# How do you dry lettuce w/o paper towels or plastic salad spinner?



## Slabobbin

We are a paper towel and plastic free home and I am in search of a way to dry lettuce without a salad spinner or using paper towel.

I have tried washing the leaves, shaking them off, putting them in a bowl and then putting a dish cloth over the top of the bowl, holding it on, turning it upside down and shaking....but the lettuce is still too wet for my liking.

I LOVE salad and I love being able to grow my own and go pick it for that night's supper. But I hate the washing and drying part. For some reason that just feel like such a tedious job to me.

I've looked up stainless steel salad spinners but they have a plastic insert so what is the point?

What do you guys do?


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## MamaLeslie

I just use wet lettuce, but you can put it in a tea towel and swing it around... makes some splatters, though.


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## Slabobbin

I have found that my dressing doesn't stick to the wet lettuce. How do you get around that?


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## Limabean1975

I have been known to lay it all out on a tea towel, then lay another towel over top of it , then gently press down all over the top towel. That only does a small amount of lettuce, so if you are doing alot, it is time consuming and you go through alot of towels! But you can hang them to dry and still use the towels in the kitchen without washing, imo.


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## Alkenny

I've heard of people putting their lettuce in a clean pillowcase and throwing it in the washing machine on the spin cycle for a quick round.


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## Rhiannon Feimorgan

I do the press between two towels method but I use larger towels.

I know someone who puts the lettuce in a pillow case and, holding it by the open end, spins it over her head. Do this outside as water get's everywhere.


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## SoHappy

I'd love to know how you avoid plastic completely. Do you not buy bread, cereal, crackers, cheese, yogurt or other packaged foods? No shampoo, dishsoap, rubbing alcohol, etc?

For your lettuce, you can put it in a pillowcase and swing it around. That's the original salad spinner. But really, a little mindfully purchased plastic that serves a purpose like this isn't going to destroy the universe and won't put your food at risk. Unlike the many single-use items listed above, this one will last and serve a purpose. If you buy one used at a thrift shop or yard sale, you're not creating new impact.


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## rainbowmoon

flour sack towels. or really I just rinse it and let it dry in the coliander


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## Mrs-Mama

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Limabean1975* 
I have been known to lay it all out on a tea towel, then lay another towel over top of it , then gently press down all over the top towel. That only does a small amount of lettuce, so if you are doing alot, it is time consuming and you go through alot of towels! But you can hang them to dry and still use the towels in the kitchen without washing, imo.

That's what I do, too. If you're making the salad ahead of time, just put the lettuce between two towels, roll it up and let it sit for a few minutes. A few gentle squeezes help, too


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## Cranberry

I put it on a dish towel, roll it up and press. Then I put the lettuce in a dry dish towel and place it in the refrigerator to get crisp.


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## Toolip

I'm not sure what your reasons are for not wanting to use plastic (food safety or ethical reasons or both) but I would still go with the spinner.

Personally, I think that it uses less resourced to spin the lettuce (even if the spinner is plastic) than to wash the towels. I've been using the same spinner for years, it was my parents and it is over 30 years old and still works great!

I wouldn't use the washer, that is way overkill unless you are washing lettuce for 100 people.

Sometimes when I feel lazy, I wash the lettuce, shake it out, lay it on a tea towel, roll it up and put it in the crisper. It stays fresh pretty well this way.


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## elisent

People dry lettuce? I've never heard of that but I suppose it would be better.

I had no clue. The only person I've ever seen make a salad was my mother. She would rinse the lettuce and then throw it in the salad bowl. Of course, she also only used iceberg lettuce and the only other veggies we had were frozen peas and corn.


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## cristeen

Shake it really well over the sink, then lay it on either a flour sack or waffle weave towel, roll the towel up and stick it in the fridge.

Honestly though, I just bought a salad spinner, even though I'm trying to limit plastic... ultimately it saves me a fair bit of time and effort.


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## mumm

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Cranberry* 
I put it on a dish towel, roll it up and press. Then I put the lettuce in a dry dish towel and place it in the refrigerator to get crisp.

And I don't wash the towel after, just let it dry. Its only water.


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## Slabobbin

Quote:


Originally Posted by *SoHappy* 
I'd love to know how you avoid plastic completely. Do you not buy bread, cereal, crackers, cheese, yogurt or other packaged foods? No shampoo, dishsoap, rubbing alcohol, etc?

It is impossible (imo) to completely avoid plastics. The computer I am typing on has plastic components. But when it comes to my kitchen, I do try to be as close to 100% plastic free as possible.

As for the other items listed, I don't always hit it perfect but I try to make my own bread and yogurt. I try to avoid cereal (for reasons other than plastic) but I do end up purchasing some things that come in plastic. When I do so, I make sure it is a plastic that can be recycled in our recycling (they only take numbers 1 and 2) and I try to buy in bulk or buy concentrated items so as to not have to buy more plastic than possible.

I am not completely opposed to a salad spinner but I was intered in an alternative if one was available. If I buy one, I will be searching for one that is BPA free, etc. if anyone knows of any.


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## StrawberryFields

I blot our lettuce dry with a dish towel.


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## jillyofthevalley

I usually just give it a good shake and then let it dry in the colander while I'm making the rest of our dinner. If I need it quickly, like for a sandwhich, I'll dry the few leaves of lettuce off with a clean dishtowel. Our salad spinner broke a couple years ago and I just never got around to buying a new one. I haven't really missed it.


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## nextcommercial

Quote:


Originally Posted by *SoHappy* 
I'd love to know how you avoid plastic completely. Do you not buy bread, cereal, crackers, cheese, yogurt or other packaged foods? No shampoo, dishsoap, rubbing alcohol, etc?

For your lettuce, you can put it in a pillowcase and swing it around. That's the original salad spinner. But really, a little mindfully purchased plastic that serves a purpose like this isn't going to destroy the universe and won't put your food at risk. Unlike the many single-use items listed above, this one will last and serve a purpose. If you buy one used at a thrift shop or yard sale, you're not creating new impact.

I use my salad spinner. It works great, and it's sligtly entertaining.

I am not going to buy into the plastic hysteria completely. I already owned the spinner. Throwing is away creates waste, and it's very pretty. (yellow)


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## ~Megan~

start earlier and leave it out to dry on a tea towel after washing. Flip after the top is dry.


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## Neth Naneth

Quote:


Originally Posted by *StrawberryFields* 
I blot our lettuce dry with a dish towel.









:

Then I let the towel dry, it goes on to become a hand towel, or to dry dishes. The lettuce is organic and if I washed it well enough I figure all that is on the towel is water anyway.







Or I'll just throw a salad together in a hurry and have damp lettuce.


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## UUMom

Flour Sacks and Bar Mops are a green girl's best kitchen friends.

Not advocating buying from here, necessarily, but it's a link with pix of both on the same page:

http://www.emerilstore.com/prodinfo.asp?number=45EW906

Found some organic ones:

http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/25-p...-towel-sets-10


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## onlyzombiecat

I wash it and give it a little shake and pat it with a towel.

I saw a product called salad sac that looks interesting.


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## Purple Sage

Quote:


Originally Posted by *StrawberryFields* 
I blot our lettuce dry with a dish towel.









:


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## messy mama

I put it in a towel, take the four corners and close it up like a sack. Then I take it outside and splash the kids with it. Then, of course, they want to do it to. They like to see who can make the water drops go the farthest.


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## Ruthla

I put it in a metal colander and let it drain onto cloth towels for a few minutes before making it into salad. But then I don't mind wet lettuce, and I've never owned or used a salad spinner (nor have I ever taken the time to dry individual leaves with a paper OR cloth towel.)


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## velochic

Keep a pillow case in the kitchen for such jobs. This is how they did it before the "plastic" days. Put the lettuce in the pillow case, and give the old rotator cuff a good work out.

Nobody is plastic free, SoHappy, so don't feel like you need to aspire to that lofty goal. It is perhaps more accurate for people to say, "I try to reduce the plastic that comes in contact with my food."


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## Masel

When I need to do lots of lettuce I use a mesh bag. I think it's the one my DH uses for home brewing.
Usually, I just use a salad spinner. We've had salad a lot more often since I got that.


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## zeldabee

When I was a kid, we had a metal basket on a chain, and one took it outside and spun it around. I got the impression that the basket had been around for a good long while, though, and I don't think I've seen one since.

I _love_ my salad spinner.


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## sapphire_chan

Silly question here, if there's no prolonged contact and no heat, what's supposed to happen if plastic touches food?

ETA: Okay, still curious, but in closer reading I see that the OP doesn't already have a salad spinner she's trying to get rid of.


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## UUMom

I love the mesh basket spinning outside.







Great idea. I've done the pillow case for large amounts of lettuce (for parties).

I always dry my lettuce-- otherwise the lovely little crinkly leaves can't hold onto the olive oil. Anything you add to it (hebrs etc) just get soggy, diluted and tateless. Any delicate oil just slides right off. Dry lettuce allows for the sublte flavors of a bit of dressing and spices to be maintained. Salad geek that I am. hehe


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## texmati

I'm going to try out these ideas. I dont have a problem with plastic... but the cheapest salad spinner I saw at the store yesterday was 30 bucks! That's a lot for a one use item.


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## redhen

alton brown said to do the pillowcase in the spin cycle thing on his show about greens


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## savithny

As a kid, I was my mom's salad spinner.

She'd wash it, wrap it in a cheesecloth/muslin type dishtowel, and I'd take it outside and spin/shake the water out. It's just as efficient as the salad spinner -- if a bit more work.


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## Toolip

Quote:


Originally Posted by *redhen* 
alton brown said to do the pillowcase in the spin cycle thing on his show about greens

Wasn't that show about greens like kale and chard? Those are quite a different beast than tender little lettuce greens.

Also, I just think that is way overkill unless you are going to fill it up


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## straighthaircurly

I just shake off my lettuce leaves before I rip them up. They are dry enough, no pools of water in the salad bowl.


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