Image by futurowoman via FlickrSix months ago or more, I bought an unusually large stainless-steel pot with two steamer inserts and a glass cover at the Korean supermarket in Little Ferry.
It cost less than $30 on sale, but was made with steel so thin the bottom of the pot flexed.
Still, the generous 12-inch-plus width easily swallowed a pound of spaghetti, and was ideal for blanching large quantities of such greens as bok choy, fresh spinach and collard greens.
And the inserts accommodated a 10-inch Pyrex plate for steaming frozen wild salmon or cod with sake, soy sauce and other Asian flavors on one level and vegetables on a second level.
This week, I noticed that rust spots started to appear on the inside of the pot and one of the steamer inserts, and this morning, I took the whole thing back to H Mart.
The first thing the woman at the customer service desk asked me is, "Where is your receipt?"
When I said I bought the pot more than six months ago and no longer had the receipt, she said she could do nothing for me.
I asked her to call chain headquarters while I shopped for a couple of items, and as I was checking out, she handed me a store credit for $19.99.
Then she explained the cheap-stainless-steel-pot facts of life to me:
There are all qualities of stainless steel and when you buy a pot for under $30, as opposed to one for $60 or more, you can't expect much.
And, she said, I had a responsibility to dry the pot and steamer inserts before I put them away. I thanked her and left.
