Gadget-Free Salad Spinner
No one likes soggy lettuce, and you certainly can’t skip washing your lettuce. Some people solve this problem with a salad spinner. I have to admit pumping a little handle up and down can be rather fun. We just don’t have room for a salad spinner in our kitchen no matter how often we like a little lettuce with our lunch.
Luckily I was helping a German friend in her small kitchen a couple of years ago, and she was making salad. She pulled out a fresh dish towel and laid her freshly washed lettuce right on top. She brought the corners into her hand like a hobo sack.
Then she just started swinging the bundled towel in a giant circle like a circus man tossing a ball of fire. Twenty seconds later, she laid the towel on the counter and opened it. The lettuce was a perfect combination of dry yet still slightly moist – just as if she used a salad spinner.
I’ve been spinning my salad this way every since. Oh – you may need to double your dishtowel to keep water from flying through the fabric as you spin.
I probably don’t spin my salad in the air with quite the enormous circles that she had. Of course, I also wonder if she really had made these wildly large arm motions like I seem to remember in my mind. After all, I was jet lagged and new to Europe. You know how crazy people get in foreign countries.
Have you picked up any tricks in the kitchen that work like a charm without having the designated gadget? Or anyone out there have another trick for the perfect lettuce? Whatever it is that makes your kitchen time (or your vegetables!) fly by, do share!
Wanna check out a few more gadget-less tricks we’ve picked up? Here ya go: chemical-free dusting, a recycled glass vase, and hassle-free salt storage.
I love it! It’s simple tips like these that we all need to be reminded of every now and then. My favorite kitchen tip is to avoid the need for pot scrubbers by putting dirty pans back on the hot stove with water and a bit of dish soap. The mess softens up and is a breeze to wash without needing any powders, scrubbers or elbow grease.
i LOVE this! i have had my eye on a salad spinner for some time but didn’t want to spend the $. i’m so glad i didn’t!!
turns out i’ve got plenty of salad spinners (dish towels). thanks!
glad you stopped by my blog!
I’ve always hated the idea of buying a salad spinner when I can just use a towel to soak up the water. This seems like a faster method that dabbing every little leaf (which I usually end up just skipping out of impatience). Thanks for sharing.
Ah, this post is a week too late for me! We’ve had the same salad spinner for 25 years, until it broke a couple of months ago. No big deal as it was winter and we weren’t eating greens from our garden, but now that spring is here we are eating our homegrowns and I missed my salad spinner. So I bought one on clearance and love it, but could’ve save some money by using this method!
Great idea, AND I have that exact same towel!
Instead of spinning, I’ve laid my lettuce leaves or spinach leaves on a towel, and rolled the towel up and pressed gently – your way is probably less traumatic for the leaves…
Will be doing the same thing this weekend; my salad spinner is broken and I hate trying to use it…
Yep. Salad spinners are over-rated. (Though fun.) I first saw a similar idea to yours in Costa Rica – only they used a pillow case instead of a towel. I, however, don’t really like the water flying everywhere (never thought of just doubling up the towel) so what I do is lay my lettuce leaves flat on a tea towel and then gently roll it up like a burrito. It works really well! And I don’t look like a circus man ;-)
That’s a MUCH better idea than what I do – I shake individual leaves of lettuce over the sink. Water still gets everywhere, and my husband looks at me like I have four heads. I’ll be doing this from now on!
brilliant!
Thanks this is great! I had a salad spinner, but it was a $5 one from wal-mart, and I never found it to be that great anyway. The lettuce would sort of press against the sides from gravity, but all the water would just mush into the leaves that much more, and they’d be soggy instead of just crisp and wet. Perhaps a more expensive one would work better, but I could never be bothered to spend the money. This tip will definitely come in handy!
I have always laid my lettuce on clean towels to dry. But next time I am
going to try this idea!
This is amazing! We never got around to buying a spinner, now we may never have to! Thanks.
Oh, that is just priceless! I hate gadgets that only serve one purpose, so this is just fantastic!
My kitchen tidbit is to use your egg slicer to slice raw mushrooms and also trying placing a strawberry in the egg slicer but leave the green stem outside the cutting wires. Slice, then you have a perfect fancy-schmancy strawberry slice but intact to fan out and decorate any dessert worthy of being called “Martha” quality Ãœ
Wow- great idea! I rinse my lettuce and hang it via a plastic clothes pin from my hand towel rack– this will avoid the pools of water from my method. Also– you can re-crisp slightly wilted lettuce by just submerging the leafy greens in cold water.. Works like a charm!
This is great! Thank you for posting this. I’ve been eyeing a salad spinner for a while but rly don’t want/need another kitchen gadget to store. Ok, and I’ve been lazy and buying the salad in bags, but no more!
Love this idea!
Hi! I’m an American living in Paris, and while I appreciate the towel idea, I have to say that I LOVE my salad spinner! Good tools save time and energy! My kitchen is larger than Katie’s, but since it is also the laundry room and eating room, it doesn’t have much more significant storage space. However, my salad spinner works all the time and doesn’t need to be stored in the cabinet. It’s the more expensive style ($30?) with two bowls, so it drains the lettuce perfectly, then stores it perfectly in the refrigerator (mine appears to be about the same size as Katie’s). We eat salads frequently, and the lettuce is always ready, perfectly clean and crisp. Honestly, the towel method wets the walls & cabinets, creating more work for the chef. If you use the towel method, how do you store the lettuce? In a disposable plastic bag?
Yesterday, I nearly bought a salad spinner. Then, I came home and saw this – thanks for the chuckle! I am trying very hard to not bring unnecessary clutter in my 2000+ square foot home. Where a knife will do, I just won’t buy gadgets much any more. I still have empty space in my cabinets and i prefer to keep them empty.
I totally do this, too! (Although I admit mine was more out of laziness than anything.) I’m glad to know that I’m not the only one who does this…now I won’t feel so silly when I’m spinning around in the kitchen with a bunch of spinach in a tea towel!
Great idea!
Last night I was wishing I had a salad spinner after I picked lettuce from the garden. Now I know I have one in my towel drawer….
LOL!! Okay, I’m laughing at the visual images you’ve given of flying lettuce towels. Sounds like great exercise! After I rinse lettuce, I just leave it in the colandar and shake it up & down over the sink to knock off the extra water droplets. If there’s much water left, I just consider it part of my water consumption for the day :) For any leftover lettuce, I line a reusable ziplock with a paper towel to soak up moisture. The wet paper towel is then ready to use at another time to wipe up a mess from the counter or floor [a regular occurrence...you have to know me].
I’m coming late to this party, but I had a tip to share. Our kitchen has a metal hood over the oven, and I will attach the recipe for whatever I’m working on there with a magnet. It keeps it at eye level (and away from potential spills) and when it’s done, it goes right back into the recipe book.
PS–>I just discovered this blog a few days ago and I’m making my way through it! Thanks for sharing all that you do!
love that tip!!! I love your kitchen remodel BTW, thank you for sharing that with me on my blog ;) Got a lot of work to do on my 45 square meter home ;)
I’m also contemplating on getting a salad spinner… but I’d rather just settle for this:
Place lettuce leaves in a plastic bag, put a few paper towels inside and shake it up!
The paper towels will absorb the water.
Gd luck!