Colanders

Add more ease to cooking with colanders and strainers

Dumping pasta water doesn’t have to be a chore. Don’t lose your noodles or get steamed with colanders and strainers that help you get the job done quickly and safely. Blanching vegetables or making stock? Having a colander or fine meshed strainer at the ready in the sink helps you keep moving without any hiccups. Colanders are deeper vessels with larger holes for quickly draining pasta or blanched vegetables. Strainers meanwhile are shallower and are for filtering out fine particles from sauces or stocks. 

Put smart features in colanders, strainers and salad spinners to work for you

Let convenience that goes hand in hand with smart design be integrated seamlessly into your kitchen. Choose a classic looking enamel and steel colander that can be hung on a hook from one of its chrome handles when not in use. Use it to rinse fresh fruit or vegetables in the sink or to hold the cauliflower you just blanched while you run cold water over it.

Go with a colander or strainer that securely fits atop your sink when cooking pasta or blanching vegetables. No need to try to use a lid to help you dump hot pasta water or a perforated spoon or tongs to remove boiled potatoes. Select the sleek design of a stainless steel colander with anti-slip rubber edges that hangs over the sink’s edges or a mesh strainer with expandable arms that helps it to fit most sinks. You can also use either one to rinse fresh fruit and vegetables.

Choose a collapsible colander that fits into 3 qt. or 5 qt. cookware to serve either as a steamer insert for vegetables or as a pasta insert when expanded further.

Find stainless steel mesh strainers with long handles and metal extensions that combine to help them rest securely when straining stocks or broths from one pot to another. Use them to sift flour while baking or let them rest securely over the sink while rinsing the fresh blueberries you just got from the farmers market.

And besides stainless steel or plastic colanders, there’s also a convenient salad spinner to call upon when putting together your classic Caesar salad or rinsing any greens so fresh from the farm that you can see evidence that it actually came from a farm.

Frequently asked questions about colanders and strainers

What is the difference between a colander and a strainer?

Strainers are usually fine-meshed and bowl shaped. They’re used for refining stock, broths and sauces or sifting flour. Besides having bigger holes, colanders are usually deeper bowls that are used for draining pasta water or rinsing vegetables. Rinsing vegetables or draining pasta doesn’t have to be a laborious task on the way to putting a fantastic meal on the table. Not when the right colanders and strainers make cooking steps like these a lot easier. And how do colanders differ from strainers? Well, strainers are a broader term for kitchen supplies that separate particles or strain to a finer degree. While strainers are more shallow, colanders are deeper and have wider holes, which are ideal for quickly draining pasta water.

How do you cook with a colander?

If you’re cooking pasta or boiling potatoes, have your colander at the ready in the sink or attached to it.

How are strainers used when baking?

To sift dry ingredients such as flour into to finer particles in order to prevent clumping which can ruin a recipe. They are also used to separate solids from liquids, such as sauces.

What’s the best type of colander for pasta?

Choose a colander that fits in your pasta pot or securely fits in your sink.