I'm referring to a "color" in the product customization sense of the word. You could buy a red toaster or a blue toaster, and you'd have every reason to think

I'm referring to a "color" in the product customization sense of the word. You could buy a red toaster or a blue toaster, and you'd have every reason to think that it's different paint or dyes, but an otherwise equivalent product made of the same underlying materials. Whereas stainless steel partly refers to a small range of colors, but mainly to the properties of the material. In the context of kitchen appliances stainless steel products are almost always of higher quality and durability. As an example: You can find stainless steel fridges, and cheap fridges, but no cheap stainless steel fridges. If you were offering me a red or stainless steel fridge sight unseen I'd always go for the stainless one, even if I much preferred red to stainless as a look. I could always glue a red MDF panel to the door, but the advantages of "stainless" would extend to other premium aspects of the fridge.