I know, it probably sounds crazy to you, my loyal readers, that I would bother to write an entire blog post about a noodle strainer.  To think that such a simple device would warrant an entire post probably sounds absurd, but I truly believe that my strainer deserves the accolades and recognition that a full blog post provides.

You see, I have been through my share of strainers.  My first few strainers were those round plastic ones.  You know the ones….the strainers that becomes slimy to the touch almost immediately after you strain your noodles and that seem to crack within the first week after purchasing them.  It is almost as if they can’t handle the extreme heat from the water that is poured into them, which doesn’t make sense if you think about it.  What did the manufacturer’s think, that we were boiling our noodles in cold water?

From there, I graduated to a strainer that was far more durable, as it was made of a much thicker plastic.  The problem with this strainer?  Well, it seemed as if the noodles were constantly getting stuck in the little holes.  So, consequently, I spent a good ten minutes or so trying to work out all of the tiny pieces of noodle residue that become wedged in all of the holes in my strainer.

I finally decided to make my life easier and I purchased a strainer that I could spread over the length of my sink.  This seemed like a wonderful idea to me.  I mean, the thought of straining noodles without forcing my hands to be steam cooked in the process seemed amazing!  Yet, I still ran into the same problem with the plastic strainer snagging hold of rouge noodles.

My Wonderful Strainer

Ironically, I didn’t stumble upon the ideal strainer until my kitchen remodeling project.  I know it probably sounds over the top, but I decided that I wanted to have all stainless steel appliances when we remodeled the kitchen.  So, naturally, this meant replacing everything from my can opener to my waffle iron to my toaster and, well, you guessed it, to my strainer.

I decided to purchase the strainer you see in the picture mostly based on the fact that it had the stainless steel look and because it was able to stretch out over my sink.  But, an added perk was that it is a highly durable strainer that doesn’t crack and, oddly enough, the noodles don’t seem to get stuck in this strainer.  So, if you are in the market for a strainer, I highly recommend getting a stainless steel model.  Unfortunately, I am not sure who made this strainer (I even searched all over it to try to find a manufacturer’s name, but to no avail).  But, I am pretty sure I got it at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  So, if you have one in your neighborhood, print off a picture of the strainer and take it with you.  You won’t be disappointed!