One thing I love about cooking is that there’s always more to learn. It can be something involved, such as a cooking technique, or—in the case of my most recent aha moment—something straightforward, such as a different way to use an everyday kitchen tool like a salad spinner.
Equipment
Have You Been Using Your Salad Spinner Wrong? I Have.
This new-to-me method opened my eyes and gave me the cleanest greens I’ve ever had.
By Published June 18, 2024.
With my CSA subscription and backyard raised beds, I’ve been using my salad spinner a lot this summer. Until a few days ago, this was how I did it: I’d place my greens, herbs, or vegetables in the perforated basket; run it under water in the sink; return the insert to the salad spinner’s bowl; and then spin it dry.
Simple, yes. But not always very effective.
This technique never got all the dirt off the food, but I figured it was the best it could do. But recently I learned that I've been using it incorrectly—or at least inefficiently—this whole time.
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What Is a Salad Spinner?
A salad spinner consists of a colander nested into a larger bowl with a mechanism attached to a lid that cleans and removes excess water from leafy greens. This lettuce lifesaver is exactly what you need if you're tired of sogged-out salads where the dressing slides right off. Though there are other ways to rinse and dry your greens, this tool makes the process more efficient (and uses far fewer paper towels).
Do You Need a Salad Spinner?
A salad spinner is worth the cabinet space if you're done with gritty greens. Your salads will taste fresher as the dressing can better adhere to dry leaves. If you're trying to boost your leafy greens intake, ditch the paper towels and invest in one of these.
Plus, a salad spinner is for more than rinsing kale and spinach. While testing the best salad spinners we used them to clean the sand from chopped leeks and to spin out excess juice from tomatoes as well.
Our Winner: OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner
This salad spinner is easy to use—with just one hand—and was the most effective of our lineup at removing water from a variety of greens.How to Use a Salad Spinner
To get greens and vegetables really clean, here’s how our ATK Reviews team recommends using a salad spinner:
Step 1: Soak
Place your food inside the basket. Keep the basket of food inside the outer bowl and fill it with water to thoroughly soak the contents.
Step 2: Drain (and Repeat)
Lift out the basket, let water drain out, and empty the outer bowl. Repeat until the food is free of dirt and grit.
Step 3: Spin
Return the basket to the bowl and spin its contents dry. If a lot of water has come off the food, remove the basket, dump the excess water, and spin again.
The insert and bowl are a colander-and-container combination! Running water over my ingredients in the sink was never going to be as effective as submerging them in water and sloshing them around. Using the two parts of the salad spinner this way made all the difference.
At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, this method has been a real game changer. It opened my eyes and gave me the cleanest greens I’ve ever had.