Do You Really Need a Salad Spinner? (5 Different Models)
Salad spinners are great kitchen gadgets that make life one step easier than before. Salad spinners divide people into different categories because some people say they are worthless, and some people say they are God’s gift. This article will teach you which one it really is when looking from your perspective because, after all, it is an opinion question.
I’ll also teach you some additional aspects about salad spinners and lettuce that are important to understand when considering whether a salad spinner is a right fit for you. But before we go into those things, we need to determine do you really need a salad spinner?
Salad spinners are extremely helpful because they use centrifugal force to separate excess water from the salad leaves. This will result in dryer salad, which helps salad dressing stick to the leaves and prevents your food from getting soggy with unwanted water.
As we can see, there are many benefits to salad spinners that will make them a worthy gadget in the kitchen. Also, they are extremely cheap, which is always nice to know. But there are cons to everything, and salad spinners aren’t exceptions, and they do take up some cabinet space. To really determine, we need to hop into the pros and cons and see why you would need a salad spinner. Let’s get started!
Contents
- Convenience
- Speed
- Cheap price
- Efficiency
- Takes up a lot of cabinet space
- Won’t get rid of water completely
- What is a salad spinner
- How to use a salad spinner
- What else can you use a salad spinner for
- How do you dry salad without a salad spinner
- Do salad spinners keep salad fresh
- Do restaurants use salad spinners
- Different kinds of salad spinners
- Conclusion
Convenience
First of all, using a salad spinner is incredibly convenient. You can wash your greens, fruits, herbs, or virtually anything, toss them in and let it do its job. No more hand drying which can be annoying!
Speed
The speed is on salad spinners is unbelievable. Depending on the type of your salad spinner, you can turn the knob by hand or press a button, and all your ingredients will be nearly water-free.
Cheap price
Depending on the type of the salad spinner, the price really ranges between 10-50$ for the home spinners. Therefore they really are worth the cost when you can enjoy more quality food.
Efficiency
Last but certainly not least, salad spinners are super gadgets. They will dry the lettuce better than you could do with any other means, and when you mix that with speed and convenience, there isn’t any reason not to use one, or is there?
Now that we know all about the pros of a salad spinner, let’s take a look of a couple of cons.
Takes up a lot of cabinet space
The biggest con of a salad spinner is the space. They aren’t exactly small, and they do take up space, so if you have a tiny kitchen, then a salad spinner might not be worth it to you because of space problems.
Won’t get rid of water completely
Another minor con is that water won’t be removed 100%, so if there is any reason that you need to dry your ingredients completely without a single drop of water, then a salad spinner won’t serve those needs.
What is a salad spinner
A salad spinner is a kitchen tool used to remove excess water from salads and other ingredients. It is usually made from plastic, and there are manual and automatic versions of it. Salad spinners spin around fast, removing the excess water from the ingredients to the container outside of the inner container.
How to use a salad spinner
Using a salad spinner is easy. The way it is done is first to wash the salad in the inner perforated container, then place the perforated container into the main container, place the lid on and turn the knob as fast as you can for 5-10 seconds, and your salad will be nearly dry from excess water.
In case you need visual guidance, don’t worry; I have taken pictures of every step so you can check it out and see how it is done.
1. The first step is to wash the salad inside the smaller perforated container, so you don’t need to use any additional container, and everything will roll forward much smoother.
2. Next, place the perforated container inside the main container. Be sure to drain the salad from the biggest waters quickly before combining the containers.
3. The third step is to place the lid carefully onto the container. Check that the lid went on properly, and when turning the knob, you can feel motion happening.
4. This is where the magic happens. Depending on the style of your salad spinner, you can whether turn the rotating knob on the lid, as you can see below, or you can push a button if you have an automatic one. Either way, make the salad spin heavily for 5-10 seconds.
5. After spinning, take off the lid and check the condition of your salad. Is it dry? If not, give it another spin and after you are done, the bigger container should have greenish lettuce water at the bottom.
6. This is the most enjoyable step! Now it is time to reap the rewards of your hard labor and eat your delicious salad, tortillas, or whatever you made a salad for WATER-FREE! We all know how annoying it is when food is dripping with unwanted water. No more buddy!
Personally, I love salad spinners. After all, they are so easy and fast to use, yet so powerful because they really get that excess water off the salad in a matter of seconds. Also, they are so easy to clean, and a simple, quick rinse will do the trick.
What else can you use a salad spinner for
As hinted above, salad isn’t the only thing that you can use a salad spinner for. There are various things to use it for so you can really maximize the benefits of it. I have listed the best alternative uses for a salad spinner below.
- Wash and dry herbs
- Get rid of excess water from penne pasta
- Clean and dry dirty vegetables
- Draining and rinsing beans
- Washing berries & fruit
- Remove excess liquid from meats
- Washing light clothing
How do you dry salad without a salad spinner
If you don’t have a salad spinner, don’t panic because there are ways to dry salad without one. After you have washed your lettuce, shake it determinedly so the majority of the water will be removed. Then lay down some kitchen paper and set the salad on top of them. After that, use some additional kitchen paper and add a little pressure to the salad with them. After this process, your salad should be dry, so remove the paper and use them as you were.
Do salad spinners keep salad fresh
Salad spinners keep salad fresh because after you have spun your salad with it and the excess water is removed, there remains some moisture essential for keeping the salad fresh in the refrigerator.
In fact, I have written a great article about What Do Restaurants Use to Keep Lettuce Fresh that I encourage you to read!
Do restaurants use salad spinners
Depending on a restaurant, some do use, and some don’t. However, most restaurants that serve much salad in different forms use salad spinners in their kitchens. Do not think that they use the cute ones at home because they use big commercial salad spinners that might have been installed to a wall with a big crank and some restaurants even use big ones that are motorized. You can see an example of a big commercial salad spinner below.
Different kinds of salad spinners
Yes, there is more than one kind of salad spinners; in fact, there are 6 main types of salad spinners, and I couldn’t resist telling you what they are. Let’s take a look!
Manual salad spinner
Manual salad spinners are the simple ones, and it is the kind that is shown in the pictures above. When using a manual salad spinner, you need to hold the gadget with your other hand while turning the knob with your other, creating momentum to remove the water. Quite simple.
Pump salad spinner
Pump spinners are my personal favorites for home use. Push the pump in the middle, which will again create momentum more easily, and it will give great speed to it as well.
Pull cord salad spinner
This is another great one as well. You will create centrifugal force by pulling the cord, like when starting a chainsaw or a motor. It’s a funny and fast way to dry up your salad.
Electric salad spinner
Electric spinners use electricity to create a centrifugal force within the spinner by simply pushing one button. Personally, I don’t see a reason to use an electric one because the other spinners are so effortless to use, whereas you will need to charge the electric one.
Commercial salad spinner
These bad boys have taken the salad spinner game one step further. These are usually at least 20q in size and look like short carbage bins with a huge handle to spin. These are quite popular in the restaurant industry, especially restaurants that serve many salads, etc.
Dynamic salad spinner
These ultimate salad spinners aren’t needed in every place because of the huge power they present. They are equipped with pulse modes, electric motors, and many other benefits that only a restaurant that produces huge quantities of salad will need. At first glimpse, it doesn’t even look like a salad spinner!
Conclusion
When it comes to salad spinners, most people agree that they are valuable kitchen tools that are well worth their size in the kitchen. For what it’s worth, I do personally also believe that everyone should own salad spinners, especially if you use a lot of lettuce for various foods and hate that dripping excess water as I do.
I hope that this article gave you value and you now know whether you really need a salad spinner or not.