Washing sponges in dishwasher no good

[Human Bean]

In a sidebar to a story in the Jan/Feb Cook's Illustrated, they look at the effectiveness of various methods of sanitizing sponges. Washing them in the dishwasher resulted in bacteria counts 410 times higher than the two best methods - microwave on high for three minutes, or boil hard for three minutes. The dishwasher method was better than soap and hot water though.

To say much more risks the wrath of the copyright police; take a look at the mag when it hits the newsstand if you wish.

[Fat Guy]

I am shaken to the core by this revelation. I will boil all my sponges immediately.

[Kikujiro]

Are you just meant to nuke them dry?

[Dave the Cook]

This does not mean that the dishwasher is worse than just leaving them moldering in the little ceramic dish at the edge of the sink. We'll have to see the numbers to draw any real conclusions.

Now that I think about it, I run sponges through the d/w just to clean them up, not specifically for sanitizing purposes. Sometimes I'm just a cheap bastard. As tommy might say, 'i'm special that way.'™

Edited December 9, 2002 by Dave the Cook (log)

[Bux]

Or we could sit around waiting for the revisionist book Bacteria 'R' Good for You. Oh wait, didn't the Times have that article about kids growing up in sterile environments suffering from more allergies later in life?

In the meantime let's be sure we enforce the use of plastic cutting boards in restaurants because experiments have shown they can't be cleaned by hot water and detergent and get rid of all wooden boards which the same scientists tell us don't support bacterial life.

You know there are bactericidal soaps and detergents which, if commonly and effectively used, could well speed up mutant forms of bacteria that might survive boiling water. Then we could all stop worrying and get on with enjoying our happy, albeit shorter lives.

[signed]

Confused Skeptic.

[hollywood]

Or we could sit around waiting for the revisionist book Bacteria 'R' Good for You. Oh wait, didn't the Times have that article about kids growing up in sterile environments suffering from more allergies later in life?

In the meantime let's be sure we enforce the use of plastic cutting boards in restaurants because experiments have shown they can't be cleaned by hot water and detergent and get rid of all wooden boards which the same scientists tell us don't support bacterial life.

You know there are bactericidal soaps and detergents which, if commonly and effectively used, could well speed up mutant forms of bacteria that might survive boiling water. Then we could all stop worrying and get on with enjoying our happy, albeit shorter lives.

[signed]

Confused Skeptic.

Isn't the problem we are killing off too many harmless bacteria, resulting in stronger ultimately bad strains and more allergies too? At some point the cleanliness thing gets obsessive-compulsive.

[Bux]

This does not mean that the dishwasher is worse than just leaving them moldering in the little ceramic dish at the edge of the sink. We'll have to see the numbers to draw any real conclusions.

Now that I think about it, I run sponges through the d/w just to clean them up, not specifically for sanitizing purposes. Sometimes I'm just a cheap bastard. As tommy might say, 'i'm special that way.'™

Cheap bastards rule. How many weeks do you go between washing the sponges in the dishwasher and how often do you rinse the ceramic dish at the edge of the sink? There's no reason for us not to be careful even at the low end. What kind of numbers are we looking for? Has anyone ever measured the bacteria left on a rinsed plate that was cleaned with an infested sponge? Has anyone ever ridden in a subway and eaten a sandwich or a hot dog without washing hands between events. If you do, you're going to die.

[Dave the Cook]

Has anyone ever ridden in a subway and eaten a sandwich or a hot dog without washing hands between events. If you do, you're going to die.

I was thinking about this just the other day. We went to see Springsteen, and as I sat down to dinner--a foot-long chili dog while sitting in the second row, first balcony--I reflected on what I had touched since last washing my hands: car keys; sttering wheel; beer bottle from fridge; upholstery in brother-in-law's car; dollar bill (money is filthy) given to alledgedly homeless person; wife's jacket; ticket, which passed from my hand to vendor then back; more money for hot dog; cardboard tray for beer and hot dog; railing down to seat. Reflecting on the antiseptic properties of alcohol, decided another beer would be required.

Still alive. Changing my sig.

[hollywood]

Has anyone ever ridden in a subway and eaten a sandwich or a hot dog without washing hands between events. If you do, you're going to die.

We're all excited

But we don't know why

Maybe it's cuz

We're all gonna die

[tommy]

i take in a healthy daily dose of alcohol and cigarette smoke which i'm sure takes care of those pesky bacterium. mutated strains and all.

[hollywood]

i take in a healthy daily dose of alcohol and cigarette smoke which i'm sure takes care of those pesky bacterium.  mutated strains and all.

Is it my imagination

Or have I finally found something worth living for?

I was looking for some action

But all I found was cigarettes and alcohol

[Priscilla]

When I run sponges through the dishwasher, which I do, and which I will continue to do, it has never been with the hope that they were being Sanitized for My Protection, but just to get them cleanER, and perhaps extend their life a bit.

Just another example of how Cook's Illustrated manages, in spite of what is clearly every good intention, and very gravely applied too, to be the most UNappetizing food-oriented mag on the planet.

[Jinmyo]

I am shaken to the core by this revelation. I will boil all my sponges immediately.

TOO LATE!

[hollywood]

Maybe we should gather a mass of these sponges and drop em on Saddam.

[Lyle]

I ONLY eat my sponges after both boiling and then broiling.

[Blue Heron]

Today for the first time, I microwaved my sponge after running it through the temp. boost saniwash cycle in the dishwasher. I feel soooo clean.

[Dave the Cook]

Today for the first time,  I microwaved my sponge after running it through the temp. boost saniwash cycle in the dishwasher.  I feel soooo clean. 

For some of us, feeling clean is just not that easy.

[Human Bean]

I've never applied any exotic cleaning method to my sponges - not even the dishwasher. I just wring 'em out, and put into it's home - an old tofu tub.

I try to be reasonably clean, but I'm not compulsive about it; I don't even spray bleach solution on my cutting boards (the HORROR!)

Somehow, I've managed to survive thus far.

[i used to not even wring out the sponges; I'd just leave them a reasonably clean but wet condition - they tended to get musty-smelling after awhile. That CAN'T be good, but even so, I survived that too. Leaving them reasonably dry and letting them air-dry seems to avoid any unpleasantness.]

[Liza]

Here's my radical approach, as I have been dishwasher-less since 10/01:

I use 'em, wring 'em out.

When they got ookey , I throw them away.

[hollywood]

Where's Awbrig? Shouldn't old Square Pants have a say in this?

[Suzanne F]

... In the meantime let's be sure we enforce the use of plastic cutting boards in restaurants because experiments have shown they can't be cleaned by hot water and detergent and get rid of all wooden boards which the same scientists tell us don't support bacterial life.

...

[signed]

Confused Skeptic.

Now I'm confused. Plastic good, wood bad? Or vice versa?

In most kitchens where I've worked, we used the rubber cutting boards that can be planed down when they get too pitted. (Not that I ever saw THAT happen, though.) The cooks would take them to the dishwash station as necessary (after cutting meat or fish or poultry; after getting it especially dirty from actual dirt clinging to roots; after chopping onions, shallots, or garlic; etc.). The boards would be run through the machine, which must include a sanitizing cycle (chemical or water heated to 180ºF). Once or twice a week, all cutting boards were kept in a bleach solution overnight. Those cutting boards that did not fit in the machine were wiped down with a bleach or other sanitizer solution after hand-washing, and allowed to air-dry as per Health Department regulations.

Wooden butcher blocks were scraped, scrubbed, and bleached daily.

Does that make you feel safer?

[Human Bean]

Just another example of how Cook's Illustrated manages, in spite of what is clearly every good intention, and very gravely applied too,  to be the most UNappetizing food-oriented mag on the planet.

[Off-topic for this thread, but the thread is rather dumb anyway, and I started it, so I say it's okay.]

I'm intrigued by your passion (if not vehemence) here; if you'd care to share, I'd be interested in why you feel this way.

I'm not as keen on Cook's Ill as I once was; their cooking-as-science-experiment approach may not be to all tastes, but it's what attracted them to me in the first place, and they at least make an attempt to justify their conclusions. There does seem to be an undercurrent of smugness though (we're right and you'd better believe it) that can be grating; is that what you're objecting to?

At least they're an alternative to the glossy food-porn mags; maybe they're smug about that too.

[Human Bean]

Now I'm confused.  Plastic good, wood bad?  Or vice versa?

I don't think that the jury has returned a definitive verdict on that one yet. It's almost (but not nearly) as bad as the 'favorite knife' religious question.

As I understand it, microbes live better than you'd expect on plastic boards, and not nearly as well as you'd think on wooden ones.

AFAIK, plastic, wood, it doesn't really matter. Your choice. Do try to keep them clean and sanitary though.

But those sponges, THEY'LL kill you.

[nightscotsman]

Now I'm confused.  Plastic good, wood bad?  Or vice versa?

For more information and discussion on the plastic vs. wood issue, you might want to take a look at this thread.

[Jim Dixon]

Wasn't there a news item in the last few weeks about about the increase in childhood illness somehow being related to our obsession with cleaning? It was something about the exposure to everyday bacteria building more antibodies.

I rarely do anything to the sponges, and have even been known to wipe something off the floor, then go back to doing the dishes. To me, this is in the same category as not using somebody else's soap because it might be dirty.

Jim