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Is dishwasher a waste? I find hand-washing dishes uses a LOT of water. What do you guys think? I also have concerns washing dishes that have touched raw meat products - not sure how sanitized it can get with hand-washing.
You don't have to sterilize your dishes. You just have to wash any bacteria off the dishes and down the drain. Hot water and detergent -- whether from the sink or the dishwasher -- are going to take care of anything left behind by raw meat.
But a dishwasher is awful handy to have around -- it uses less water than handwashing (especially if you forego the usually unncessary step of rinsing dishes before stacking them in the dishwasher) and keeps your kitchen tidier.
Hot water and detergent -- whether from the sink or the dishwasher -- are going to take care of anything left behind by raw meat.
But a dishwasher is awful handy to have around -- it uses less water than handwashing (especially if you forego the usually unncessary step of rinsing dishes before stacking them in the dishwasher) and keeps your kitchen tidier.
I am always curious. How can the dishwasher get those tough spots (mostly dried food) off the dishes? I often have to scratch them repeatedly to get them off.
Take it one step farther and have two dishwashers. A dish's cycle would be from a clean dishwasher to the table to the dirty dishwasher. When the dirty dishwasher is full, run it and it becomes the clean dishwasher. Dishes never go in the cupboard, they are either being used or in a clean dishwasher or a dirty dishwasher. More efficient. That's LEAN.
Not a waste IMHO, but that's because I have sensitive skin. The dishwasher accepts much stronger detergent and hotter water than my hands can.
One does need a decent performer, though ... the sub-$200 models are very poor and quite the turn-off for many folks. Then there's the time savings aspect ... 5 minutes loading versus 30-45 minutes in front of the sink ... that adds up.
Take it one step farther and have two dishwashers. A dish's cycle would be from a clean dishwasher to the table to the dirty dishwasher. When the dirty dishwasher is full, run it and it becomes the clean dishwasher. Dishes never go in the cupboard, they are either being used or in a clean dishwasher or a dirty dishwasher. More efficient. That's LEAN.
I have a friend who swears that his next house will have no bottom cabinets, only dishwasher drawers.
Think about it. The new models have the little "clean" light that comes on at the end of the cycle, so you'd never have to worry about using the wrong drawer.
We have a new super-duper high-efficiency machine. But I still rinse the plates. It's a habit I can't seem to break. Plus, since there are only two of us in the household, we only run the DW every three days or so. The idea of food chunks sitting there for a couple of days icks me out.
The idea of food chunks sitting there for a couple of days icks me out.
We scrape the plates pretty throroughly using our napkins, but if there's some particularly tenacious or potentially noxious item on the dishes, I'll run the rinse cycle before going to bed, with a little splash of baking soda.
We also use white vinegar in the rinse aid dispenser, and that cuts way down on odors.
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How can the dishwasher get those tough spots (mostly dried food) off the dishes?
That's one of those questions we really don't want the answer to ... along the lines of "How does that Mr. Clean Magic Eraser really work?"
You also need to think about resale in the future. Most people will want or expect one in the kitchen. We use ours almost daily so for us its not a waste. If we don't plan on running it we will rinse the dishes at the end of the day with the rinse cycle and they are fine. As others said, spend a litttle more and you won't have to worry about the dried on stuff. We have a whirlpool gold that has all kinds of features we don't use, but it does a great job cleaning. We bought it because it was advertised as being quiet and it is. We can hardly hear it in the adjacent family room when its on.
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