How to Wash and Dry Salad Leaves So They Stay Crisp

Here's a salad truth nobody tells you: dressing won't stick to wet leaves. Oil and water don't mix, so all that lovely vinaigrette slides straight off and pools at the bottom of the bowl. Dry leaves are the difference between a salad you eat and a salad you push around.

Step 1: Wash in a bowl, not under the tap

Running water bruises delicate leaves and doesn't shift grit very well. Instead, fill a big bowl with cold water, drop the leaves in and swish them about gently. Dirt sinks, leaves float. Lift the leaves out (don't pour, or the grit goes straight back on).

In a salad spinner this is all one job: fill the bowl, wash in the basket, lift the basket out, tip the water away.

Step 2: Spin, don't pat

Patting leaves dry with kitchen roll takes ages and bruises them. A spinner does it in about ten seconds. Two tips:

• Don't overfill. Half-full spins drier than packed full. Do two rounds if needed.
• Spin twice. Spin, pour off the water, give the basket a shake, spin again. The second spin gets the last of it.

Our 5L stainless steel spinner has a brake button, so you're not stood waiting for it to slow down, and a non-slip base so it doesn't skate across the worktop while you crank.

Step 3: Store them right

If you're not eating them straight away, line a container with a sheet of kitchen paper, add the dry leaves loosely, and refrigerate. More on that in our guide to keeping lettuce fresh for a week.

What else can you dry in a salad spinner?

• Fresh herbs: wet coriander and parsley turn to mush when you chop them. Dry them first.
• Berries: a gentle spin stops strawberries and blueberries going mouldy in the fridge.
• Grated courgette or potato: spins out water before fritters or rösti.
• Rinsed beans, chickpeas and pasta: the basket doubles as a colander.
• Cucumber for tzatziki: salt it, leave 10 minutes, spin.

Do you need to wash bagged salad?

Bags labelled "washed and ready to eat" don't need washing again. Everything else, including whole lettuces and loose leaves, should be washed.

Why stainless steel instead of plastic?

Plastic spinner bowls crack, stain orange from tomatoes and go cloudy in the dishwasher. A 304 stainless steel bowl doesn't, and it's smart enough to put straight on the table as a serving bowl. One less thing to wash up.