Long Handled Colander

This is the perfect colander if you are a subsistence farmer in a third-world country. I imagine you would buy it in an open-air market there for a few hundred rupees or pesos or whatever... and then you could strap it to the back of your donkey for the day-long trek back to your village. You would astound your mud-hut neighbors with your modern ways as they watch you sift and wash your beans with your shiny metal device whilst they are forced to perform the same tasks with discarded plastic Fanta bottles. Your out-of-the-box solutions would catch the eyes of the local maidens and envious glances from your peers, and... of course... you would always have that one uncle who sneers at you because he thinks that you believe "you are better than everyone else"...It is hard to tell from the photos but this is a $4.99 colander being sold for $12. It probably cost about $0.45 to make all-in and would be one of those kitchen devices you see in dollar stores but are afraid to purchase because you are not quite sure that the metal is not going to leak something toxic when it gets hot. This matters with this colander because it is not a single piece of metal (like a regular colander) so the weld between the handle and the drain bowl will eventually break -- thereby rendering the device useless and the investment lost. I would be willing to roll the dice for $4.99 but $12 is too much to ask anyone.I gave it two stars instead of one because the shape and design is actually nearly perfect. That is actually the sad part here -- this could be an AWESOME colander if they just put a little into the build quality. The shape of the bowl is deep with high sides so you can shake it under the faucet without the contents spilling into the sink. The bottom is flat so it doesn't roll or fall over if you set it on the counter, and the handle is long enough so that you don't get burned if you dump a large quantity of boiling hot food into it. As a bonus, it straddles the sides of my small side sink perfectly.To be clear, I do not object to this product being made -- even being made this cheaply. We don't all live in the same circumstances and a $2 colander is a lot more than many people have. I do object to a company hiding shoddy build quality behind low-res photos. It is unfortunate because I would easily have paid twice as much (maybe more) for a device that would last for years with only a very, very -- and I mean VERY -- minor uptick in the cost of production, and I would have been a loyal customer for years. As it stands I will never buy anything from M. E. Heck Company ever again.

Very disappointed in the quality. I have had this colander less than 3 months. Within one month, it started to rust around the underneath part of the rim. And, this week I noticed that the metal had begun to split at the top. See attached pics. Although I love the design and shape of the colander, I would discourage anyone from buying it unless you only want to use it for a month or two.

There are a lot of things to recommend this:1) Nice shape with flat bottom2) 2 handles for ease of use3) Nice size. Handles a large batch of pastaBut the drawback is that this isn't made of very strong aluminum. Maybe the thickness of a few soda cans. I think it's a bit overpriced. I'd willingly pay more for a more sturdy utensil. I'll see how long it lasts. I'm concerned the long handle won't last long.

The long handle lets you set it across double basin sinks. The handles are wrapped metal so they are hollow. There's always a drool of water coming out of the handles after washing (which can be annoying). They don't look like they're welded together particularly well so I worry they will pop apart someday. I've had mine for about 6 months (with lots of use) and it's been working well. The metal hasn't corroded and I've been washing it with a salt-based detergent. I love the shape of it--so useful!

Bowl is good size for me. doesn't drain fast; maybe better if there were more holes or less metal between them. But works ok.Perfect size for hanging across half the double sink bowl. I keep it there and use it for fruits and veggies.

The stickers that were on the product when it arrived were extremely difficult to remove. They left a gummy residue that I had to work hard to get rid of. The colander feels flimsier than I thought it would be. Time will tell on the durability. For the price, it will work.

Everyone who strains needs a long handle strainer. It just works so much better than holding two sides of a strainer. Materials is great and so far quite durable. Get one!

stainless steel, nice handle but a little light weight.