Salad Spinner

lightt

18 years ago

I noticed my local COSTCO currently has KitchenAid salad spinners (~$20.00, I think(?)).

Does anyone here have any experience with one of these?

Thanks,

Terry Light

Oak Hill, Virginia

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Comments (9)

barbara9093
18 years ago
The KitchenAid looks similar to my salad spinner, which I think is an OXO. Mine doesn't have the option of spinning several items at the same time in a segmented basket, which the Kitchen Air has, although I don't know if that's something useful or gimmicky. I really like my pump salad spinner. The pump gets things spinning really fast, so your lettuce will be nice and dry.

One feature I like on mine is that you can lock the pump into a down position so it's easier to fit the spinner in a drawer. Does the KitchenAid have that? It seems to have a really tall pump, so you'd want to make sure you have a place to put it when you're not using it.

Barbara
steve_o
18 years ago
My spinner has the pull-string (think yo-yo) and it works well enough, but the pump style would be easier to use (no string to slip or get tangled up). It was a garage-sale buy, though, and for as often as I use it, it's fine. I don't know about the segmented basket. My experience is that greens take a lot of space, and that you'd end up using a few segments for a given recipe and the basket would be harder to clean anyway.
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krustytopp
17 years ago
I don't know about the KitchenAid, but I just bought the OXO and I find it a huge disappointment, especially given its high cost. My old crank-style cheap thingy does a better job of drying. Maybe there is a particular technique that the user has to master for each spinner. With either spinner, I let the greens sit on the table for a while, uncovered, so that the residual moisture has a chance to evaporate.

It's just easier to buy the bagged (prewashed) salads.
gardenlad
17 years ago
I don't think I've ever actually seen a crank-style, although I keep hearing references to them. The pull string type just seemed to fuss-budgety to me; and Mr. Murphy lies hiding behind every lettuce leaf.

I've had the large OXO for, oh, a dozen years anyway, and have never been dissatisfied with it. I fill the basket, give the pump a push or three, and let her rip.

I don't imagine the KA would be very much different. But I do wonder about the segmented basket, for the same reasons Steve-o gave.
BeverlyAL
17 years ago
I had what was supposed to be a battery powered OXO. I had to stand over and and continuously pump it to get it to turn. Even then it didn't get much water off the lettuce. Plus it took up a lot of cabinet space.

I haven't seen the KA one at Costco. I did however find a small crank Zyliss at TJMaxx and I love it! I tossed the OXO right in the trash.
Jean Popowitz
17 years ago
I had an old crank-style that had a hole in the top to run the water through, then you turned the water off & kept cranking to spin dry. A couple of weeks ago, I was outlet shopping and found a Tupperware store. They had a spinner that was a large bowl with a nice removeable basket so you soak the lettuce, swish it a bit and then pull the basket out to drain away the dirty water. Then you pop the spinner top on & crank away, lift off the top, lift out the basket & pour off the water again. The lettuce was nearly dry. The best part is the locking cover...you can pop the entire thing in the frig. It was $40 but I am very happy with it.
deniseburns
14 years ago
I have the costco salad spinner and I have one problem that probably is the result of not keeping the directions. When I pump the spinner it catches on the bottom and stops the spinning process. Help! What am I doing wrong. Otherwise I like it.
marys1000
14 years ago
I have the small oxo and like it a lot but it is usually just a little too small to hold a whole section of leaf lettuce or romaine or whatever. So I got a bigger different brand (white with a light green handle pull for spinning vs. the pump the button up and down. Holds a lot but is too big and takes up half my fridge.
Just another thing to consider.
w_fredfred_gmail_com
12 years ago
Just bought the Kitchen Aid pump-style salad spinner at Costco and I love it. I find the segments useful for cleaning just enough fresh veggies for a salad for two in one operation. It does a great job spinning the lettuce dry and I've had no difficulty with the spinning process. I guess it helps to be sure the inner bowl is set properly on the protrusion at the bottom of the outer bowl. I like the fact that I can store leftover salad in the outer bowl. It came with a cover for the pump hole so the top is well closed for refrigeration. I've been looking for a good salad spinner for long time and previously purchased an OXO collapsible salad spinner for its compactness but it did a terrible job drying the lettuce so I returned it. At long last, I have a salad spinner that does the job and then some.