OXO Salad Spinner
The salad spinner is, for any salad lover, perhaps the most elegant and useful invention of all time. Known for years as that cool brand with the cool designs for everything from garlic presses to tea kettles to silicone pot holders, this American firm has taken the reins of the salad spinner market. Gone are both the crank arm and the string pull. In their stead, the OXO sports a pump-action plunger-like device. Click a button, and the pump springs up from its storage-friendly flushness with the top of the lid. Get that sucker spinning fast with a few pumps, and then push the brake button to stop the spinning action in seconds. And to top it off, the rubber-happy folks at OXO have provided what may be the most useful detail of all: a rim of sticky rubber around the bottom of the bowl to keep the unit from slipping on your countertop as you enthusiastically spin your Cocard or Rouge d'hiver. The plastic is non-porous (including the plastic of the basket), so it's much more resistant to odors, too. For several years, the Zyliss was the gold standard in salad spinners. They first replaced the traditional crank arm design with a pull-string that reduced time and elbow strain dramatically. But eventually they changed their design just enough to make a once-elegant device clunky and annoying. Since the Zyliss doesn't spin freely (it stops when the string gets reeled back in), it puts a lot of stress on the moving parts that are yanked to a stop.The OXO beats it hands-down. I haven't found another spinner quite like it. I've been using mine almost daily for about a year. I grew up in a family that first had a garden, then a farm, and have always eaten copious amounts of salad, even when it wasn't bursting out of the ground chez nous, so I really appreciate a good salad spinner!
-- David Jacoby
We've been spinning fresh greens with this one for a few years. Like most every OXO gadget that lives in our kitchen, this is an absolute winner.
-- Steven Leckart
OXO Salad Spinner
$25
(Model:32480)
Available from Amazon
Manufactured by OXO International, LTD
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Favorite (15)
Jay Ferm
The positive comments in the review are accurate. However, there is a real problem with this spinner. It does a poor job of actually getting the water off the greens. We had a no-name spinner for years that used a geared crank. That sucker got things nearly dry. Washed greens would keep for almost a week. Then we got this Oxo as a gift when we married and donated the no-name to charity. Big mistake. Unfortunately, the speed of the Oxo is limited by the short length of the plunger. Bottom line is that the top-speed on the Oxo is much slower than our old no-name. The consequences for greens is much shorter shelf life after washing. After about 3 days washed greens start to slime up. We now wash only a few days worth of greens at a time. I keep my eyes open at yard sales in hopes of regaining a high speed no-name spinner.