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Best dishwasher


Michael M

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Well, sadly, I am dishwasher-less and am in need of a new one.

We've gone through 2 Kenmore dishwashers in about 10 years. It seems like they break down right after the warranties expire. The other day I started the washer and went about my business. I came back to see that the washer stopped mid-cycle....AND was just seconds away from catching on fire. The wires are all melted etc. Thank GOD it flipped the breaker. Unfortunately, my washer is not on the recall list *sigh*. Anyway, my husband refuses to purchase any more Kenmore/Whirlpool products. Samsung is also off the list due to a very looooooong and frustrating refrigerator problem that is still ongoing.

I honestly have never had a dishwasher that cleans dishes well. I don't expect miracles to happen--I don't load it full of cheese-crusted lasagna pans or anything. Maybe I'm just dishwasher challenged lol.

I know for sure that I want one with 1.) a food grinder 2.) a sterilization feature.

I use the dishwasher to sterilize all of my canning jars.

I've read this whole thread, so, armed with all of your input, I'm off to dishwasher research land.

Although Kenmore used to be mostly Whirlpool stuff, that's changed over the years, so you might want to investigate this further. Here's a guide to determining who made your Kenmore.

For what it's worth, we've been happy with our KitchenAid (seven years, light use, one repair for a leaking hose), as have our friends with their high-end Whirlpool Gold (six years, light use, no repairs).

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  • 2 weeks later...

Funny. So we've had our Miele Diamante for a few years now and what I posted earlier in the thread still holds. Everything gets completely dry except for plastics and dishes that end up "holding" water. The lack of a grinder isn't a problem; we scrape but never rinse and rarely find anything in the filter. There's only one caveat. In a house of two we can go nearly a week without running the dishwasher. Any stainless steel utensils in the utensil rack will not clean thoroughly as a result. (Everything else, including ceramic spoons in the utensil tray, do fine.) So, we've taken to rinsing stainless steel utensils if we know they're going to sit in the tray for days.

Reiterating comments earlier in the thread; it is imperative you take a bunch of dishes to the store and see how they fit in the dishwashers. I was going to buy a higher end Miele, and also looked at a Bosch, but actually trying our dishware made us choose the Miele Diamante. We were also thinking of the higher end Kitchenaids, but my DH liked the fact that the Euro DWs had an automatic water shut-off in case of water leakage.

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a revealation for us. We have a Maytag dishwasher (not on the recall list) about four years old. Over time the dishes and flatware were not coming out sparkling clean. A friend said that the makers of dishwasher detergent had reduced or eliminated the sulfates in their formulas. We trued adding a half cup of white vinagar and cutting the detergent by one half and the results are amazing. Sparkling glasses, sparking flatware. Is it just us?

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a revealation for us. We have a Maytag dishwasher (not on the recall list) about four years old. Over time the dishes and flatware were not coming out sparkling clean. A friend said that the makers of dishwasher detergent had reduced or eliminated the sulfates in their formulas. We trued adding a half cup of white vinagar and cutting the detergent by one half and the results are amazing. Sparkling glasses, sparking flatware. Is it just us?

A few years ago---during one of our many visits with the Sears repair man---he told us to run citric acid (the white powdery stuff that you would make homemade bath fizzies out of) through at least once a month. It really does improve the wash.

Of course, it helps to actually HAVE a dishwasher in which to use the acid it lol. :rolleyes:

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a revealation for us. We have a Maytag dishwasher (not on the recall list) about four years old. Over time the dishes and flatware were not coming out sparkling clean. A friend said that the makers of dishwasher detergent had reduced or eliminated the sulfates in their formulas. We trued adding a half cup of white vinagar and cutting the detergent by one half and the results are amazing. Sparkling glasses, sparking flatware. Is it just us?

No, it's not just you. My mom noticed the same thing (dull dishes) and has been doing the same thing for years. She buys the bulk bottles of white vinegar and uses a cup of it with every dishwasher load. She puts a cup-sized measuring cup (that always stays in the dishwasher) in the top rack, fills it with the vinegar and adds the regular amount of soap and runs the load. I will suggest to her that she try using less soap, as well.

There was also a recent study done that suggested most people use too much soap in their dishwashers/clothes washers which is not good for the life of the appliance.

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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  • 10 months later...

Any new dishwasher recommendations or warnings? My 5 year old Bosch is taking over 2 hours to run a cycle and everything is coming out wet. Of course, the warranty expired last Sunday :shock: ! The Bosch worked well and my only issue with it was the handle came loose which required a service call because the door has to come apart to tighten the handle! It was very quiet. I'm thinking of replacing it with another Bosch but wanted to see other recommendations.

Anne Napolitano

Chef On Call

"Great cooking doesn't come from breaking with tradition but taking it in new directions-evolution rather that revolution." Heston Blumenthal

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Anne,

The new phosphate free dishwasher detergents are reeking havoc on the machines and your dishes. You might try running a Dishwasher Cleaner through your machine and reassessing the performance.

Then you may also need a new timer which is about $100 plus a 30 minute installation. That's better than the cost of a new machine.

Tim

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