Product Review: Saladzilla by Kahuna Gear

Teaching our children essential life skills has become more critical than ever in today’s fast-paced world. One such skill that holds tremendous value is cooking. Beyond nourishing the body, cooking promotes creativity and independence, fostering a sense of accomplishment. And as a mom of relatively picky kiddos, I am always looking for ways to expose them to foods that expand their palate over time. Research shows that a child is more likely to accept and try food after they’ve been exposed to it eight to 15 times.

The first step in getting kiddos involved in cooking is inviting them to help with food preparation, so we can empower them to become confident and capable individuals in the kitchen who gain exposure to new foods. This blog post will explore a new, revolutionary, sustainable tool that is making food preparation, specifically produce washing, more simple and fun for kids. 

I would like to extend my thanks to Kahuna Gear for their collaboration on this post and for gifting me the Saladzilla. However, it’s important to note that all opinions and thoughts expressed are entirely my own and have not been influenced by this partnership.

What is it?

The Saladzilla is an eco-friendly, compact, non-mechanical non-traditional salad spinner that makes washing lettuce an experience for the whole family—created with sustainable materials. It’s designed to simplify produce preparation without taking up space in your kitchen.

Pros

• Compact. Cabinet space is a hot commodity in our home. I love that I can store this easily in our kitchen without it taking up too much space. Simplifying lettuce preparation with a new kitchen tool without adding clutter is a huge bonus.
• Saves time. My old salad spinner took a lot of work to rotate. It would get stuck, and I spent more time trying to get it to spin than actually using it to dry my lettuce. Because the Saladzilla doesn’t have mechanical parts, I can dry lettuce in under a minute.
• Fun for kids to use. My boys love spinning the Saladzilla around. They have contests of who can spin it the fastest or the highest. As a physical therapist, I always seek ways to engage my kiddos in physical activity that challenges their core or works their body unilaterally, and the Saladzilla makes it happen.
• Educational for kids. Our last lettuce-washing session became a lesson on gravity. I explained to our kids how the water gets off the lettuce and why it lands in the bottom of the blue bag. We also discussed why the water doesn’t spill out when you spin the bag overhead.
• Easy to take along when traveling. We have some upcoming trips where we are staying in a rental home. I can easily throw this in our travel bag and prepare lettuce for meals just like I do at home, making food prepping on vacation much more manageable.
• Doesn’t have any mechanical parts. Like I said earlier, my traditional salad spinner gets stuck and is difficult to rotate. I don’t have to worry about that with the Saladzilla. Because there are no mechanical parts, I don’t have to worry about things breaking or not working efficiently.
• Long term-economical savings. I have replaced our traditional salad spinner more times than I’d like to count. The wind-up string snaps or the handle breaks off because I apply too much pressure. I will not replace my Saladzilla anytime soon because there are no complicated parts that easily break.
• Easy to clean. I was able to wash the Saladzilla and spray it clean immediately after using it. There weren’t a bunch of different parts to worry about, making it a quick process.
• It can hold a large capacity. I was able to wash and dry three heads of romaine lettuce at one time. I would never have been able to wash this much in my traditional salad spinner.
• Versatile. I can use the Saladzilla for all types of greens and produce. Not only can I wash all kinds of greens, but I can also wash produce like berries. Instead of the messy bowl and strainer technique that gets water everywhere, the Saladzilla keeps the chaos at bay.

Cons

• Initial use took a little bit of time. I had to read the directions a few times to figure out how to set up, use, and collapse the Saladzilla. But now that I’ve used it several times, it’s super simple. And the good news is the directions are very thorough with illustrations.
• Challenging to fold up. At first, I had difficulty folding this up to fit in the little pocket. But after a few minutes, I could rotate the ring to collapse and fold easily. I had to practice collapsing it a few times until it felt easy
• Hanging to dry after use. Normally, I would wash and dry our traditional salad spinner. But the Saladzilla I had to hang up in the kitchen to dry for an afternoon. So, it took up space on our counter. I could have hand-dried it, but that didn’t seem efficient.
• Price point. Coming on the pricier end at over twice the cost of a traditional salad spinner, the Saladzilla is an investment.

Verdict

In today’s world, where space in our homes is limited and we’re trying to avoid unnecessary BPA plastic usage, I say buy! And the best part, it’s fun for kids to use too. After our produce washing session this week, Chulengo was munching away at pieces of lettuce. He’s always been a picky eater, and getting him involved in preparing produce at home has helped expose him to new foods. The Saladzilla provided an opportunity for him to eat some lettuce as a midday snack, which expanded his comfort with trying vegetables.

The Saladzilla will become a staple in our home with our weekly food-prepping sessions, and the boys can’t wait! I am already thinking of new activities and games to play during our next produce washing session to keep making the prep time more fun while exposing the boys to fruits and vegetables they’ve been hesitant to try. 

You can order a Saladzilla on Amazon and have it in your home in a few days or have it shipped to you for free on kahunagear.com.