The Stainless Steel Appliance Scam

If you have purchased stainless steel appliances in the last couple of years you may have been surprised that a magnet will stick to it.   Everybody knows you can't use magnets with stainless steel.  

Surprise!, your Daddy's stainless steel had nickel in it which made it stronger and invisible to magnets.   When the price of nickel rose dramatically in the first decade of the new millennium, vendor found they could get the same "look" of stainless steel for less money by not using nickel.  

So magnets work but what did you lose?  Well strength and perhaps more importantly the cheaper, nickel free stainless can rust! 

What? Stainless steel doesn't rust!  Well, your Mommy's stainless steel didn't rust but the new stainless steel can.  

How can you tell if you have old high quality stainless steel?  Do the magnet test, if it sticks you have new cheap stainless steel that may rust.   If the magnet wont' stick, congratulations you have dodged another bullet in the dumming down of quality of modern products.  

If reviewing a product, it may have been received free of charge. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.