Our next task tackles a sensitive subject in many kitchens: dishwasher etiquette. How you load your dishwasher is a loaded question. Get it? Loaded? If you’re lucky enough to have a dishwasher (who is not your spouse), you invariably have a certain way you like to load it. And if you’re like me, you often reload it after someone else has done it. But did you know there actually is a right way and a wrong way to load a dishwasher? I’m going to break it down for you and reveal some things you may not know about dishwasher protocol.
Let’s start from the bottom. Granted, not all dishwashers are the same, but the bottom rack is generally where you put the big stuff. Obviously, your dinner plates can line up one after another in the long back row, but working from the outside in, you should angle them toward each other to meet face-to-face at the center, because that’s where the washer jets are. The rest of the bottom-rack dishes and pans is often a choreographed dance to stuff in as much as possible – which actually isn’t a good thing. Think about it. You don’t wash your hair with a shower cap on, so don’t cover one dish with another. If you do, the top of the bottom one and the inside of the top one aren’t getting clean. And let’s talk bowls. Do you put them on the bottom rack too? If they are deep cereal bowls, you shouldn’t. Those bowls go on the top because if you nest them on the bottom like we all do, the jets can’t get to them. (Mind blown on that one! I’m a longtime bottom-rack bowl girl.) Your larger pots, pans and baking dishes can tuck into the sides, but make sure you angle them down, or you’re just washing their backs. Avoid putting the flat trays and pans at the front of the rack, because now you just blocked your soap dispenser. I tend to put my plastic cutting boards and cookie sheets on the left side – away from the silverware and the soap dispenser. And keep pots and pans from being face down near the washer jets – they’ll be the only things getting cleaned.
Now on to silverware. You know that part of you that likes grouping knives with knives and spoons with spoons? Well, stop that urge. They actually get cleaner all mixed up, because then spoons can’t spoon, and forks can’t – well, you know. Also, if you have any of your grandmother’s nice silver, don’t wash it next to your stainless. They don’t get along and will do their best to ruin each other. Keep them on opposite ends of the basket, or hand wash the silver! Some say the eating surface of your cutlery should face downward, others say up, I say do that however you want, but probably put the knives facing down so you don’t stab yourself.
The upper rack is naturally where all of your glasses, mugs and smaller items go – and as we now know, your bowls (mind still blown). Angle them facing down – not nested – so the water can get to them. Do you know why plastic always goes on the top? It’s because the heating element of the dishwasher is on the bottom. That’s why you continually melt your storage containers. The upper rack is also a great spot to lay tongs, spatulas and ladles. If you’re lucky enough to have that fancy third rack on top, throw those babies and any extra flatware up there. Just make sure nothing can slip through the racks and tumble to the bottom, blocking the water nozzles.
Do you find yourself pressing the same “auto” button every time? Change it up based on your dish load. Thanksgiving? Hit the “heavy” button. Lunch dishes that only had a sandwich on them? Go for the express wash. Just like your own routines, your dishwasher needs you to switch it up once in a while. Plus, if your machine is anything like mine, that “auto” button is starting to look a little rough around the edges.
