Clever uses for your salad spinner

A salad spinner is one of those kitchen gadgets that is so good at what it does – wash and dry leafy greens – that you forgive it for being a one-trick-pony. It takes up a fair amount of cabinet space, so you might think about getting rid of it to make room for something else. Before you do that, check out Taste of Home’s alternate uses for a salad spinner. 

The first alternative may come in handy for summer picnics. If you are making a pasta salad, place the drained pasta in the salad spinner to extract all of the water, keeping your pasta salad from getting soggy. You can also use the basket to drain salted vegetables like cabbage or eggplant, and to rinse and drain berries. For the latter, make sure you spin them gently to avoid bruising. 

The next idea is a bit more controversial. The article recommends using a salad spinner to dry meat that has been brined, specifically chicken pieces that that should be patted dry before seasoning or breading. Maybe it’s just me, but I am not comfortable with putting meat into a device normally used for vegetables as it can be a cross-contamination issue. 

One use I can definitely get behind is to repurpose the bowl part (especially if it’s a clear bowl) as a dough rising bucket. A salad spinner is the perfect size for this, and you can easily keep an eye on the rising dough without disturbing it. Another clever repurpose is to use the spinner to drain, rinse and dry canned beans. 

The last idea is another one that may be questionable – using the device to get excess water out of a swimsuit. They do provide a caveat that you should thoroughly wash out the salad spinner after doing this, but I would go a step further and say that a to visit the thrift store may be in order. There you can probably find a used one that you can dedicate for this purpose, leaving your salad spinner solely for kitchen use.