Salad Spinner Review

Experts identify the best salad spinners

The best salads are made with washed and dried greens -- when salad greens are dry, they better accept salad dressing so that your dressed greens don't end up watery. While you can pat washed greens dry with paper towels, a salad spinner makes quick work of it -- literally spinning water out of your lettuce. Salad spinners aren't expensive, but there are a lot of them on the market. We looked to professional and owner-written reviews to find the most effective, easy-to-use spinners.

The best review of salad spinners' design, effectiveness and looks appeared in the Los Angeles Times. While most other reviews cover one or two spinners, the Los Angeles Times tests six. Given that many consumers use their salad spinners as serving bowls, we were pleased to find a photo of each spinner alongside the written report. We also found salad spinner reviews in Cook's Illustrated magazine and at Epicurious.com, but unfortunately, each review covers just two spinners. A report by Louisa Chu of Chow.com is more comprehensive, but one of the spinners she covers is commercial-grade, with a price to match -- the Dynamic Manual Salad Spinner (*Est. $160). Unfortunately, Consumer Reports has never taken a look at salad spinners.

Problems with salad spinners (cracking or warping bowls, breaking cords) reveal themselves only over time, making owner reviews invaluable. At Amazon.com, a few salad spinners garner hundreds of reviews, while at Cooking.com, most salad spinners receive a dozen ratings or fewer.

Salad spinner design flaws can set baskets off-kilter, send lids into orbit or just leave greens wet and therefore dilute dressings. The Progressive International Salad Spinner (*Est. $22) earns below-average ratings from owners posting to Amazon.com. Complaints center on its bowl, which is perforated at the bottom. While this allows water to drain away, it also means that you can't wash the lettuce inside the bowl. Owners also complain that when the centrifugal force builds up, the basket can slip out of place and the lid can go flying.

Although the KitchenAid Red Salad and Fruit Spinner (*Est. $45) gets praise in the Los Angeles Times' tests, owners posting to Amazon.com pan it for poor performance and design flaws. The plunger is not removable, and this spinner has eight parts that must be cleaned.