OXO Salad Spinner
Reliable washer for greens
For any salad lover, the spinner is perhaps the most elegant and useful invention of all time. Known for years as that cool, design-minded brand that manufactures everything from garlic presses to tea kettles, OXO has taken the reins of the salad spinner market.
Instead of a crank arm and string pulley, the OXO model ($30) sports a pump-action plunger-like mechanism. Click a button, and the pump springs up from being flush with the lid. Depress the pump a few times to get the sucker spinning real fast. Then, a push of the brake button stops the spinning in seconds.
The plastic is non-porous, so it’s much more resistant to odors. To top it off, there’s a rubber rim around the bottom, which keeps the bowl from slipping as you enthusiastically spin your Cocard or Rouge d’hiver.
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), the parts are yanked to a stop, which puts a lot of stress on them.
The OXO beats the Zyliss hands-down. I’ve been using mine almost daily for a year. I haven’t found another spinner quite like it. I grew up in a family that graduated from keeping a small garden to an actual farm, so I have always eaten copious amounts of salad, even when it wasn’t bursting out of the ground chez nous. Needless to say, I really appreciate a good salad spinner!
10/2/18(This is a Cool Tools Favorite from 2008 — editors)
OXO Salad Spinner ($30)
