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The Best Dishwasher


docsconz

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Andie, do you find that the Hobart is rough on dishes? I might have concerns about putting non-restaurant-grade stuff in there, not to mention top-rack-only plastic-type items.

It depends on the dishes. I have fairly utilitarian ware for everyday use, mostly Corning but I also use a lot of heavier vintage restaurant ware, Hall china, Shenango and Syracuse. However I also use a set of Homer Laughlin Blue Willow china from the '40s that has been through the dishwasher many times.

The only problem I have had with dishes is with the small, shallow Corning dishes that are just a bit too small to stay firmly in the rack and bounce around on top. However, none have ever broken or caused damage to other dishes.

I don't have any problems with plastic items because I don't leave them in the machine and it is the drying cycle in regular dishwashers that melts plastic. I have Tupperware that I use constantly and has been through the Hobart hundreds of times with no problems.

My best china never goes into ANY dishwasher, it is always washed by hand, the stuff I have is well over 100-years-old and I intend to maintain it for as long as possible.

Crystal is much tougher and not subject to crazing so it goes through the dishwasher with no problems.

(I also have a water filtration system for the entire house, so I no longer have the problems with "fogging" in glasses that was a problem before and required an occasional hot vinegar bath to clean them.)

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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I don't have any problems with plastic items because I don't leave them in the machine and it is the drying cycle in regular dishwashers that melts plastic.  I have Tupperware that I use constantly and has been through the Hobart hundreds of times with no problems. 

No damage to plastics in the Miele, as there is no heating element in the bottom of the machine. Drying is accomplished via condensation and a small exhaust fan. I put Tupperware and other plastics on the bottom shelf - even stuff that says "top-shelf" dishwasher only- all the time, with no problem.

And this dishwasher actually has three shelves - including the somewhat revolutionary, when it was introduced, removable cutlery tray - which holds all sorts of odd-shaped, small items, in addition to cutlery. I believe the Miele patent has expired on this, and other manufacturers are starting to offer it.

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

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No damage to plastics in the Miele, as there is no heating element in the bottom of the machine.  Drying is accomplished via condensation and a small exhaust fan.  I put Tupperware and other plastics on the bottom shelf - even stuff that says "top-shelf" dishwasher only- all the time, with no problem.

And this dishwasher actually has three shelves - including the somewhat revolutionary, when it was introduced, removable cutlery tray - which holds all sorts of odd-shaped, small items, in addition to cutlery.  I believe the Miele patent has expired on this, and other manufacturers are starting to offer it.

Those are two of my favourite things about the Miele. I have the third rack for cutlery which is great, plus the removable cutlery tray for bottles, and other small items, and the fact that I can put plastics anywhere, top or bottom rack. I also put my Reidel stemware in my dishwasher all the time, and have never had one break.

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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  • 5 years later...

Does anyone have a commercial dishwasher? I've never used one, but have heard impressive things.

I stumbled onto a book at a used bookstore that was about the home kitchens of famous chefs. Some had modern, commercial looking, stainless-everything facilities; others had exposed wood, warm colors, homey, cozy, un-restaurant looking retreats.

But every single one of them had commercial dishwasher, either in plain view or hidden away. The chefs bragged about the 30 second duty cycle (or something ridiculous like that). I'm sure the things sound like commercial jets taking off, but if it's over in 30 seconds, who cares?

I know this thread is way old, but here"s my 2 cents anyway.

The Hobart I've used had a 90 second cycle. Only one rack at a time, eiher flat or with pegs to stand things like plates. Scraped the bulk of the nasties, but never had to rinse. After the racket stops, watch the heat go up to (whatever, think it was 180 F) and then when it got back down to 160 (I do remmber that one!) it could be opened to a huge steam escape. Couldn't touch the stuff yet to unload, but quickly could. Dishes always clean. This was when I was teaching for Sur la Table.

I looked into replacing my Maytag (we bought a Model Townhouse with appliances already installed) but just couldn't justify the $5k+ price even to myself, let alone my spouse. ;o) And the Maytag does a perfect job of cleaning, it's just noisy...but the Hobar is noisier, but only for 90 seconds. And unless I'm cooking up a storm & having to run the thing several times in a day, I usually just start it when we go up to sleep.

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+1 for the miele dishwashers and washing machines.

I have not yet found anything in the kitchen that I cannot fit into it, even my 20 liter stockpot. The cutlery tray is fantastic too.

If pushed, I can put all of an 8 place setting and most of the serving dishes into it after a dinner party.

After having it for thirteen years I still open it when it is running because it is so quiet. Another great feature is that the filter almost cleans itself - I check it annually.

Simon

Edited by Simon Lewinson (log)
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My parents have both a Bosch clothes washer and the dishwasher. The former I researched and bought for them, the latter was not researched but was bought when its predecessor broke. Fortunately, both have been great purchases, for which everyone is very grateful, especially after their purchase of a Maytag refrigerator turned out to be such an incredible disappointment (and my father, being my father, won't replace anything until it is unequivocally dead as a doornail and he has no other option).

The dishwasher is very nice, very quiet, never had a problem with it. Gets the dishes nice and hot when cleaning them.

I would like to add one piece of advice regarding WHERE to buy your dishwasher. My parents' big mistake was buying it at Lowe's, which arranged for the install. Since it had been so long since a dishwasher had been installed in their house, there was some work that needed to be done for it to work. Apparently, the gentleman who did the install was qualified to plug it in, and no more qualified to do electrical work than I am. Fortunately, thank god, the dishwasher stopped working a week after the install. So Lowe's was contacted and they sent someone out to check it, presumably from the same company who did the original install. He spent a minute or two checking things, declared it an electrical problem, and left. (I happened to be the only one in the family available for a couple of days, so I dealt with both this repairman and the next myself.)

So, I called the electrical company my mother's been using for years, and they sent someone out to look at it. He pulled the machine out, took one look at what was done, and then asked to see the paperwork from the install. He looked at it and told me the guy who did the install was only qualified to plug it in. He told me it was actually a blessing in disguise that something had shaken loose, because the way the installer had done it, it was a matter of time before the dishwasher started A FIRE. The electrical work he had done was dangerously faulty. Now, to their credit, Lowe's did reimburse my father for having to pay the electrician to do the install correctly, but I would have felt a heckuva lot better if they had changed their installation company (they didn't). As far as we know, they didn't say a word to the installation company, in spite of the fact that they could have caused a fire in my parents' home. The electrician recommended that in future we purchase appliances from a large, reputable appliance store in a nearby town, who used a reputable installation service (not them).

So my advice is, wherever you buy your dishwasher, ask who they use to do installations, and do a Better Business Bureau online search on them, and a state contractor's license check on them, check yelp, check Angie's List, whatever you have to do to make sure they'll do a good job. Risking a house fire because of unqualified personnel doing installations isn't worth the few bucks you might save.

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