Ready to add some spin to your salad game? Dive into our guide on the best salad spinners of 2024! Salad spinners, your kitchen's unsung heroes, swiftly dry greens with a whirl, ensuring crisp and crunchy salads every time and making meal prep a breeze. Say goodbye to soggy leaves and hello to fresh, vibrant bowls of goodness. Our top selections will have you spinning with joy in the kitchen, especially our favorite choice from Zulay Kitchen. It features a large capacity and a durable build for long-lasting use. So, let's toss up some fun as we explore salad spinners!

Every day, more and more people are realizing the need to eat healthily. Salads, in particular, are exploding in popularity. Unfortunately, preparing a healthy salad at home can be quite a hassle. Cleaning and then drying the greens, in particular, is quite challenging without ruining the salad. Luckily, salad spinners make the most tedious parts of making a salad, the cleaning, one of the easiest.

How Do Salad Spinners Work?

Salad spinners are a two-in-one combination of a washing machine and dryer, just a lot smaller and hand-operated. Here's how they work:

Construction

The salad spinner consists of three main components. The first of these is the bowl. This is just a large, strong bowl and is very often completely transparent. Then there is the plastic strainer that holds the vegetables. This is the thing that spins to clean and dry the veggies. Lastly, we have the lid, which is sort of the brain of this device. It contains the mechanism that makes the strainer spin.

Washing

Washing is done by filling the strainer with the veggies, closing the lid, and filling the bowl with water. The next step is to spin the strainer fast. This will create a sort of water wave inside the strainer that will take off a large chunk of the dirt and stuff from the salad. Just drain the bowl after that, and you're done. If the veggies are particularly dirty, you can repeat this process multiple times until you're happy with the final results.

Drying

Drying works almost identically to basic clothes drier. Just remove all of the water from the washing session and spin the strainer very fast. This will create an outward centrifugal force on the contents of the strainer, removing water from the greens. Just drain the removed water, and you've got yourself a salad that is just the right amount of moisture.

What Are the Different Salad Spinning Mechanisms?

There are hundreds of different salad spinners to choose from on Amazon. A large number of these options come with a unique spinning mechanism design. However, not all of these designs are created equally. A lot of them are completely useless, while a few work exceptionally well. These are the three mechanisms that work the best.

Pump style

This style of spinner involves a pump that can be pressed down. This downward motion triggers a few gears and makes the strainer spin. It is fast and reliable, although it can take quite a bit of effort to spin it fast.

Crank style

The crank-style spinning mechanism is fairly old but still fully functional. It involves a crank/knob on top that you spin like an antique stone grain grinder. These spinners are not as structurally sound as the pump mechanism, but they still hold very well during regular home use.

Pull style

The pull method of salad strainer spinning is fairly new and is only found in a handful of famous salad spinners. However, it has a lot of benefits over the other two mechanisms. The key feature of these is that they are fairly easy for you. You do not need to put much effort into it. The long-term reliability of this style of spinner is still in question, but they seem to be holding up pretty well so far.

What Is the Right Size for a Salad Spinner?

Salad spinners come in all sorts of sizes and capacities, and there is not a single "right" option among these. Instead, the choice depends entirely on your needs.

• A salad spinner with a capacity of 2 quarts is suitable for only a single small serving of salad.
• A salad spinner with a capacity of 3 quarts allows you to make enough salad for a single full serving.
• A salad spinner with a capacity between 4 and 5 quarts will let you make a salad for a small family.
• Salad spinners of 6 quarts or more are suitable for making enough salad for more than five folks at a time.

Additional Features To Look for in Salad Spinners

If you’re trying to get extra bang for your buck, these are some of the features and attributes you should look out for when buying a salad spinner:

Locking lid

A tight-fit locking lid is necessary as it will allow you to drain the water while keeping the lid on, so you can do another round. You can also leave the salad inside the spinner for a few hours, and it will stay fresh as long as the lid is airtight.

Dishwasher-safe construction

A salad spinner made from BPA-free and dishwasher-safe plastic is an obvious choice. Luckily, almost all spinners from reputable brands like Oxo follow this guideline. But, there are also plenty of cheap no-name spinners that do not state these features on their product page. Avoiding these unmarked spinners is the best choice, even if they can save you a few dollars.

Top Picks

• Best Quality: Oxo Good Grips Salad Spinner
• Great For Single Servings: Oxo Good Grips Little Salad Spinner
• Contender: Farberware Pump Salad Spinner
• Honorable Mention: Cuisinart Green And White Salad Spinner
• Also Consider: Mueller Large 5l Salad Spinner
• Best Design: Zulay Kitchen Large Salad Spinner
• Best Overall: Zulay Kitchen Manual Salad Spinner

Reviews

Best Quality

Oxo Good Grips Salad Spinner

Pros	Cons
Minimalist clear design Durable construction material Comes with a non-slip ring under the base	Requires quite a bit of force to spin fast

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Great for Single Servings

Oxo Good Grips Little Salad Spinner

Pros	Cons
Ideal for single salad servings Made from BPA-free plastics The pump can lock flat for easy storage	Requires even more force to spin fast

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Contender

Farberware Pump Salad Spinner

Pros	Cons
Wholesome white and green design Made from sturdy material	The spinning mechanism may get stuck at times

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Honorable Mention

Cuisinart Green And White Salad Spinner

Pros	Cons
Offers great value for your money Easy to add and drain water without removing the lid Bowl is made from sturdy clear plastic	Requires more force to operate than other methods

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Also Consider

Mueller Large 5l Salad Spinner

Pros	Cons
Well-designed spinning mechanism Anti wobble base Made from reinforced ABS plastic Lively orange and white colors	May be too small for some users

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Best Design

Zulay Kitchen Large Salad Spinner

Pros	Cons
Effective at drying lettuce Has a secure lid lock Compact for easy storage	Can be too bulky to store

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Best Overall

Zulay Kitchen Manual Salad Spinner

Pros	Cons
Features a generous capacity  Provides efficient water drainage  Constructed from sturdy and durable materials	Requires significant storage space

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