFresh colander - and I love it. The rounded bowl is strong metal...it shines...it's comfortable in my hand..it hangs well on my wall - it seems to be the same as the RSVP with the problem fixed! I received it yesterday, but I'm quite sure I am going to be happy with it for a long time. I am glad I returned the RSVP for this LiveFresh. I'll offer changes, if my rating changes, but I'm quite confident it won't!

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