Here's How To Use Your Salad Spinner To Defrost Shrimp

Just because a salad is not on the menu doesn't mean that you can't use your salad spinner when preparing dinner. Aside from its intended purpose, a salad spinner can also serve a variety of different functions from drying out a soggy swimsuit (wash it after!), to washing delicate clothing that you don't want to put in the washing machine (via Mental Floss). This handy kitchen device can also serve a number of alternate culinary purposes including drying broccoli or cauliflower segments, taking the water out of shredded potatoes being prepped for hash browns, or cleaning berries, which can be just as delicate as salad greens, and benefit from being treated with the same gentle touch.

Meanwhile, frozen items can take a while to defrost at room temperature. There's always the option of thawing frozen foods in the microwave, but when you're working with seafood, it can result in some unsavory smells in the kitchen that tend to linger. Enter the salad spinner!

Using a salad spinner to defrost shrimp can help to speed things along if you've forgotten to remove them from the freezer early enough (via Chatelaine).

Fill the spinner with enough room-temperature water to cover the shrimp and spin it. The water circulation moving around the shrimp causes them to come to room temperature quicker than usual. It's important not to use water that is too warm, as this can cause the shrimp to heat up too quickly, which is a factor that can promote the growth of harmful bacteria (via Still Tasty).

An added bonus of using this method is that instead of wasting paper towels, or dirtying kitchen cloths to dry off the shrimp, you can dry them in the salad spinner as well. Using it the same way as you would use the spinner to dry salad greens, you're removing the excess water from the shrimp, so they'll be dry, thawed, and ready to cook. Thanks salad spinner.