The BEST Way to Use Your Salad Spinner
This past summer the folks at America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) spent quite a bit of time gathering and testing as many salad spinners as they could find.
Once they found their favorite, they went on to perfect salad spinner use. One of the ATK’s testers, Mari Levine, reported: “Something 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.
“With my CSA subscription and backyard raised beds, I’ve been using my salad spinner a lot this past summer. This was typically 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.”
Mari goes on to explain that her technique never got all the dirt off the food, but she figured it was the best her spinner could do. That is, until she came across a Cook’s Illustrated article on how to use a salad spinner. Turns out, she’d been using it incorrectly—or at least inefficiently—this whole time.
Mari and the ATK team always share information, and here’s what they say about how to use a salad spinner to get greens and vegetables REALLY clean:
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 (inflated or exaggerative), this method has been a real game changer. It opened my eyes and gave me the cleanest greens I’ve ever had.
Now, before I close, would you like to know the ATK team’s favorite pick of all the salad spinners they could find? It was the OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner. It was consistently easy to use (with just one hand) and was the most effective of their lineup at cleaning and removing water from a wide variety of greens.
But you know what else is super cool about this spinner? It accommodates those of us with arthritic hands. There’s no gripping (just pushing with the palm of your hand), AND you can use either hand! Now that’s the BEST way to use a salad spinner!
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Once they found their favorite, they went on to perfect salad spinner use. One of the ATK’s testers, Mari Levine, reported: “Something 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.
“With my CSA subscription and backyard raised beds, I’ve been using my salad spinner a lot this past summer. This was typically 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.”
Mari goes on to explain that her technique never got all the dirt off the food, but she figured it was the best her spinner could do. That is, until she came across a Cook’s Illustrated article on how to use a salad spinner. Turns out, she’d been using it incorrectly—or at least inefficiently—this whole time.
Mari and the ATK team always share information, and here’s what they say about how to use a salad spinner to get greens and vegetables REALLY clean:
- 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.
- Lift out the basket, let water drain out, and empty the outer bowl. Repeat until the food is free of dirt and grit.
- 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 (inflated or exaggerative), this method has been a real game changer. It opened my eyes and gave me the cleanest greens I’ve ever had.
Now, before I close, would you like to know the ATK team’s favorite pick of all the salad spinners they could find? It was the OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner. It was consistently easy to use (with just one hand) and was the most effective of their lineup at cleaning and removing water from a wide variety of greens.
But you know what else is super cool about this spinner? It accommodates those of us with arthritic hands. There’s no gripping (just pushing with the palm of your hand), AND you can use either hand! Now that’s the BEST way to use a salad spinner!
Sources:
- www.americastestkitchen.com
- www.pricepulse.app
- www.arthritissupplies.com
Alice Osborne
Weekly Newsletter Contributor since 2006
Email the author! alice@dvo.com
