Best Salad Spinners

Pump-driven spinners perform best

Salad spinners help prevent waste by extending the usable life of fragile produce, such as lettuce and berries. Loose salad greens cost less and generally remain fresh longer than pre-bagged, pre-washed greens. What's more, bagged salad greens have been subject to recalls because of positive tests for bacteria such as E. coli, and a 2003 study at the Rome Institute of Food and Nutrition showed that the nutrients are lost in the processing of bagged salad greens.

The mechanics of a salad spinner are simple: wet salad greens are whirled around in a basket, and centrifugal force whisks away the water from the crevices in the leaves. The best spinners have bowls that aren't perforated, so you can wash and spin greens in the same bowl. If the bowl is attractive enough, it can do double duty as a serving bowl.

There are two main types of salad spinners: corded and pump-driven. Both are manual models. Although salad spinners with pull cords tend to dry greens a little better than pump-driven models (that's because they spin faster), pull cords can break, become tangled or fail to retract. Hand pumps are also a bit easier to use than ripcords, most reviewers say.

The OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner (*Est. $30) has all the attributes reviewers look for in a salad spinner: it's easy to operate and comes with a brake that allows you to quickly stop the basket from rotating, so greens remain in place when you remove the lid. The hand pump can be locked down for easier storage. Hundreds of owners posting to Amazon.com say that this spinner is effective and durable. The only downsides to this spinner are its size (10 inches wide by 10 inches tall) and its tendency to warp when run through the dishwasher. Owners say that hand-washing isn't really a problem, though: just dunk the parts in hot, soapy water, rinse and allow them to air dry.

If cupboard space is somewhat limited or if your household is small, reviews say that the OXO Good Grips Little Salad and Herb Spinner (*Est. $25) is an excellent choice. In function and features, it's nearly identical to its larger sibling, but at 8 inches tall, it's more compact. Like the larger OXO salad spinner, the Little Salad and Herb Spinner should be washed by hand. Hundreds of owners posting to Amazon.com are satisfied with this spinner, but a few question why the Little Salad and Herb spinner, which has half the capacity of the larger OXO spinner, doesn't cost less.

The OXO Stainless Steel Salad Spinner (*Est. $50) offers a couple of advantages over the other spinners in OXO's line-up: its steel bowl is unbreakable, and it's handsome enough to use as a serving bowl. Performance-wise, however, this spinner appears to be several steps down from the OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner and OXO Good Grips Little Salad and Herb Spinner. Although the stainless steel spinner performed well in the Los Angeles Times' salad-spinner review, several owners posting to Amazon.com say that the spring mechanism on their spinners broke within a few uses. The stainless steel OXO spinner is slightly larger than the OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner, but its capacity is about the same.

Reviews say that corded salad spinners rotate faster than hand-pump versions, so greens emerge a little drier. Yet Louisa Chu of Chow.com notes: "The cords [on these spinners] always break first -- either the cord itself or at its point of attachment." Still, she concedes that the Zyliss Easy Spin Salad Spinner (*Est. $20), which comes in two sizes (the larger size costs about $30), is a decent performer. Both spinners come in several vivid colors, including lime green and orange. Reviews of this spinner at Amazon.com are mixed, with some owners saying it works well and others saying that it's not as effective as earlier Zyliss designs.

The very newest Zyliss salad spinner, the Smart Touch (*Est. $30), uses a locking plastic lever instead of a ripcord. Although the Los Angeles Times gives this spinner a rave review, three owners posting to Amazon.com complain that the pump mechanism failed in short order.

Salad-spinning bags

If your cupboard space is limited, consider a salad-spinner bag. Argee Spin 'n Stor Reusable Salad Spinning Bags (*Est. $10 for 12 bags) are a favorite of both pro testers and owners posting to consumer-review sites. These plastic bags are similar to freezer bags, only larger. To use one, you fill the bag with washed greens, hold it closed at the top and whirl it around in a large arc about 10-12 times. The water drains into a reservoir along the side, which can be emptied into the sink. These reusable bags must be washed by hand and will eventually wear out, but unfortunately, professional reviewers haven't tested their durability.