Garbage disposals are great for getting rid of excess food waste, but big chunks of organic material and overuse can take a toll. That's why your first line of defense should be a kitchen sink strainer. This handy little doodad can save you a lot of headaches and keep your garbage disposal running like a well-oiled machine.

The kitchen sink strainer is simple enough in design. It fits over your sink drain but is perforated, so it lets water through. However, it does not let large objects like bones, food chunks, silverware or (heaven forbid) wedding rings past its guard. Preventing these things from falling down the drain will stop the garbage disposal from destroying something valuable or biting off more than it can chew.

When it gets full, you can simply pull it out of the drain, shake it out into the trash can and replace. Despite how simple they are, there are many factors that determine how effective and easy to use a kitchen sink strainer is. To that end, we have gathered some of the best strainers on the market and made our pick for which we think was the number one pick.

You’d be surprised how much variation there is in materials and design between different kitchen sink strainers. Even though they are more or less a metal grate that fits over a drain, there are large gulfs in functionality and quality. Here are some of the criteria we examined.

Durability

These trainers are going to see a lot of action. Water, food and dishes are all going to give this little tool a beating. So, it has to be tough. Not only does it have to be resistant to dents, nicks and bends but it also has to resist rusting as it will spend most of its life wet.

We found that stainless steel or brass are the best materials for sink strainers. They can take a beating and won’t stain or rust easily. Sturdy construction design is also important as many cheap models are not put together well and break down after only a few weeks of use.

Performance

Not all sink strainers perform the same way if you can believe it. While draining water and catching food seems simple enough, how well this tool performs that function comes down to design and most importantly the hole design.

Small holes trap more debris, but too small and the build-up will block water flow and clog your sink. Bigger holes allow for freer flows but may miss some particles. There are happy mediums, fortunately, that perform well in both of these areas, so they naturally ranked higher in our books.

Ease of Use

Again, simple doesn’t always mean easy. You are going to want to be able to remove this thing safely, quickly and easily so you can clean it off and put it right back in. You don’t want to have to dig it out with your nails or pry it free with a knife for obvious safety and durability reasons.

We looked more favorably on kitchen sink strainers that had built-in features for ease of use. Handles and ergonomic design go a long way to making for an easy to use sink strainer. To us they are must-haves.