The luxury kitchen gadget I can’t live without: I am the type of person who would buy 80% of the kitchen tools and appliances seen in infomercials if I had the means. Realistically and aside from the money, who has the kitchen space for every whimsical culinary instrument of desire?
We certainly all have our checklists to run through before committing to any kind of purchase. Will this add an equal or greater amount of value in comparison to the cost? Value and cost are subjective to each individual. They are the reasons why no two kitchens are ever exactly alike.
For the classy kitchen
Any time I would see this particular item used on television, I thought it would be nice to have, but I couldn’t justify using it enough to have one for myself. Determining it was a luxury rather than a necessity, I brushed it off as ‘too fancy for me.’ How wrong I was! Oh, the things I had to do while getting along without one were ridiculously comical and sad, so very sad!
How it started
I learned how to make every variety of salad dressing I could ever need. I know I’m complimenting myself here, but mine are always better than store-bought, and just as tasty as almost any upscale restaurants. My newfound talent would require a canvas.
The convenience of pre-washed, cut, and packaged salad mixes enticingly lured me in, especially since I could always find something on sale. I’d been buying my fresh spinach leaves this way for all of my cooking years. I had no reservations or second thoughts about this, until I learned to raise my standards.
I discovered the nasty truth about the pre-made packages of salad I was consuming and feeding to others. Bagged lettuces and pre-cut salad blends were, and still are, a common source of food poisoning! Ugh, the entire way I had been living my lettuce life was WRONG.
I still bought a few bags here and there, sifting through and picking out each piece with any traces of defilement I could find. I had mainly switched to whole heads of lettuce at this point. I washed them very well, watching dirt and small bugs go down the drain was indeed satisfying. Drying was an escapade though. Paper towels were preferred over my softball arm-winding, whip-it-dry technique. Oh, that was funny.
How it’s going
I was over it. The first time I saw a salad spinner on sale I did not hesitate. I used it every other day, and I absolutely loved it!
It met an unfortunate fate the first and only time I dropped it, but it was still on sale so I purchased 2 more. It didn’t take long to recover the money I had spent. The whole heads were cheaper than the bags and produced much more lettuce than what I had previously been paying for. There was no turning back now.
I randomly saw a smaller sturdier spinner for $5 one day. I snatched it up as well, and it’s actually my favourite one. I will probably cry a little if and when it finally breaks, but I have my secondary backups, so I never have to go without again.
Helpful tips I’ve gathered over time
- Always rinse and place all three parts of the salad spinner in the dishwasher immediately after use. Place the mechanical lid piece on the top shelf and rotate it halfway through the drying cycle if possible.
- Make sure all pieces are perfectly aligned before operating.
- Do not overfill the strainer bucket, don’t fill it to the top. Leaving 30-50% of its capacity empty allows the water enough room to rinse your food clean, as well as providing better weight distribution for the centrifugal force to optimally pull the water away for spin-drying.
- Process the whole head of lettuce each time, but break it up into smaller spinning batches.
- Store your washed, dried, and ready-to-eat lettuce in a container with a paper towel or two; it will last longer.
- Wash and dry fresh bunch or pre-bagged spinach, and any other greens this same way.
- Don’t drop it.
I honestly can’t believe I chose to live this long without a salad spinner. I do feel it has improved the quality of my life and those I feed. Its value has been affirmed several times over. Consider getting one if you haven’t already. Live your lettuce life with no regrets!
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