Review of Salad Spinner - by Oxo Good Grips - an Amazon Best Seller

If you haven't already got a salad spinner, you might ask why anyone would want to buy one. What's the point of it, and why would you want a bulky item that takes up space in your kitchen?

That's what I thought until I saw one in use in someone else's home.

The point is that salads and vegetables need to be washed before use. You never know where they've been, whether they've been dropped on the floor, or whether the last person handling them washed their hands before or after they went to the toilet.

So I don't think there's much dispute about the need for washing your food before it's eaten. And the salad spinner does this very efficiently.

The problem with washing things like lettuce leaves is that you don't want to put wet leaves into your salad, so you need to dry them. You could just shake them, or, more satisfactory, dry them on a tea towel, but putting them in a whirling salad spinner is much more convenient.

• You start off by filling the outer encasement with water, putting the leaves in the inner basket, and giving them a good swirl and wash around with your hands.
• Then you empty out the water and fill it up again, to give the leaves a secondary wash, getting out all the flecks of dirt you can see, and some of the germs and dirt you can't see. The outer bowl has a spout to facilitate pouring.
• Once you're sure the leaves are spotless, you pour away the water, leaving the lettuce leaves in the inner basket, put the lid on and pump the salad round at speed, and the remaining water flies off, leaving the lettuce almost dry, and the small amount of water left at the bottom of the container to be thrown away.

Basically, you put your salad in the internal basket, and then run water over it to wash it. Pour away the water from the outer container, and then put the lid on the container, press the central button with the palm of your hand, and this makes the inner basket spin round quite fast, which dries the salad. It's especially good for lettuce and other leafy vegetables and herbs.

The one I have works by spinning a little handle which is inset in the lid and ingeniously turns the basket inside. You can get up quite a speed, and the centrifugal force as you spin it gets the water flying off the contents, but it does have a tendency to stick or pull out from the lid.

One of the things I especially like about these salad spinners is that, once you've washed and dried your salad, you can store it in the external container and use it as a salad bowl, and, if you need to store your salad in the fridge until it's needed, you just cover it with the lid.

All the components are easy to wash and dishwasher-safe on the top shelf.

Here's what the sellers' description on Amazon says about the Oxo Good Grips Salad Spinner::

• Dry greens and herbs with easy, one-handed operation
• Patented pump mechanism and brake button; clear lid
• Non-slip ring keeps bowl steady; basket and non-slip bowl
• Top-rack dishwasher safe
• Measures 10 by 10 by 7.2 inches