The Best Salad Spinner America’s Test Kitchen for 2021

Welcome, all cooking lovers! Today, we will introduce a detailed buying guide that will help you pick out the best salad spinner from our list of 9 products..

It is a salad spinner, the tool to get off excess water from vegetables, fruits, and other food. Don’t worry if you don’t know much about this product.

Let’s follow this article and pick up the best one for you. 

Reviews of the best salad spinner America’s Test Kitchen,Cooks Illustrated

Here are top salad spinner on the Market

Oxo Good Grip Large Salad Spinner: Best Choice

The OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner is easy to use for draining the greens, thanks to its convenient push-down button.  There is a lever on the side of the button that helps you change the torque. This feature allows you to spin a smaller amount of vegetables than other models. 

The OXO’s design includes a brake, which can slow down the basket immediately. Not only does the brake stop the spinning, but it also kicks the last bit of water off your greens.

The brand used BPA-free plastic to make the bowl and the colander. There’s a no-slip strip on the bottom to make sure that the spinner doesn’t slip on your counter. 

Pros

• Dishwasher safe
• One-handed pump which is easy to use

Cons

• Hard to store as its super bulky design

Oxo Steel Salad Spinner

Another product from the OXO brand is the Steel Salad Spinner. This tool features a simple pump mechanism, including a large plunger made of non-slip polymer. You can easily operate the device with one hand with a few pumps to connect the gears.

This OXO model also has a transparent acrylic lid, through which you can watch the whole process. Interestingly, you can easily separate the two caps. Besides, the bowl is made of stainless steel, making it easy to clean but hard to break. The spinner balances well thanks to its non-slip polymer base.

Pros

• Large capacity (6 quarts)
• A sleek design
• Multipurpose (such as a serving bowl)

Cons

• Can rust – requires immediate and careful rinse and drying

Cuisinart Salad Spinner

The salad spinner from Cuisinart is a cost-effective option as well as  easy to operate, to wash, and to spin-dry greens. Despite its large capacity of 5 quarts, the spinner is light and versatile. 

A wide lid-mounted knob is easy to grasp. You can easily operate this knob with only a few turns to boost the basket to the full speed. For added stability, the transparent acrylic bowl has a non-slip ring on the base. You can also use one part of the spinner as a serving bowl.

Pros

• Easy to fill contents in
• Easy to drain

Cons

• Fragile plastic

Mueller 5-quart Salad Spinner Vegetable

The Mueller salad spinner has a large capacity of 5.28 quarts. The German brand made this design from BPA-free plastic, which is safe for food and users’ health. The spinner features a stop button to make it easy to use. 

A smart-lock technology prevents the lid from accidentally open while using. An anti-wobble feature and non-slip pads in the base add up to the appeal of the salad spinner’s robust design. 

Pros

• Large capacity to hold greens
• Hygiene material made of BPA-free plastic 

Cons

• Loose-feel pulling mechanism
• A high price

5 Quart Salad Spinner

The OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner includes a non-slip foundation. This attribute keeps the bowl secure on the countertop even when it spins vigorously at peak speeds. You can simply click on the non-slip knob to operate the basket. 

There is a built-in brake that stops the tool immediately for unloading. The bowl has a broader base and a flat top, which makes it easy to store  in the cupboard or refrigerator.

The manufacturer has reduced the pump mechanism’s size to spare room for vegetables like arugula. You can separate the underside of the lid with a click on a button before cleaning.

Pros

• Easy to use
• Easy to store
• Large capacity (5 quarts)

Cons

• Discolored grip over time 

Westmark German Salad Spinner

Another German brand named Westmark also provides a salad spinner model along with a pouring spout. You can expect high-quality user experiences with this design. 

This device has a capacity of 5 quarts to drain a large amount of green for your home meal preparation. The Westmark German’s tool features a powerful spin system with one-handed operation. You will also love its spin knob, which assists in washing vegetable leaves and fruits. 

Notably, the German manufacturer has designed a pouring spout to drain off the water inside the basket. The detachable basket allows you to use it as a colander as well. 

Pros

• A sleek design
• A convenient pouring spout
• Easy to use

Cons

• No string for spinning

Progressive Small Salad Spinner with Handle

The unique feature of the Progressive salad spinner is a long stick handle, which gives users full control while draining off water from the basket. The combination of this handle and a lid prevents any slip-off while using.

The wide knob makes a strong spin force to easily whip the basket to top speed. It’s good at expelling water as the basket can be spun in any direction. The model is sturdy and useful for rinsing and drying small portions of greens, berries, and other vegetables. 

Pros

• Lightweight
• Durable
• Spin in different directions

Cons

• Bulky design because of the handle

Dynamic SD92 Manual Salad Spinner

The Dynamic SD92 Manual 5 Gallon Salad Spinner is ideal to keep large-scale greens thanks to its 5-gallon capacity. You can hold up to 8 heads of lettuce in one spin.

The manufacturer made this model from the most robust plastic. Interestingly, you can buy spare parts to replace the gears. The producer provides a one year warranty, long enough for you to test and try. 

Pros

• A durable design
• A solid handle
• Easy to clean

Cons

• No brake
• A loose lid

Dynamic EM98 Commercial Electric Salad Spinner

Unlike the hand-operated spinners above, the Dynamic EM98 salad spinner uses electricity. This machine can spin 500 times per minute. It means you can drain  8 heads of lettuce within 60 seconds. However, you can operate this machine at one single speed. 

A product of solid construction, the spinner is made of long-lasting polypropylene plastic. This material received an antibacterial treatment preventing the growth of germs. The manufacturer recommends users to keep the tool away from a dishwasher while its lid should not be soaked into water to secure its durability.

Pros

• Durable construction
• Antibacterial material 

Cons

• Hand wash only

How to choose the best salad spinner?

Material

The most common material used to make salad spinners is plastic; however, stainless steel models are also available on the market. Despite the appearance, both models perform well. If you need a cost-effective spinner, the plastic design will be a decent choice for your kitchen cupboard.

Rotational mechanism

On the market, the manufacturers have produced salad spinners operating in different rotational mechanisms. There are 5 types of systems like crank/handle, pull cord, push/pump button, or electrically powered.

Crank/Handle

This type is the original model and the common style. You rotate the crank/handle in a circular motion to start the gear. This gear connects to another gear to turn the basket around. Then the basket spins at an adequate speed to separate water from the vegetables. The crank/handle model requires more physical effort than other spinning mechanisms.

Push/Pump button

This type of spinner works based on a press on a pump. This action ignites the spinning of the bowl. The mechanism features a button to press for locking the spinner to protect the pump.

Pull cord

As its name suggests, this rotational mechanism uses a pull cord to operate. This type makes gentler spins on the greens than the push-button technique.

Electrically powered

A more efficient variant of the spinner is an electrically powered type. In industrial operations, they are often used to spin several pounds of salad at a time.

Size

The size of the salad spinner also plays an important role. You should consider the space for storage, the purpose of use for home or restaurants. A family of 5 people may not need a 5-gallon spinner using electricity to operate. Instead, a smaller size may fit this family perfectly.

Budget

Like other kitchen appliances, the salad spinners come in various designs with a wide range of prices. You can pick a plastic salad spinner if you have a tighter budget. Or, a small size spinner with a budget-friendly price tag is another great alternative as well.

Why do you need the salad spinner?

The salad spinner helps remove the residual water from leafy vegetables for a healthy salad on your dining table. This drying tool is important to prevent the salad from being soggy and allow the salad dressing with essential oils to stay on the leaves. Not only do the spinners dry vegetables, but they also help drain other food as well. For example:

Pasta

A quick rotation in the spinner can remove any excess water from your pasta. It is easier to mix up drained pasta with spaghetti sauces. 

Chicken and fish

When you make fried chicken or fish, getting each bit of the meat clean and dried is important. By doing so, the breadcrumbs will stick evenly to your pieces of chicken or fish. In this step, you can use the salad spinner to make the ingredients drier, simply by a couple of spins. 

Berries

Fresh berries like blueberries, raspberries, strawberries should be drained before adding to your delicious bowl of cereal. The berries are easily bruised, so the salad spinner is powerful but gentle enough to dry them. You should remember to operate the spin at a moderate speed to keep the berries in good condition.

Rising dough

Here, no real spinning is involved. If your spinner includes a clear tank, you can use it as a cover for the dough. Using the transparent spinner bowl enables you to observe the dough’s growing process without disrupting or drying it out.

What are the best salad spinners?

As the various benefits of the salad spinners, we highly recommend you to own the best salad spinner in your kitchen. Among the 9 products above, the top 3 best salad spinners should be the Oxo Good Grip Salad Spinner, the Westmark German Salad Spinner, and the Dynamic EM98 Commercial Electric Salad Spinner. These designs can dry out vegetables, pasta, and berries, or even to protect your raising dough. 

Finally, we are curious about your pick for a salad spinner! Leave your comments here and let us know!

Joost Nusselder, the founder of BistroSK is a content marketer, dad and loves trying out new food, and together with his team he's been creating in-depth blog articles since 2019 to help loyal readers with recipes and cooking tips.