Strainer Reviews

Because of its holes, it only works if you try to skim for foam alone (as when you are making stock with a rolling boil).

If, however, you are also trying to get rid of whatever light oil film comes to the surface (for instance making stock with a light simmer to keep your stock nicely transparent), you are out of luck as the oil disappears into the skimmer holes.

When reading the description, I assumed that there would be enough of a surface effect that would stop the oil from exiting through the holes - wrong! I tried it the day I received it. It looked beautiful - and it still does - but it does a lousy job... I am back to skimming with a very flat, thin, large spoon, which enables me to take out both foam and oil film.

On the other hand, it does a fine job at lifting large solid objects out of a pan, and it is a handsome piece - so there is some redeeming value.

My conclusion - if you want a true skimmer, pass on this one.

I've owned my Calphalon skimmer for about a year now. If you're serious about cooking, you should definitely own a skimmer. A skimmer is essential to making good stock or broth, since you absolutely must skim off the scum and impurities that rise to the surface during the simmering process in order to get the proper clarity and flavor. If you leave that stuff in, it breaks back down into the stock and gives you a muddy look and flavor. The Calphalon skimmer is a nice tool for this.

This tool is worth the money! I do not usually spend this much on one utensil but... out of necessity a few years back I had to get this one. I needed a multi purpose tool for retrieving food from the fryer or boiling water. I use this tool at least twice a week on average still and I have had it for a few years now. You will find yourself using it for so many things. Don't let this one get away!

This is the third gravy separator I've owned. The first two were made out of plastic and I doubt that I got to use them more than 10 times before they cracked. I gave up on replacing them, since they were made out of plastic that could not stand the thermal shock, until I found this one. This one is made out of laboratory glass and has survived over a year of frequent use in my kitchen.
The only gripe I have is that the spout is not profiled very well, and it's more or less impossible to pour out of it without spilling some of the liquid.

The slots are easier to clean than some brands' holes but they are too large for skimming foam/crud from stock/etc. Instead, I use a small plastic mesh screen (about 6" long and [inexpensive] from the local supermarket) which fits neatly inside a deep stock pot--something that all the long-handled ones won't do.

The Calphalon skimmer gets occasional use stir-frying, but you do have to be careful since temperatures can exceed 400 oF. Also, I found that all the Calphalon tools tend to get a little "limp" when hot.

It melted in the first time I used it, and I just used it to get my dumplings.

We got this utensil free as part of a Calphalon promo when we purchased a set of their pots and pans (which we highly recommend), and I must confess that we get way more use from the other Calphalon products that we own than we do from this utensil.

The function of this skimmer is too specific to be used for anything other than skimming and it doesn't always do a good job of that. The size of the scoop is excellent, but the width of the slots seem to be too wide to productivly skim on a consistant basis. We sometimes use this for scooping pasta, but any regular slotted spoon can accomplish that just as well. If you want a good quality Calphalon utensil, try the very multi-functional "stir fry scoop", which I would rate 5 stars. We use that ALL the time!