Washing stemware in the dishwasher

[Chris Hennes]

I have lots of cheap stemware that I'm perfectly happy to wash in the dishwasher, but I wind up basically having to plan the entire load around it because it's so awkward to balance in there. What with Fat Guy's announcement and all today I wandered over to Quirky to check them out and ran across these things: seems like a slick idea. There was also some mention of a "caddy" in this ancient topic, but the link is dead. What else is out there to make this a bit easier?

[andiesenji]

I have some inexpensive stemware that goes into the dishwasher.

As long as you keep all the similar sizes together, you can "anchor" them by simply placing a cooling rack/cake rack on top of the stem bases.

I use the same trick to keep lightweight (dishwasher safe) plastic tumblers and etc., in place. Much easier than all those little plastic ties.

I got the idea from the many years I used my commercial Hobart dishwasher - the trays for stemware had grid-like covers to keep them in place. -Otherwise the pressure would blow them completely out of the tray.

[lindag]

I have graduated to the stemless wineglasses. Mine are Reidel and have been extremely durable, haven't lost a single one in two years.

Love that they're so much more stable in the d/w.

[Shalmanese]

I don't understand washing stemware in the dishwasher. The only things that ever go into stemware are, by definition, water soluble and unless people are wearing lipstick or something, there's rarely stubborn stains on them. I virtually never use soap on stemware, just a rinse of hot water. Even if there's like a dinner party or something, I'll make sure to at least rinse them out with cold water before going to bed and then cleaning them properly the next day.

[SylviaLovegren]

I don't understand washing stemware in the dishwasher. The only things that ever go into stemware are, by definition, water soluble and unless people are wearing lipstick or something, there's rarely stubborn stains on them. I virtually never use soap on stemware, just a rinse of hot water. Even if there's like a dinner party or something, I'll make sure to at least rinse them out with cold water before going to bed and then cleaning them properly the next day.

You don't use soap on glasses people have been drinking out of? Really? Viruses and bacteria don't bother you?

[sparrowgrass]

My dishwasher, a Frigidaire Gallery, has a stemware rack in the top shelf. If you are washing tall glasses, it folds up out of the way, but folded down, it has slots for the stems.

[KennethT]

I understand Shalmanese's point - we never wash decanters with soap - only a rinse with hot water, and use "decanter beads" (sort of like stainless steel BBs) to "scrub" any stubborn stains if not rinsed right away... The glasses, however, get washed because people's mouths are all over the rim. We frequently have about 10 people over for tastings where each person gets 3-4 glasses. That's a lot of glasses to wash on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. We used to wash them by hand, but having far too many break in the hand caused us to get a glass rack from the restaurant supply store. It holds 16 glasses and is intended to go into a commercial dish machine. Removing the bottom dish rack from our rental apartment's crappy dishwasher allows us to put in the commercial glass rack with only a slight modification to the rack, resulting in clean glasses with very little effort. The rack looks like this one:

[andiesenji]

I understand Shalmanese's point - we never wash decanters with soap - only a rinse with hot water, and use "decanter beads" (sort of like stainless steel BBs) to "scrub" any stubborn stains if not rinsed right away... The glasses, however, get washed because people's mouths are all over the rim. We frequently have about 10 people over for tastings where each person gets 3-4 glasses. That's a lot of glasses to wash on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. We used to wash them by hand, but having far too many break in the hand caused us to get a glass rack from the restaurant supply store. It holds 16 glasses and is intended to go into a commercial dish machine. Removing the bottom dish rack from our rental apartment's crappy dishwasher allows us to put in the commercial glass rack with only a slight modification to the rack, resulting in clean glasses with very little effort. The rack looks like this one:

Those are similar to the racks I bought for my Hobart.

[Shalmanese]

You don't use soap on glasses people have been drinking out of? Really? Viruses and bacteria don't bother you?

Washing cleans by removing bacteria and soap doesn't actually kill bacteria, it just helps make it more efficient to lift dirt and grease from the surface. Studies have shown that washing with water alone removes something like 90 - 95% of bacteria, soap removes 98% and anti-bacterial soap, 99.9%. In addition, bacteria have a hard time surviving on a dry, clean surface which is why drying is one of the ubiquitous preservation mechanisms throughout the ages. Finally, there's evidence that constant, sub-critical doses of bacteria is actually beneficial to your immune system.

Glasses are generally too narrow to get a scrubbing brush into every corner and I find it tedious to completely rid a glass of detergent once it's come in contact with it so, unless there are visible food or lipstick stains on a glass, I'll keep them rigorously separated from the rest of the dishes and clean them with water only.

[patrickamory]

We use these things and they're great. Have never broken or lost a glass since we started using them.

http://www.wineenthusiast.com/stemgrip-dishwasher-wine-glass-rack.asp

[Peter the eater]

My recent home GE dishwasher came with gizmos to wash stemware. No good. Hot soapy water and a bottle brush are more efficient in every way.