Side by Side Comparison of: Furniture Creations vs ExcelSteel

It replaces another one I had. Good size.

Perfect to cook all kinds of pasta. The only reason i got this is my wife burned me with pasta when she helping me drain the water into a strainer she was holding. Cant trust nobody these days...

i love this pot. it is perfect for my needs. my only problem was with the shipment. the pot is great but the shipment was delayedconstantly and was five days after the original arrival date.

I bought this as a gift and was also the recipient as we cooked pasta for dinner! This is a great price for a well made pot. It is not as heavy or thick as the expensive ones, but it will do the job nicely for a long time. Well made! Thanks! Fast shipping!

I knew it wasn't going to be top-of-the-line, but I was pleasantly surprised by the nice build quality. It looks good. The handles are not solid, but are still basically tubular in shape, giving you a thick, comfortable place to grip. It's thin stainless steel, but it will be fine for boiling pasta or steaming vegetables. I'm upgrading from a corroded aluminum pot, so anything would be better to me.For the money, I highly recommend this product.

AND ALL I CAN SAY IS "I LOVE IT " THE POT IS WELL MADE AND THE HANDLES ARE SECURE AND FEEL STURDY ENOUGH TO HANDLE ALL THE WEIGHT OF THE PASTA AND WATER. THE POT ARRIVED PACKAGED VERY WELL. WOULD PURCHASE IT AGAIN.

I have really enjoyed this set. The steel feels thinner than I thought it would be, but it works just perfectly. I wanted this set so that my children could easily cook pasta (which they do all the time) and wouldn't burn themselves trying to drain out the water. The draining pot works great.

Besides the obvious uses (cooking pasta, steaming veggies, etc), I like to use the pasta container for boiling eggs (without having the eggs touch the bottom of the pan where the burner is applying direct heat).I boil the water (ensuring the whole process starts at exactly 100 degrees Celsius), lower about a dozen eggs in there, wait for the water to come back to a boil again, then I cover it and set it aside. After 20 minutes, I put the whole pan in the kitchen sink and run cold water into it until everything is cold. I get perfectly boiled eggs, every time! The yellows are perfectly cooked through, with no gray/green, and the whole egg tastes almost fluffy. Not rubbery at all! You've got to try it!

Great for doing 12 or so pounds of veggies at one time. Do wish it had a metal lid, rather than a glass one, which if dropped, could break. Also it should have a better knob on top for gripping, preferably of a non heat-conducting material.

The reviews on this product were confusing. They either liked it or hated it. Some of them didn't know what they paid. They said it was okay for $34. I paid $25 & saved $34. So, I figured if they couldn't read the pricing, maybe they were confused about the quality, too. I am very pleased with the quality. It appears to be well made for just $25. It works for my canning (blanching) needs & steaming needs. Thank you for another great product.

I received this yesterday and used it last night. I love this pasta set. Just the right size for one person or a small family. I really wanted a 4 quart size, but after using this one, I'm glad I bought the 8 quart. Pasta did not stick to the pan at all like it does in a regular pot. It doesn't boil over due to the nice vent in the lid. Only complaint, they say it has "Stay Cool Handles and Knobs" Not so...the handles get very hot!! I'll probably come back after using it longer to comment on how it is holding up. The weight seems heavy enough to be of pretty good quality stainless. Not compared to my Calphalon pans, but not close to the price either.

I have just had it with a bad shoulder sapping my strength which made the moving a pot full of boiling water and pasta from the stove to be drained in the sink dangerous ... I just cannot do it for the time being until the shoulder is healed. Purchasing this pot with pasta insert and vegetable insert and see thru glass lid has solved my problem, plus given me another large pot to mix in crew size salad, casserole etc when I use it was a mixing bowl with handles. BE AWARE OF THE WATER LEVEL... after the pasta is put in there is a tendency for the water to boil over; too little water and the water level does not reach the pasta as the pasta basket/insert does not touch the bottom of the large external stainless steel pot. I have yet to use the veggie steamer insert... hope it works. One minus might be if you are one who puts the sauce into the pot of pasta; you will have to remove the insert of pasta, dump the hot water and return the pasta to the cooking pot to add the sauce... still easier than carrying the weighty hot water, pasta and pot to the sink to dump.I have high expectations for this pot even tho it is not made in the USA.

Great

BOUGHT THIS STEAMER FOR MY MOM TO STEAM TAMALES IN IT IS JUST THE RIGHT SIZE . SHE LOVES IT SHE IS 82 .THIS POT IS NOT TOO HEAVY WHEN LOADED UP SHE LOVES IT !!!!!

Handles get hot. This is the only down side I have found but using pot holders takes care of that! Also, description on one I purchased did not mention the veggie strainer so I was pleasantly surprised when it was included!

I didn't want to spend a fortune on this item. I have several high end 8qt, 10qt pots BUT I wanted a pot that had the convenience of a build in drainer and I couldn't find anything that would fit the pots I had. This is perfect! Just what I wanted easy to remove all the pasta at once leaving great salty starchy water perfect and so easy to ladled exactly what I need into the sauce. For years I've been trying to dump the pasta into a colander without losing all the liquid...possible obviously but a pain when there's a pot that's just right for me and at such a great price. I agree with another reviewer while this 8 qt pot is perfect for a pound of pasta I'm afraid you'd need a larger pot to get the water proportions right for more than a pound of pasta...but as I haven't cooked more than a pound of pasta at once in years I didn't feel it was a problem. Another thing I liked about this pot is that while it's definitely stainless steel it is not as heavy as "high priced pots"...so I'll keep this pot for a very specific use...cooking pasta although I think it should work for stocks, etc.

I like the usefulness of the cooker. However, it is lighter than other brands I own of similar appearance. I will see if the thickness and weight of the cooker pot makes any difference in the longevity of its use. I would like to see online vendors employ more frequent use of reliable measures of things like weight and thickness for use in comparing products. The metal is magnetic so should be usable with induction cooktops.

Just what I wanted, it's light and not too heavy to lift when filled with water! Quality of SS easy too clean

Alot of pieces. Sparkling stainless steel. Meets my expectations. Takes a while to reach boiling temperature. Easy to use and disassemble.

Decent little set that worked quite well for a camping trip, and looks like it will last for years. It's a little thinner than I'd like for daily use at home, but it's not flimsy by any means. Nice thing about this style is that I can boil my pasta, lift to strain (and not wrestle with a colander on uneven ground) and easily retain the hot water to mix with cool for washing dishes after dinner.

Arrived dented but not from our carrier, sometime previous to this so ... originally gave this 3 stars, after reading the horrible reviewsIt has now served two rounds of pasta and give no evidence to support those horrible reviews ... of course we don't leave it wet inside the DW for a day or more18/10 is usually considered standard/fine materials for such service; I can support some that say portions may seem light/thin (also the dent reported) but no mention that other wearing parts are very solid/substantial (reason an older version by others needed to be trashed)Thank you for Prime shipping

I really like this product. Yes, it is light-weight, and should not be used for anything except steaming foods, but I wanted a steamer and this is a good one! I use other cookware for doing other types of cooking. You can use really low heat and it still steams well, and it's light enough to wash easily. The only thing I don't like about the design is the way the handles on the basket flop back and forth, which makes it a bit harder to grab them when they're hot and it makes it a little harder to wash the basket by hand.

I've used this set twice since I received it about a week ago and I have to say it does a great job. The only "complaint" I read about this product prior to my purchase was that water bubbled out between the stock pot and the pasta colander. Well, the first time I used it to make pasta (never had one before and I wanted to start slow), yes some water did bubble out of the pot, but I attributed that to me; I think I put too much water in the pot. The second time I used it (today) I made pasta and steamed veggies (broccoli, asparagus and slices of red peppers). I cooked everything at the same time; pasta in the colander and veggies in the steamer. This time, I used less water and there was no "bubble over". Perfect! I would recommend this product to anyone who is thinking about purchasing a cook pot with steamer and pasta insert - particularly if this is the first one you're buying and you don't want to spend a bundle. It cleans up easily, heats up nicely. For the price - you can't beat it!

it heats up in 5 minutes, its a great pasta pot. I would not use it as a stock pot, seems too thin and as a 3 generation Italian, we never used the pasta pot for anything other then cooking pasta. great at what it was made for, making stew, get something heavier.Months on, some discoloring on the bottom of the strainer but nothing too bad.just purchased one for my Mom it is not an all clad pot but honestly, its for boiling pasta.

Ok quality, I actually expected a thicker stainless steal. Size is good and perfect for pasta. Just quality not the greatest. Lid is nice and solid.

I love the idea of this pot but the bottom of the strainer was rusted when I got it. Not sure where to return it . I only used it once andsaw the rust on the bottom of the strainer.

These pans seem ok to use. My problem is that the main part of the pan came looking chipped or already used on the inside. With that said, not sure how long these pans will hold up.

Vegetable steamer section needs a little work. The nice handles they added keeps it from being easily stored inside the larger strainer with out having to force it. As far as the pot and the pasta strainer I have not complaints.

The picture shows it comes with a steaming insert. Mine did not come with one. The pot cooks pasta fine, but I thought I purchased a 4 piece rather than a 3 piece. I will be more careful when ordering in the future.

Arrived with a big dent in the bottom, although the packaging was intact, which tells me they actually put a clearly damaged item in the box,....other than that I used it anyway because I needed it and didn't want to wait a week or so for replacement and the pot itself works great

This product works ok for its intended purpose, the the bottom of the pot is a bit thin. Things burn to it fairly easily and it discolored fairly quickly. Have not noticed a change from the discoloration in reference to performance, nothing sticks or does not stick any differently. This is ok for light use, but if you are a heavy user and use something like this for many different applications, you are better to look at a more heavy one, especially with a thicker and multi layer bottom. The walls are also slightly thin, but this has not caused any issues for me.

Arrived with a dent in the main pot. I was able to pop it out because it is a this gauge steel. It is just fine tho for boiling pasta and steaming vegetables.I like the clear lid.

The top lid is cheaply made. A thin metal is on the top of the lid knob crudely and unevenly crimped. The pot developed a strange black speckled stripe stain on the inside on the first use to steam some vegetables. The first pot arrived damaged and was promptly replaced by the vendor. It works as designed, but next time I would lean towards a brand name not made in China.

Clean thoroughly when you first get it. There are rust in the holes. Or use a saucer or parchment paper to avoid getting the rust for a few times. I don't know when it will get better. Over all, it's not bad. Wear a oven glove when open, it's hot.

I'm a little disappointed with this product. It looks amazing and has a quality feel but I've only used it twice and the steamer basket is already beginning to rust around the two handles and on the sides. I read the reviews of other purchasers and this problem was noted but I took a chance on buying it. Perhaps I should have listened and went with another product.

I used these all the time. The only problem I have is if they don't get dried right away then there are these spots that are left; which they did say this would happen in the booklet; I just didn't thing it would be that touchy. I have other stainless steel pans and they are not like that.

the large strainer did not sit evenly in pot. It wobbled especially when the water boiled.

was damaged in shippmet

I bought this set to cook pasta. The pasta falls through the holes in the liner.

You get what you pay for and this was not up to my standards. I returned it. The vendor was great about taking it back.

Not happy with this product at all. First used it warped the bottom on a gas stove. Material seems very thin and flimsy. Things stick to and burn on the bottom all the time. Claims to be dishwasher safe, but seems so poorly made, I'd be afraid to do anything but wash by hand.

The order says it's 8 qt. and I received a 6 qt. I wanted the 8, so I returned this one and bought another from another supplier.

I have wanted a pasta pot for a while. This was inexpensive but thought since it said stainless it would be okay. When I put it in dish water I swear I smelled rust. I washed it but something black got on my dish cloth, looks and acts like permanent black marker. It was coming from the strainer portion where it was sealed together. It is also on my dishpan. I'm not happy. This is my first review but I'm disappointed with my buy.

After three uses boiling water for pasta on a gas stove, the pot has developed rust spots inside. I would recommend spending your hard earned money on a better brand.

smaller than average. Only buy if for side or for couple or single. Otherwise too small.

I'm guessing the "encapsulate" bottom is made of aluminum which does not work on my induction stove.Had the description said anything about aluminum I would have known.One of the people who answered the question regarding this problem, saying that she has an induction stove and it works great, either works for the company or does not have an induction stove. Should have paid attention to the person who went to the trouble of trying the magnet test on the bottom of the pan! If a magnet won't stick it will not work on an induction stove.

I have had this pot since Oct 2012. It was great in the beginning. I loved that I could steam large quantities of spinach and broccoli and even a little of something else in the top basket. HOWEVER... the condition of the steel has been getting worse and worse and now I am afraid to use it. The whole bottom of the large basket is very chalky. The inside of the pot itself has lots of 'spot' marks on bottom and the sides has a type of residue. I'm not sure what to make of it but I don't think it's healthy to cook in this pot anymore. Unfortunately I can't return it so I will just throw it out and purchase something of better quality. I don't under stand the 18/10 stainless steel description but I would think that is the problem. Cooks... beware!

I received it today and I was surprised how thin the material is. I don't believe it is real stainless steel and I am disappointed that Amazon carries product that is not what they claim to be (I never had problem buying from Amazon before...). My other pots and pans has "18/10 stainless steel" on the bottom of the pan and they are much stronger material. Since I thought I am stuck with it, I used it to cook pasta(paid almost $10 for shipping which was not indicated at the check out point, and don't want to spend more money to return it because it is not worth spending another $10 shipping for $25 pot).The size is perfect to cook one box/package of pasta and as one reviewer writes, "This vessel cooks pasta just fine" However, in my case, after cooking pasta with salt just once, my pot also "showed signs of rusting in the inner lift-out basket. The interior of the main cooking pot is stained and spotting". I took photos if anyone needs proof...I am not sure where it is made but it did not come with any product information nor warranty. I would not recommend buying this product to anyone for any price.This was a bad experience I had with Amazon for the first time (I buy all kinds of things from Amazon).

Let me just say that this is the first product EVER, that I returned twice. Seriously, these pans do not fit inside each other properly. I have the same pan, same brand, but many years older, and it is fabulous. This new version is an absolute piece of junk! The steamer and pasta pan wobbles inside the main pot as if the manufacturing of this product is lacking any quality control. Bring back the old version, please.

Very cheaply made. The first time I used it for pasta it stained. I have never seen pasta stain anything.

After 3 uses the bottom is discolored and pitted. it's no wonder. the pot is as thin as paper and has no long term durability. There isn't enough volume of water left in the colander to boil 2 lbs of cut up potatoes and even 12 ounces of pasta without spilling onto the burners requiring major clean up on my ceramic top. i'm quite disappointed but for the price you get what you pay for. i've given it away.

I enjoyed using it. I made lots of pasta in it as well soups. Unfortunately, it did not last long. It cracked at the top down towards the bottom. Water of course leaked from it.

Now this is just one piece of junk. I used it one time to make noodles and picked up the pot half full of hot water and the handle fell off. What a mess, I was lucky that it fell away from me. Not what I would expect.

The pot arrived with a small dent at the bottom. I kept it because I did not want to go through the trouble of returning it. After a week of regular use, the strainer started to develop rust. I guess the product works okay as a pasta cooker if you don't mind having to scrub off the rust before each use.

Poor quality material thus it takes forever to just boil water

I am vastly disappointed in this item.. I purchased it on 9/16 because it was on sale. I loved the design. I thought it was a great alternative to both the usual spaghetti pot and also to the type of steamer you insert into a regular sauce pan. In fact, it gives you the ability to boil and steam 2 different items at the same time if desired. How good is that? I also loved that it was advertised as stainless steel. I wanted to get away from all the problems that come with non-stick cookware.Last night is the first...and only time...I have ever used this item. All I did was boil some elbow macaroni and I seasoned the water with herbed garlic salt. Imagine my dismay when I removed the macaroni only to find hundreds of dark spots on the bottom of the inset that held the macaroni. At first, I thought it might me some of the herbs from the seasoned garlic salt that stuck to the bottom of the insert. But after soaking it and scrubbing it the dark spots remained. Upon closer inspection, I saw that this really isn't stainless steel. It is something silvery and shiny plated onto a base metal. And the dark spots are what remained after the plating had lifted off!!! I couldn't believe my eyes. How can they say this is stainless steel when in fact it is some kind of metal plated onto another metal.Also, there were minor imperfections in the way the pan is made. I didn't like it, but was willing to overlook it because it just wasn't worth the effort of returning it.I gave them 1 star for 2 reasons. First, it really is a good design and a neat concept. Secondly, they won't let me leave feedback if I don't give at least one star.

It initially seemed great but after six months the top glass piece shattered while cooking with FOOD IN IT! BEWARE!

use h to today and it had a pin holeii wish i would use it before very hard to notice until you put waterand the return policy expire few days agowho is going to note a pin hole until you use it??

I just got my first induction cooktop range, which requires stainless steel, cast iron or a ceramic coated version of either, to function. I didn't mind the quality, though folding handles on the smaller steamer basket were very flimsy. It doesn't exactly cost a fortune to buy! However this unit is NOT stainless steel. My range just "thumped" and nothing in the pot heated. Dead giveaway! The box and description say it is stainless but they lie. Some of you might not mind if you are just looking for a simple steamer/pasta pan and don't require bells and whistles. But some of you may not have an induction range and just want to avoid aluminum leaching into their food. DON'T BUY THIS PAN if that is your aim!

Well, I am very disappointed that the large strainer is showing rust. The item is the perfect size and otherwise what I expected. I just did not expect it to rust.