Choosing the Best Salad Spinner

Amazon.comFor years, my salad spinner consisted of two cheery, checked kitchen towels stitched together on three sides by an enterprising roommate, who was taught to sew all sorts of wonderful, useful things by her equally enterprising Aunt Dorothy. Our "salad bag" couldn't have been any simpler to use: We would fill the bag with washed greens, lean out the back door over the mint patch (or over the kitchen sink, depending on the weather), and shake the bag vigorously. Stored in the dampened bag, the greens kept beautifully in the refrigerator, and, after being air-dried, the empty bag folded up to next to nothing. It was brilliant.

I can't remember what happened to that bag, but somehow I ended up with a fancy OXO salad spinner that boasts an inner colander, a powerful plunger mechanism, and a button that acts as an emergency brake, halting the basket's centrifugal whirl instantly. I'm not sure why one actually needs this last feature, but it is really fun to use and makes you feel incredibly efficient.

THE BEST INEXPENSIVE SALAD SPINNERS

The first salad spinner I ever used was the crank-driven Copco; it left ruffly lettuce too wet and was cumbersome to store, but boy, at $10 it was hard to beat. That icon has been discontinued, but the Sunbeam (about $10 from amazon.com) goes for about the same price, although you literally get less bang for the buck: Drainage holes in the bottom of the spinner require you to use it in the sink or in a larger bowl rather than on the kitchen counter.

For an extra five dollars, I would spring instead for the Farberware Soft Grip spinner (about $15 at Walmart), which works pretty well. It also has a shallow pour spout on the rim -- handy for parking salad utensils if you use the clear plastic bowl for serving.

THE BEST EXPENSIVE SALAD SPINNERS

The Zyliss Smart Touch comes in clear plastic, which is perfectly fine, but also in a zippy green that reminds me of an old Saab hatchback I used to own. Available in a large 4- to 6-serving size (about $28 at amazon.com) and a smaller 2- to 3-serving size (about $24 at amazon.com), it operates fairly smoothly, although the pump-action lever isn't what I would call turbo-charged.

The KitchenAid Salad and Fruit Spinner (about $30 from amazon.com) has a cheeky, cleverest-chap-in-school air about it: Aside from the generously sized clear plastic bowl and white colander, removable dividers mean you can dry arugula and cherries at the same time. The spinner handles a dinner party's worth of mesclun with aplomb, but cleanup is a bit of a bore; there are lots of moving parts, and, the plunger mechanism shouldn't be submerged in water. Go figure.

OXO's Good Grips salad spinner has long been the stand-out in this category for its well-balanced, easy-to-use, durable hand pump -- which locks into a flat position for smart storage -- and its instant-stop button. You'll find it in basic white plastic, clear plastic (about $26 from amazon.com), and florescent green. The latest version is made of stainless steel (about $45 from amazon.com), which manages to look brawny and sleek simultaneously -- sort of like a fancy refrigerator or range, but lots, lots cheaper. What aren't cheaper, but still very cute are OXO's mini salad/herb spinners; they retail for just a dollar or so less than the full-size models.