Our Top Pick For The Best Salad Spinner
Our top pick for the best salad spinner is the OXO Salad Spinner. There is a lot to love about the OXO salad spinner. As well as featuring a ground-breaking design that lets you clean and dry salad with easy one-handed operation, OXO has incorporated some extra operator features that make this spinner a must-have kitchen tool.
There is virtually no effort involved as all you have to do is just press down on the soft non-slip pump button to start the spinning process and the patented brake button instantly stops the salad from spinning with just one push. You will save on storage space as the spinner is very compact. The elegant stainless steel bowl is just perfect for serving your salad to family and guests.
How We Test Salad Spinners
To find the best salad spinners, I researched and then tested the top six. I used each salad spinner three times to dry two different types of lettuce: spinach and romaine. Spinach is thin and less hearty than romaine so it usually takes longer to dry, while romaine has many nooks and crannies so it’s more difficult to get leaves completely dry. Here’s how I evaluated the performance of each spinner:
Drying time: I counted how many cranks or presses it took to dry. So if it were a crank spinner, I counted how many times I spun the crank. If it were a push-down, I counted how many times I pressed it. Were the greens dry enough to use after spinning, or did I need to blot them with a paper towel? How this spinner performed in this way added or took away from its overall standing.
Cleaning: For fresh, farmer’s market greens, I checked that all the dirt was removed from the leaves.
Construction: I tried to take into consideration how sturdy and well-made each spinner was. If it felt flimsy, or couldn’t be tossed in the dishwasher, I took that into consideration.
The Best Overall Salad Spinner: Oxo Good Grips Glass Salad Spinner
This newer offering from OXO was among the top performers in all of our tests. It dried lettuce efficiently, handled delicate herbs without bruising them, and was able to fit 10 ounces of mixed greens without compacting them. The spinners design, versatility, and stability put it ahead of the pack. On first impression, its bowl felt too heavy . During use, though, this weight provided an advantage and kept the salad spinner from wobbling. The glass base also doubled as a nice serving bowl.
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The Best Salad Spinner For Drying Greens And Prepping Herbs
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A well-dressed salad is one of life’s simple pleasuresand it all starts with the best salad spinner. No matter how impressive your vinaigrette game may be, sandy or soggy greens are impossible to save the grittiness of unwashed lettuce is a total buzzkill, and the salad dressing will slip right off each leaf if not properly dried first. The best solution is a top-notch spinner that gives your salad base a good wash and thorough dry.
Getting moisture off of leafy greens can be a tricky task blame it on curly nooks and delicate crannies. Sure, you could swaddle your lettuce with dish rags , pile it between paper towels , or stick it under your blow dryer . Really, a salad spinner is the only tool for the job. Powered by centrifugal force, salad spinners operate by spinning rinsed greens in a strainer basket thats nestled inside an outer bowl. The motion propels the water off through the perforated basket, and the water collects in the outer bowl, leaving the greens clean and dry inside.
Best Salad Spinners Of 2020
Never suffer through another soggy salad.
Salad spinners are a game changer when it comes to meal prep. Fill them with greens and water to wash your lettuce, and then spin to drain and remove excess water. You can also use your salad spinner to drain veggies after washing. Salad spinners are essential since clean, dry leaves are better-prepped for dressing on salad . You can even store your greens in the colander the vents help with air circulation, which slows down the rate of spoilage.
In the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances Lab, we put 18 salad spinners to the test. We drenched 26 pounds of lettuce and put them through the wringer, noting the percent of water removed from each batch. Then we repeated it all two more times. These are the best salad spinners you can buy, according to testing plus, several additions that caught our eye:
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I Like To Do My Research Before Buying Got Any Other Salad Spinner Recommendations
Sweetgreen cofounder Nicolas Jammet, a guy who undoubtedly knows his leafy greens, loves the OXO Stainless Steel Salad Spinner for its non-slip ring, one-handed operation, effective braking system, and sturdy metal bowl. A small quibble: Unlike the clear plastic bowls, the stainless steel bowl makes it harder to quickly assess how dry your greens are.
How Do You Clean A Salad Spinner
Many salad spinners are dishwasher safe, at least on the top rack, but you can also clean them by hand. To clean by hand, pour dish soap into the salad spinner, and then put warm water about halfway up. Replace the lid. Activate the spinner via plunger, cord, hand-crank, or knob, and make sure you get a good spin going to push all the bits of leftover food out of the holes. Stop the spinner and drain it. If your top comes apart, separate the lid pieces and place them in your drying rack. Clean the bowl and basket with a damp sponge to get any last bits of food debris, rinse the basket and bowl, and either dry by hand or place in the rack with lid pieces to dry.
If you choose to wash in the dishwasher , separate the lid pieces if they come apart. Place the basket, bowl, and lid pieces in the dishwasher . Run on a normal cycle. Once complete, make sure all parts are dry, or hand dry any still-wet parts. Reassemble and store.
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Most Quirky Salad Spinner: Widgeteer Spin And Serve
Made from high-grade plastic, this versatile salad spinner has an unusual white and green flow design that will spice up your kitchen cupboards aesthetic. The spinner holds 5 quarts and is made with a low-profile, space-saving spin knob so that it packs away efficiently.
There you have it: the webs best salad spinners in one neat list. Dont worry about searching hundreds of online vendors to find the right salad spinner for you our list contains the best spinners at the most reasonable prices. Happy spinning!
Editors’ Recommendations
Other Options We Tested
- Westmark German Vegetable and Salad Spinner: This salad spinner previously appeared on our roundup as the best pick for a hand-crank style, but our tester found its bulky size and protruding crank difficult to store. The lack of a non-slip base made stabilizing the spinner more challenging, and the plastic wasn’t as heavy-duty as she’d wished. After one cycle in the dishwasher, the bowl and colander were misshapen and had to be bent back into their nesting formation even though the manufacturer claims they are dishwasher safe. That said, this does have an ingenious pouring spout that makes getting rid of excess post-spin liquid a cinch with no mess running down the side of your bowl. . With a 5-quart capacity, it comfortably fit a head of chopped romaine lettuce easily and took 30 spins to fully clean greens. It was much more efficient with a quart of strawberries, taking only 10 minutes to go from cold soak to finished.
The Spruce Eats / Vicky Wasik
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Why You Should Trust Us
Our salad spinning expert team is lead by Adam Minich with assistance from Buck Yedor. Adam is an avid home gardener that uses each product daily. For years, he has been using a salad spinner to clean and dry his store-bought and garden greens. Every spring, he and his partner set up raised beds of arugula, kale, lettuce, collard greens, and all sorts of herbs. Sometimes, however, a home garden can bring with it spider webs, aphids, and dirt. Using one for this clean-up of his homegrown veggies proves to be a daily occurrence. Buck has expertise in various commercial kitchens, and his input has helped assess each product.
During our tests, we evaluated several products that are designed to dry and clean veggies. We chose options ranging from small and compact to large and voluminous. In addition to evaluating the functionality of each, we designed objective tests to look at how well each cleans fine particulates and dries. We also look at the capacity and ease of use. After hours of spinning veggies, we gather our data for a well-rounded look at what the best salad spinners on the market have to offer.
Best Fabric Salad Dryer: Mirloco Salad Sling
Type: Fabric
Capacity: Holds a whole head of iceberg or romaine
We couldn’t resist adding this fun and unique twist on a salad greens dryer to our list, even though it’s not technically a salad spinner. The Salad Sling is a double-layered piece of bright green terry cloth fabric . It’s shaped in a large square, with elongated corners.
To use, place the wet greens in the middle of the square, gather the four corners together in one hand, and swing them around . The absorbent material wicks up the water as it’s being pulled out of the greens via the same centrifugal force that’s used in traditional spinners, and a waterproof barrier between the two layers prevents that water from spraying all over your cabinets and floor.
Afterwards, you can use the dry parts of the towel to pat any excess water drops off the greens. In our testing, the amount of water remaining in the greens was a little more than the most effective salad spinners on this list, but it performed just as well as some of the others. And because big droplets were patted away at the end, the greens seemed dry enough.
Buy It: $20 or The Grommet
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Best Salad Spinner For Small Salads
If you’re someone who typically makes smaller salads, reach for the Chef’n Salad Chopper & Spinner with its more compact design and sturdy bowl.
Pros: Intuitive to use, easy to store, dishwasher safe, silicone base, stackable
Cons: Needs a few extra spins to get totally dry
The Chef’n Salad Chopper & Spinner uses a push-down lever to spin your greens around, making it slightly different than a push-down button. But this does allow for the bowl to be a little more shallow, which is great for smaller batches of greens and for storing. The spinner arm lays flat, so you can stack things on top of it and maximize the pantry or counter space.
Like the OXO Good Grips spinner, this bowl has a silicone base so it won’t slip and slide around your counter. It does, however, take a couple more pushes to get it going, which can be a little bit of a pain.
The spinner is very intuitive. The same button that pops the arm up for spinning is also the brake, so you’re not dealing with a bunch of different buttons. I also loved how the colander was slightly smaller than the others I’d tested. This gives the water somewhere to go so my greens weren’t sitting in dirty water after they were done spinning.
My greens came out dry, but they needed a little pat with a paper towel before I was able to use them especially the more tender spinach greens. They were, however, incredibly clean, making this the perfect option for those who prefer smaller salads.
Analysis And Test Results
Our lead tester identified five categories of importance to contrast performance and features between the ten spinners. The five metrics used were water removal, dirt removal, ease of spinning, ease of braking, and ease of cleaning. These factors helped to create a holistic appraisal and understanding of each product.
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Best Salad Spinners Of 2022
A salad spinner is a must-have for anyone who enjoys fresh salad greens. Our culinary experts researched more than 75 of the most popular options before purchasing 9 of the best salad spinners available on the market. We tested these spinners side-by-side, using them in our own kitchens for more than 20 hours of comparative analysis. We carefully assessed drying efficiency by measuring the amount of water removed from various produce, and purposefully dirtied clean lettuce to examine how well each spinner removes dirt and debris. Our test team carefully considers each model for relative capacity, ease of spinning, braking, and ease of cleaning. Our in-depth review offers expert recommendations for the best overall salad spinner, as well as a few that excel for niche purposes.
Spinning Mechanism:Brake Mechanism:REASONS TO BUY
Not everything was perfect, though. Perhaps this unit could benefit from a redesign on the colander. In both the dirt test and its ability to be cleaned, the colander created issues that caused it to lose points. Despite this, this product more than made up for lower scores after receiving perfect scores in the water removal, ease of spinning, and ease of braking tests. If you’re after an excellent spinner, this might be the answer.
Best Compact: Oxo Good Grips Little Salad And Herb Spinner
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Works as efficiently as larger version
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Small footprint for easy storage
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Great capacity for small households
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Pricey for size
Sometimes you only need a petite spinner that stores compactly but has the oomph of larger models. The Oxo Good Grips Little Salad and Herb Spinner is just right for small portions of lettuce, berries, and especially bunches of fresh herbs with its 2.5-quart basket. Our tester found it easily accommodated two heads of radicchio for one test, two bunches of cilantro for another, and one pint of blueberries for a third.
Just like the larger model, this one has an easy pump-action spinner and patented brake to stop with ease. In her test with the radicchio, our reviewer found the plunger was comfortable to grip, and it only took 10 pumps to completely clean and dry the greens. She appreciated the clear bowl allowed her to see when the greens were dry, and the brake was instantly responsive when she pushed it. She also loved the non-slip base for stability and the sturdy construction of the plastic bowl.
All parts were washed on the top rack of the dishwasher during testing, and our tester noted everything was completely clean after one cycle and snapped back together easily. She did report some water spots remained, but they were wiped away with a quick rub of a clean, dry hand towel. She loved its diminutive footprint with the lock-flat plunger for stackable storage.
The Spruce Eats / Vicky Wasik
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Oxo Good Grips Salad Spinner
Plenty of competitors have tried to unseat OXO’s domination in the salad spinner category since the Good Grips model launched in the early 90’s, but in our tests, none came close. This model was the simplest, the most pleasant to use, and the most effective. Both the outer bowl and inner basket are generously proportioned , easily holding a full bag of salad greens and a large bunch of herbs. The clear bowl and basket have a neutral design that makes the contents easy to see, and allows each part to double as a serving bowl or colander. It was also the sturdiest of all the models we tried, never threatening to crack or buckle. A subtle rubberized, non-slip ring on the bottom of the bowl, along with a wide base and tall straight sides, helps keep the spinner stable and completely wobble-free on the counterand ensures that even when operating it with only one hand, you never have to worry about flying objects.
And of course, we ended up with clean, dry greens. After a thorough rinsing and 30 seconds of sustained spinning, we collected 1/4 cup of water from the bottom of the OXO bowlclose to a tablespoon more than most of the other models we tried. Herbs were a similar success: cilantro emerged from our basket clean, dry, and unbruised, and we had no issues with it getting stuck in the basket’s holes or crevices.
Is A Salad Spinner Necessary
A salad spinner is not a necessity, but it does make meal prep a lot easierand not just for greens. You can wash and dry a multitude of lettuces and other greens, like kale or collards, but you can also efficiently wash and dry fresh herbs, berries, and bulky vegetables, like broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, potatoes. You can even wash and dry your hand-wash-only laundry. It’s an efficient way to complete the task, but you may want a separate spinner.
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The Oxo Good Grips Salad Spinner Is Our Winner
We independently research, test, review, and recommend the bestproductslearn more about our process. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission.
The Spruce Eats / Vicky Wasick
The humble salad spinner may seem like an unnecessary kitchen tool, but we beg to differ: It’s revolutionary when it comes to yielding crispy, fresh greens. The centrifugal force created by spinning draws the liquid from spinach, arugula, and more, warding off lingering moisture that might make your salad soggy or even moldy and pulling out dirt particles hidden in ribs and crevices.
Our tester chose the Oxo Good Grips Salad Spinner as our winner because it’s durable, intuitive, and versatile basically, it’s everything you might wish a salad spinner to be. For another near-perfect product, wash mint, cilantro, and other small produce items with the compact Oxo Good Grips Little Salad & Herb Spinner.
To help you find the best salad spinner for your kitchen, we tested them side-by-side and evaluated each on its ease of use, design, size, ease of cleaning, and overall value. Lots of salad greens, fruits, and vegetables were washed and spun to make sure these salad spinners are truly the best.
Here are the best salad spinners, according to our tests.