Do you spin your salad?
April 16, 2008 by Jul
Filed under Food & Nutrition
Salad spinners seem to be essentials in some kitchens, and completely unheard-of in others. I don’t think I ever even saw one until I was 20 or so, so I can imagine that there are others out there who haven’t seen these things. A salad spinner is basically a 3-piece contraption that allows you to wash and dry lettuce relatively quickly and easily. There is a bowl-like part, a sieve which fits inside the bowl, and a top. There’s a simple mechanism in the top that allows one to spin the sieve around very quickly, effectively spinning all the water off of the lettuce.
We have a salad spinner, but I admit I rarely use it. It’s too big, for one thing - you could fit salad for 10 people in it. In a household of two, rarely do we need so much clean and dry lettuce at one time. But, smaller models are available. I think I’d use ours more often if it was smaller - we have such limited counter space, that the big salad spinner really is inconvenient. On the other hand, it’s nice to have dry salad.
Are you a salad spinner devotee? Why or why not?
I hadn’t heard of a salad heard of a salad spinner till i was in college either. i don’t have one now but would like a small one… not sure I could justify spending the money on it though… it just washes lettuce you know??
I was given a salad spinner 3 years ago - so I’m relatively late to the spinner. But it’s now on my kitchen must-haves list - I’m a definite convert.
We eat a lot of salad in this house and I find it a fast and efficient way of drying lettuce. Can’t stand soggy lettuce in a salad and drying with a teatowel is just tedious - hence my love of the spinner.
I’m a spinach guy when it comes to salad greens. They come pre-rinsed from the grocery store, so I don’t bother to rinse it so I never have to worry about it.
Most of the greens we get in the summer are still full of dirt from the farm so being able to wash and dry quickly is fantastic. In the early spring when the CSA brings tons of lettuce and greens and not much else a salad spinner is key. That way I can wash and dry the greens and put them in the fridge to stay crisp for the week and they’ll be ready to eat when we’re ready.
I’d love a small one to use for herbs, but the big one works so I use it anyway.
we had one when I was young, hours of fun! If you spin it really hard and then take the lid off really quickly the bowl will fly out of it, as I said, hours of fun! I don’t have one now, but they are the business for drying salad leaves, must get one!
With regards to the pre-rinsed leaves from the grocery store, I always wash them as they are often washed in a chlorine solution before being packaged.
Ugh! I have the exact salad spinner you have pictured. Or I did have it until this weekend when I melted the bowl!! I rarely used the thing but every now and then it did come in handy and now it doesn’t work. My husband thought he could still get it to spin but seriously, it is more trouble than it is worth. I don’t think I’ll be getting another one.
I’d never even heard of a spinner until a few years ago when my next door neighbor mentioned it. She was shocked and dismayed to hear that I was a spinning virgin and promptly bought me one.
I have to admit…I love the damn thing. It is a little bit of an unnecessary step, but there’s something so satisfying to emptying out the water that collects in the bottom…and yeah, I like having dry lettuce that doesn’t make my croûtons soggy.
ADQ
We have the exact model shown and it’s great. Lettuce will keep for several days after being washed and minimally torn. I do a whole head of red leaf or romaine at a time. We eat up to 4 salads a day, so it’s very handy.
I finally broke down and bought one after years of trying to shake my lettuce dry… I found a small one for ~$5 at a TJ Maxx near me, and I probably use it 3-4 times a week. It’s simple, has a handle, and doesn’t take up much space, so it’s perfect for just the two of us…
We just used are tonight!!! I have to admit…salad spinners are awesome! But, as you said they’re bulky- take up to much space and there PLASTIC!!! Yikky. I really hate this fact, but like my lettuce rinsed and fresh before eating it. especially when coming off a farm truck! I held off buying one for awhile until I found a really good deal on one!
I always thought that salad spinners were silly, but then it was pointed out to me that using a salad spinner can help reduce paper towel use. And, from that perspective, I can see some good in the salad spinner (unless you towel off your greens after spinning them).
I became a salad spinner convert when I realised that I could use it both to dry salad, and give a bit of a drying spin to my handwashed clothes. Tee hee!
Kiriel - I have to give that a try!
oh I hate those things….
Maybe cause it reminds me of those Ive seen in my childhood.
I remember the sieve being all yellow because of time and multiple usages and it kinda grosses me out.
I use a clean dish towel to dry my salad.
I simply put the salad on the towel and fold the towel on the salad and press a little.
This way the salad still holds its natural water and is still dry enough to allow you to say serve salad as a decorative note for exemple.
xoxo
Another “green” option to the plastic salad spinner is to put it in a clean pillow case and swing it around outside. We have a special kitchen pillow case set just for salads. I would suggest washing all greens even if they say pre-washed, we have had problems here in the states with pre-washed greens. I even wash my coleslaw cabbage when I don’t make my own.
Oh my God I am soooooooo glad I found this site, I can’t believe there are people out there who love to spin as much as I do. I hear what you’re saying about the plastic, ‘yikky’ indeed, I have thought about launching my own brand of ‘eco-spinners’ but I’m not sure about the potential of them. It seems ironic to spin my veg in a non-eco spinner, any thoughts?
I can heartily recommend the pillowcase method, it works a treat. When we had some friends over for supper we utilised our daughters toddler-size duvet cover because of its extra capacity. We even had our superking duvet cover stuffed with soggy salad (with a friend on each corner) when we hosted a party for my great-uncles 80th birthday. The salad was served as dry as a bone and i’d like to see a salad spinner big enough to cater for 250 salad munchers!!!!