OXO Good Grips Little Salad & Herb Spinner, Plastic

Product Information

A plethora of great features make this all-plastic salad spinner a winner. The lid has a hole and a strainer, so you can fill the whole thing with water, use the spinner to agitate the greens, then pour the water out through the hole, while the strainer keeps everything inside. This is especially helpful for very dirty or sandy greens, such as spinach, and it's the only spinner we tested that had this feature. If you're looking for a salad spinner that's efficient but also modern and attractive, the Oxo Steel model is a great choice. It has the elements expected from Oxo's trusted brand, plus a sleek design that looks as good on the table serving your freshly spun salad as it does on the counter as a tool. The bowl of OXO's Steel Salad Spinner is just beautiful: Crafted of brushed stainless steel, it has a beautifully rounded shape and a grippy underside. We'd buy it on its own as a serving bowl…vthe fact that it comes as part of a salad spinner is just a bonus. As far as bowl material goes, for efficient spinning, you need to be able to see your product to know when it's dry. Clear bowls are best for this, but they're not as attractive if you want to also use them as a serving bowl. Stainless steel bowls tend to be more expensive but make attractive serving bowls.

This spinner uses a rotating knob mechanism and has to be operated with both hands — the other hand holds the lid down or it'll tip. It's a little arduous to crank, but the operation is quiet, and although it's not the most effective spinner in our bunch, the greens are dry enough to use. The bowl can be used for serving, but it's got a fairly basic design and is made of filmy clear plastic that makes it look like the base of a food storage container. This spinner has to be hand washed. For this metric, the first thing to note is that the mechanism to spin the colander varies across models. Five spinners use a crank arm, four use a push button, and one uses a pull handle/arm. These types of mechanisms can work effectively and ergonomically, but there were certain limitations to each type. Models with a crank arm can struggle to stay in place during the spinning action because the force is not applied in a downward fashion. If you are looking for a spinner with a small footprint, then the Prepworks Collapsible 3-Quart Spinner is a good choice. Though it underperformed in many of our tests, it still functioned adequately in most situations. This spinner was very easy to clean. The silicone walls of the colander may have contributed to inferior scores in the water removal and dirt removal metrics, but they did prove easy to clean. Those same silicone walls are also what allow this product to collapse and nest very efficiently.The OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner is one of the best push-button style models in our fleet. The push button fits nicely into the palm of our hand, and the downward force made the spinning operation very simple. Cleaning is quite simple, simply requiring you to pull apart the lid — unlike other units that require you to remove a screw. The included brake button worked well and did not need excessive force to stop. In our water and dirt removal tests, this unit performed above average. The colander did not have sharp edges, making it easier to clean. 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. P ull-string salad spinners work like they sound; you pull a string to activate the spin. ood momentum, too, but we don't love how the string gets wet during use and eventually discolors. Oftentimes salad spinners can double as serving bowls. Much of this comes down to personal preference, but stainless steel bowls are generally considered more attractive for serving, while clear, plastic bowls are more convenient because they allow you to see the greens as they spin. Consider whether or not you want your spinner to double as a stylish serving bowl (that means less dishes!).

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: Two sturdy clamps keep the lid in place for storage and while you're pouring water out. The spinning action is initiated by a knob that you turn, which is comfortable to hold and can be turned in either direction — nice for lefties. If you're a big fan of leafy greens and eat salads regularly, it may make more sense to opt for a salad spinner that's dishwasher safe and requires less effort to clean. If you don't have a dishwasher or don't plan on using your salad spinner often, the perk of hand washing means your salad spinner will probably resist warping and last longer. We'll forever have a soft spot for how OXO designs products that are easy and comfortable to operate. The company's Good Grips salad spinner uses a similar design as its Steel spinner, but the bowl is clear plastic and can double as an attractive serving bowl. 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.Anyone who has grown their own vegetables knows that sometimes things can get a little dirty during the harvesting process. Though greens from the store or your local farmers' market would most likely never be this dirty, our lead reviewer saw it necessary to put the spinners through a more extreme test. The Farberware Pro Pump Spinner is a push-powered and brake-equipped option, with an internal basket with a 5.25-quart capacity. With more than adequate functionality, this spinner is a mid-level performer in removing both water and dirt. It isn't the absolute best performer in either metric but, for the most part, left our greens plenty dry and clean. The rubberized bottom keeps the device from wiggling across the counter while in use, and the brake, while not instantaneous, works well enough. Handle-style spinners: Easier on the hand than the knob variety, a handle-style salad spinner is also difficult to store because of the awkward shape. The extended handle is attached to the gears, and as you manually spin the handle, the basket spins.

Only one model offered the ability to collapse into a smaller footprint. This was the Prepworks Collapsible 3-Quart Spinner. This option presented itself as a potentially great choice for folks with less cabinet space in their kitchens or those who may want to bring this kitchen appliance in their RV or camping setup. Both the bowl and colander on the Prepworks Collapsible 3-Quart Spinner proved to be sturdier than expected. Allrecipes product tester Jessica Harlan used each salad spinner to prep Romaine lettuce for Caesar salad, and kale for Mediterranean kale salad. To start, the lettuce was weighed while still dry, then washed, spun, and weighed again to see how much water remained on the lettuce. During testing, Jessica paid special attention to the following factors: 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 pulls out dirt particles hidden in the ribs and crevices of your lettuce, spinach, arugula, and more while drawing out any excess liquid. Warding off that lingering moisture helps keep your salad from getting soggy or moldy, but also maintains the consistency and flavor of your salad dressing. Apart from helping to achieve the perfect salad, these handy gadgets are also useful in washing large batches of herbs, cleaning cruciferous vegetables like broccoli or brussel sprouts, and washing berries.The SwiftDry Salad spinner uses the same plastic bowl and unusually shaped spin basket as its pull-cord model. But this version has a lid with a lever that pops up. Pushing the lever down will activate the spinning motion through a series of gears that you can actually see through the translucent green plastic housing if you look underneath the lid.

Along with overall construction, size, and quality, we tested the bowl's versatility with other tasks—such as mixing pancake batter. Since we love multi-function kitchen tools, we also noticed how the bowls worked as serving vessels (for example, if they retained food temperature). We liked the attractive design of this product: The bowl is frosted plastic, and it has a pretty flared shape that makes it a nice serving piece. The colander basket is bright green, matching the cord handle, and the company says it's heat resistant so it can double as a colander for hot foods, like pasta and potatoes. Keeping the spinner secure while operating is a concern. Look for a wide base to ensure stability and features like non-slip coating or feet that make them even more balanced and steady. Just like the larger model, this one has an easy pump-action spinner and patented brake to stop with ease. In our test with the radicchio, we found the plunger was comfortable to grip, and it only took 10 pumps to completely clean and dry the greens. We appreciated that the clear bowl made it easy to see when the greens were dry, and the brake was instantly responsive when pushed. We also loved the non-slip base for stability and the sturdy construction of the plastic bowl. 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 herbswith its 2.5-quart basket. We found that it easily accommodated two heads of radicchio for one test, two bunches of cilantro for another, and one pint of blueberries for a third.

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 (made of polyester, nylon, and polyurethane). It's shaped in a large square, with elongated corners. We tested each salad spinner using salad greens and herbs with varying water content levels, including romaine lettuce, green leaf lettuce, radicchio, and cilantro. We also used them on bulkier vegetables, strawberries, and blueberries to asses how they perform with delicate and firm produce. To test the strength of the baskets, we used each to drain freshly-cooked pasta. The spin basket had an unusual pattern of cutouts; some are horizontal while others are angled upwards and downwards, which might account for how thoroughly the water was able to pull away from the greens.The spinning action works with a pump mechanism, and the pump handle has a comfortably rounded shape made of grippy plastic. It feels great in the hand and doesn't require much effort to operate, for lefties and righties alike. Like its sister product, the spinning is initiated by pushing the pump, and in this model, the brake works even better, immediately freezing the basket's motion. We liked that the pump handle is comfortable and grippy, that it can be used with the right or left hand, and that the whole thing is relatively lightweight. For each test, we noted how operating the pump or knob felt and how much strength was required to start and continue spinning. After recording the responsiveness of each spinner and the level of stability the base provided, we saw how many pumps or spins it took to completely clean and dry the produce, noting any difficulty in stopping the spinner once it got going.