Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

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