Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

OK, first let's establish the fact that I am an extremely picky guy. Things that other people find acceptable, annoy me, especially when it comes to quality tools. To start, this is an expensive colander in my book. Therefore, I expected it to be above average. In some ways, maybe it is. First, as many have said; Yes, the holes are quite small. It drains fast and well, and you don't lose your orzo through the holes. It is obviously made by stamping a gazillion holes into a piece of stainless steel, and then forming it into the bowl shape, and adding the rim, base, and handles. Oh, excuse me, according to the description, the holes are "precision pierced!" But, there, in that process lies what I consider a flaw. In stamping out the holes, they use a punch press fitted with a "tool and die" that pushes a gazillion small round pins against a sheet of stainless steel under which is a "bed" with holes to match the pins. It works just like a paper punch, except it punches all the holes at once. So, metal being somewhat malleable, deforms ever so slightly on the top when the punch pushes on it before it gives way and is cut through. Therefore, the top (in this case the inside of the colander) has a nearly microscopic bevel around each hole. That's a very good thing, because it makes the colander extremely smooth on the inside. BUT, the opposite side of the sheet of stainless steel undergoes exactly the opposite effect. When the little round blank gets pushed out into the die, a microscopic edge is raised all around the hole as the waste piece is pushed through. This means that there is a tiny little sharp raised edge around each hole on the outside of the colander. When you run your hand over it, you can clearly feel it. When you run your microfiber dish cloth or towel over it, it catches the microfibers and snags them. For me, it takes away the quality feel of the item, and diminishes its usefulness. It's rough and feels unfinished on the outside, compared to the nice smooth inside. There are manufacturing processes that could either avoid this or minimize it after the fact, so they could ship out a colander that is smooth on both sides, but that would add to the manufacturing cost. So, I'm not happy with the finish. It's cheap and careless. I expected better. It's like they intended to make a good product (which in other respects, it seems to be) and didn't finish the job. Update 10/24/13 - Well, this morning, I was forced to edit my review after a flurry of cooking activity last night. I used the colander to strain pasta (angel hair, to be exact) and was pleased to see not one escapee. After dishing the pasta I washed and rinsed the colander and set it into the drain board. This morning it is covered by a light layer of rust, yes you read it correctly.... brown, icky rust. Now I own probably 30 "stainless steel" items, that all get washed in a "stainless steel" sink, and NOT ONE of these items has ever developed so much as a spot of rust. Some develop darkening and colorful heat stains, but a little scrubbing with commercially available cleaners quickly restores the luster. So, I have to assume that this is a poor grade of stainless steel, and as such not suitable for daily kitchen use where it is subject to frequent contact with hot, high salinity liquids, such as pasta water and chlorinated sanitizers. The hunt for a better colander continues!