I didn't actually purchase this from the TV ad, but rather picked it up at Big Lots. It's the same item, except the ad is now doing 2 for $10. It was originally meant to be a gift, but I was cooking one night, all burners were full, and I realized I needed to cook some noodles. I actually grabbed it from underneath the Christmas tree, unwrapped it, and used it. I was really that desperate, believe it or not. Now, the commercial for it will make it seem as if cooking pasta is the hardest thing in the world. We know it's not. Regardless, it's still something I don't like doing. When I cook spaghetti (or other pastas) I tend to make enough to feed a small army, and that means I use pretty big pots. I don't like having to wait on the water to boil, and then having to dirty up a strainer and dump it all back into another pot. So does this thing work? Definitely. It does what it says it will. I love it because I'm not typically using the microwave while I cook, so I can pop this Bad Boy in and it'll have it done in a few minutes. It comes with simple instructions, and you can use the handles on the side to measure your amount of pasta (if you wish.) Pro's: Easy to use. Free's up space on the stove, and reduces the amount of pots & strainers you'll have to use. Instead of a pot to boil water, and a strainer, it's all put into one container that works for both. Super cheap. I paid about $7 for one, but you can get 2 for $10 (S+H) on their website. It's smaller and easier to handle than a lot of pots are. Also works as a steamer. Con's: Since it's smaller, if you're cooking a lot of pasta, you might have to split it up and do it twice, but still not an issue. The water will bubble out and overflow if you're not careful. Follow the instructions, and stop the microwave about half way through it to prevent this from happening.Log In
I had a knock off of this device, that was much cheaper and very flimsy. While it does work, the flimsiness of the device made it unsafe to use - the handles would literally bend and fall off while you were trying to take the hot container of boiling water out of the microwave. Honestly, you can do the same thing in a microwave safe bowl, and just dump it in a strainer. The main benefit here is in the time it takes you to boil water, you can have the pasta cooked. It doesn't work well with all types of pasta though, such as Angel Hair, which tends to get all stuck together. I've found that pastas like Egg Noodles, or Penne and such work best.
I have recently tried cooking pasta in the microwave and it did not turn out. The pasta was sticky but not too hard. So I don't know if it was that I kept it in the water too long or if I did not cook it long enough. The next day the pasta tasted a lot better and we re-heated it and ate it so it makes me think the steam from the microwave cooking continued to cook it when it was done; which meant I had not cooked it long enough. I like the concept of having the lid that dumps all the water out in one container. But I am curious to know if the consistency of the pasta is the same as if you cook it on the stove top. Also, I am assuming it is non-carcinogenic, however the web site does not advertise that.