Drying salad ingredients

I have tried patting things between cloths, swinging an ancient French basket, and now am beginning the use of an actual spinner, OXO with a glass bowl. What do you like? I think it is very useful to get salad ingredients dry. Is it an issue for you?

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If I’m cooking for company, I will break out the salad spinner, but I hate cleaning that thing. Any other time, I just dab with paper towels or lay out the greens on a towel, in addition to flinging them madly over the sink.

Drying the greens makes a big difference, but it’s one of those annoying steps for me that I’ll gladly skip if I’m hungry

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If I’m just making salad for Mrs. ricepad and me, I’ll roll the greens in a clean kitchen towel (or use paper towels). If I’m making salad for more, I’ll break out the spinner.

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I am looking forward to rinsing stuff in the glass bowl, tossing it in the spinner, rinsing the bowl, spinning the greens, and tossing the whole contraption in the DW.

You forgot about picking the little pieces of greens that get stuck in the holes in the spinner. That’s the absolute highlight of the night.

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I’ve had a few spinners. They do a good job, but, as with food processors, I don’t think them worth all the cleaning/storage/counterspace trouble. Especially for 2-4 diners. Mine have all been plastic, and have eventually done what plastic does.

I’ve now reverted to vicious shaking of the colander and then whirling my greens in a flour sack towel. Hilarity usually ensues, but cooking, as with all of life, is messy…

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I rinse and spin all my greens before I refrigerate. I have an upteen year old zyliss spinner, the one with the pull cord.

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I have an OXO spinner and use it regularly. I agree that salads shouldn’t be waterlogged, I have a relative who pulls the lettuce out of a bath (at least she does that) and dripping/running water into the salad bowl. Really dilutes everything in the salad, IMO. I also use it for herbs like cilantro, which we use a lot.

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Am on my third Zyliss spinner, which isn’t made anymore & I love it. Best method I’ve found for greens. Rinse out the spinner immediately & put on the drying mat, pretty easy. If using just a few lettuce leaves, I’ll pat dry on cloth or paper. Refrigerating even spun greens for awhile does help with the crispness & dryness factors. If I want to chill just washed greens but don’t have time, I throw some frozen peas in the salad, which works well.

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I have one of those inexpensive plastic salad spinners. It does a great job and all the parts can go into the dishwasher. Cleanup is a breeze!!

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We use a colander, one of many, and do the shake thing. No problems.

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Toss them in the air fryer at the lowest setting (~105F) for about 1-2 minutes, checking after every 30 seconds for “dryness”

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What Dan said.

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Same! Mine is really old, maybe 15 years. Have always thought of ‘upgrading’ but this one does exactly what it needs to do without any issues…

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I have a small oxo spinner. It’s plastic. I got the small one because of storage space. I can always do 2 batches if necessary. It’s plastic; I don’t put it in the dishwasher. I use a wooden bowl for salad. I love my salad bowl lol.

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I also have the big OXO spinner and am frankly baffled by the complaints about cleaning it. Yeah, picking out some of the salad bits is a bit of a PITA, but I’l put up with that for crisp, non-drippy salad ingredients.

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That’s all you do to clean it–pick out left-behind green bits?

I pick out the the bits, then rinse the parts in hot water and let it drain. I love my salad spinner.

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That’s great that you love it.

I feel compelled to treat salad spinners like other dirty cookware. Soapy brush and hot water, then dry. The tops tend to be more complex, and I see no choice but to completely immerse or run through the DW.

My spin method ends with the towel in the laundry.

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Yeah, for the most part. All that goes in is salad greens and/or herbs, and water… and while our water is pretty hard, there’s not much reason to fully submerge it in soapy water regularly.

I’ll use a dish brush on the drainer if there is any gunk built up, of course :woman_shrugging:

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