I bought this to make big batches of cheese and discovered in my first batch that the handle filled up with milk. This contaminated the batch of cheese and the milk coagulated inside the handle.Amazon sent me a replacement that ended up being worse than the first. I took it to a welder friend of mine and she could not even fix because if she tried to heat it it would just break. There are holes all around the joint between paddle and handle, and in the top of the handle. It is totally unsanitary.I am trying to get Bayou Classic to refund me directly, but we will see.Some people seem to be very happy, but why risk it just to save a few bucks?