Southern Homewares Boil Buddies Silicone Mesh Boiling Bag Cooking Basket Strainer

I'm always skeptical of these new kitchen doodads, and I certainly don't buy cherry pitters or avocado slicers, but this gadget works, by golly. If you're like me you tend to forget that you have things boiling on the stove and you come running into the kitchen after hearing the sounds of water boiling over the pot and sizzling on the burner. Well, that used to be me and then I bought this little contraption and now I'm more likely to overcook things since I forget about the boiling altogether now. Ha!Great little gizmo I don't want to go without.

I often need to boil water as I make a lot of pasta in my house. I am also teaching my teens how to cook. I would worry they would have the stove on too high and cause the water to boil over. I tried lots of remedies like adding oil to the water and placing a wooden spoon on top of the pot to prevent boil over. None of these solutions worked as I had hoped. I decided I would try the Boil Buddies and see if they worked. I am happy to report the Boil Buddies did work and it has made my time in the kitchen is now less stressful. This works exactly as described. I would highly recommend this product!

Only real holds lies 7-8 eggs. Beyond that, perfect thing for quickly submerging and removing food from boiling water.

Funny, but I actually preferred the older model with the little flower bit that pops into the middle, instead of this one with the hard-plastic center.... instead of being a perfectly-fitting lid for recipes that say to "cover tightly and simmer", the new version is like leaving your lid at a tilt.... which sort of negates the need for a boil-over buddy anyway.... maybe a little monkeying with the hard plastic bit can help with this - I have yet to try.They're still good for setting a pot to boil with nothing in it but salt water... and I still stand by them.:)

I am not sure how this was *SUPPOSED* to work, but it did absolutely nothing! The water boiled over from underneath and above it. I could see no difference between the boil-over with it and without it, except this gave the pot two avenues for boiling over instead of just one. After a few minutes, I just tossed it in the trash. Save your money and try something else; hopefully something that works. I found another item that looked similar in concept/design, but did what it was reported to do. The cost difference was worth it, because this was money that went straight into the trash.

Plus for easy removal from pot, minus for how hard it is to use the "drawstring". Plus for being able to just add a bag of veggies in on top of the main dish item. Minus for how difficult it is to get the aroma of the cooking out of the silicone afterwards. I've used silicone strainer steamers for ages in the microwave, so expected some leftover aroma, but these seem to be really intense. I've tried soaking in lemon juice. Next try is steaming in lemon juice water.

We own four Instant Pots and one Phillips XL Air Fryer.With the Air Fryer, the fries stick to the stainless steel mesh so you have to shake the drawer every 2-3 minutes. With this Boil Buddy, problem solved.When steaming baked potatoes in the instant pot, the grate provided with the Instant pot is insufficient, especially with "New Potatoes". Any time you need to steam small items, the grate is a poor solution. Boil Buddy is the best solution I can find at the moment. just put the food in the Boil Buddies and put the boil buddy on the grate above the water line.

This is the second one of these I have purchased. The first was a gift for my mother and I wasn't sure if it was just a gimmick or if it would function as advertised. It worked perfectly, she was very pleased so I bought one for myself. Fits most of my pots and eliminates the mess.