After reading the reviews, I was hesitant to buy this item but did so anyway. I can say that I successfully made eight full servings in a row without having any issues. I ran my lid under cold water and then placed it in the fridge with my batter to chill while waiting for my water to boil. (My recipe said to let the batter rest for 10 minutes so I chose to stick the batter and lid in the fridge for that amount of time.) I figured the water would keep my batter from sticking to the lid and the chilled lid would help prevent the dough from cooking onto the lid. It takes a while for my pot to get to a boil so this was not inconvenient for me. As I divided my dough, using just what I could scoop up with the scraper it came with, into batches to prevent over crowding in the pot, as soon as I emptied the lid of each batch of dough I removed the lid to a nearby plate to keep it cooler. If making more than eight servings, I might suggest putting some ice on the plate (perhaps a pie plate or platter would be nice) used for resting the lid when not in use or running the lid under cold water between batches but I found it unnecessary with the volume I made. My pot itself was not more than half full so there were several inches between the water and my lid. I was happy with the product and the dumplings did not clump or stick to the bottom of the lid itself as it had when I tried making spatzle using my food mill. (This works way better than a food mill as the holes are too close together on a food mill and the batter did not want to push through the holes on a food mill. Save the food mill for mashed potatoes.) I will add that I did stir the contents as quickly as possible once the batch of dumplings were in the water to make sure nothing stuck together in the water (this will happen when pasta first starts to cook so stir it) nor stuck to the bottom of the pot. This product did not made long thin strands but short wider ones but that was not an issue for me. If long thin strands are desirable than you are looking for a dedicated spatzle maker that looks similar to a ricer and can expect to pay quite a bit of money for one. The ones I saw were over 60 dollars. This worked beautifully for my budget and with a few tips I think anyone can use it. There is a YouTube video of this product being demonstrated posted by an individual should anyone be curious enough to watch but I suggest turning the volume off perhaps as I wasn't impressed by the music in particular. The biggest flaw in this product is that they did not offer a recipe, any instructions or even a washing recommendation. I am going to assume that stainless steel is dishwasher safe but it doesn't say anywhere on the packaging if they recommend it. All in all, it worked, is a nice weight, the holes are spaced widely apart and are large enough for dough to move easily and unlike my food mill it had no dents when it arrived. My skin is very thin due to my connective tissue disorder and I did not notice any sharp edges on this product nor did I experience any burns. I did not use hot mitts and the spatula works best at an angle instead of straight up and down as it helped squeeze the dough through the holes better angled. Don't heat the lid when heating the water and divide the dough into reasonable portions to let the lid cool between batches allowing you to prevent over crowding to prevent sticking and get your dough cooked evenly. With those tips, I had no problem using this product and expect this item to last a good long time, likely longer than me. I would buy it as a gift but share the tips. I am wondering if it will also work as a splatter screen...