How to stack plates in a dishwasher?
November 17, 2011 6:14 AM Subscribe
Which way do you put plates into a dishwasher?
Without wishing to bias the responses, my wife and I were raised with different expectations of how a dishwasher should be stacked. One of us prefers to place the plates so the convex / food bearing surface points up and across like this:
\(\(\(\(\
and one of us stacks the other way around, so the convex / food bearing surface points down like this:
\)\)\)\)\
Without resorting to a randomised trial, who is correct?
Without wishing to bias the responses, my wife and I were raised with different expectations of how a dishwasher should be stacked. One of us prefers to place the plates so the convex / food bearing surface points up and across like this:
\(\(\(\(\
and one of us stacks the other way around, so the convex / food bearing surface points down like this:
\)\)\)\)\
Without resorting to a randomised trial, who is correct?
This sounds like it calls exactly for a randomized trial, but for anecdata, I was raised to place convex side up.
posted by InsanePenguin at 6:16 AM on November 17, 2011
posted by InsanePenguin at 6:16 AM on November 17, 2011
We do it the first way, but from what I understand, the most efficient way is actually
(\(\(\/)\)\)
...I'm just too lazy to change my ways.
posted by litnerd at 6:18 AM on November 17, 2011 [7 favorites]
(\(\(\/)\)\)
...I'm just too lazy to change my ways.
posted by litnerd at 6:18 AM on November 17, 2011 [7 favorites]
I actually have done a randomized trial of this. I couldn't detect any difference in cleanliness -- they got clean either way.
posted by Etrigan at 6:18 AM on November 17, 2011 [8 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 6:18 AM on November 17, 2011 [8 favorites]
I do the second because it stacks better with soup dishes and then they don't get water collecting in them.
posted by jeather at 6:19 AM on November 17, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by jeather at 6:19 AM on November 17, 2011 [2 favorites]
Doesn't matter. In most (all?) dishwashers, water comes from both directions, above and below.
posted by supercres at 6:21 AM on November 17, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by supercres at 6:21 AM on November 17, 2011 [3 favorites]
We do it so the plates face the inside from either side of the dishwasher (like litnerd's diagram). The water comes from the center, so this provides the best contact and force and gives you cleaner dishes.
posted by DoubleLune at 6:22 AM on November 17, 2011 [14 favorites]
posted by DoubleLune at 6:22 AM on November 17, 2011 [14 favorites]
Mine face toward the center and in a way that food-bearing surface doesn't rest on the points of the rack (facing slightly up). This is to help prevent there being places with food stuck between the surface of the plate and rack points.
posted by D.C. at 6:26 AM on November 17, 2011
posted by D.C. at 6:26 AM on November 17, 2011
The biggest arguments we get into over plates in the dishwasher are the bowls.. she tends to just put them in between the tines, instead of 'nested', therefore not using the space efficiently (bowls end up perpendicular to the plates instead of parallel). And don't get me started on how she stacks the glasses level.
specifically to your questions, most of the dishwashers I see today, the tines face straight up and down, so you don't have an implicit 'lean' one way or the other. As long as they are all facing the same way, no problem, and bowls face down (as long as you're not my wife).
posted by rich at 6:33 AM on November 17, 2011
specifically to your questions, most of the dishwashers I see today, the tines face straight up and down, so you don't have an implicit 'lean' one way or the other. As long as they are all facing the same way, no problem, and bowls face down (as long as you're not my wife).
posted by rich at 6:33 AM on November 17, 2011
Whether plates or bowls, the dirty side (plate faces, bowl interiors) should be facing where the water comes in, in the center: that way the most water-force hits the dirtiest parts.
posted by easily confused at 6:36 AM on November 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by easily confused at 6:36 AM on November 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
I lean mine with the plates angled toward the bottom spray, however, I think I do this mostly for no standing water.
posted by Amalie-Suzette at 6:37 AM on November 17, 2011
posted by Amalie-Suzette at 6:37 AM on November 17, 2011
I haven't noticed any difference. What seems to matter more is spacing out the lower rack so the jets can clean both from below and, indirectly, from above (spray a water hose directly against a wall in front of you, and you'll get wet). I often see people put way too much stuff on the bottom rack (including pots), and I think that's where most problems start.
posted by crapmatic at 6:38 AM on November 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by crapmatic at 6:38 AM on November 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
My dishwasher actually holds the dishes vertical, so straight up and down. (|(|(|(|(
In my old dishwasher then, it was facing your first example.
posted by royalsong at 6:51 AM on November 17, 2011
In my old dishwasher then, it was facing your first example.
posted by royalsong at 6:51 AM on November 17, 2011
I'm one of those nerds who reads the manual when I get new appliances. The manual to our dishwasher says to place all the dishes dirty side facing down and to the center of the machine. (/(/(/\)\)\) Large bowls and pots are supposed to be completely upside down, not tilted at all.
Our machine is one of those roll-around units, not a built in style. It barely works, and if I don't load it just like the manual said things just won't come clean.
posted by TooFewShoes at 7:04 AM on November 17, 2011 [3 favorites]
Our machine is one of those roll-around units, not a built in style. It barely works, and if I don't load it just like the manual said things just won't come clean.
posted by TooFewShoes at 7:04 AM on November 17, 2011 [3 favorites]
I place the food side facing the front of the drawer. I do not have water coming from the top, so in my setup, the food side is not getting direct water hits or is at best getting it angled. My plates get clean. I do admit to rinsing them before placing them in the drawer for washing.
The issue I have is with silverware. Do I place the business side down in the basket so when I take out clean utensils I am grabbing the handle or handle side down so the business side gets more direct hits from spraying water?
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:11 AM on November 17, 2011
The issue I have is with silverware. Do I place the business side down in the basket so when I take out clean utensils I am grabbing the handle or handle side down so the business side gets more direct hits from spraying water?
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:11 AM on November 17, 2011
The way the racks lean in our dishwasher means that I can either have the plates sloping and touching each other at the top, or straight up and down with gaps. I prefer straight up and down with gaps because it makes them dry better.
posted by flabdablet at 7:18 AM on November 17, 2011
posted by flabdablet at 7:18 AM on November 17, 2011
I actually looked the little diagram on my dishwasher a couple of months ago and it was like what litnerd posted -
(\(\(\/)\)\)
posted by KogeLiz at 7:20 AM on November 17, 2011
(\(\(\/)\)\)
posted by KogeLiz at 7:20 AM on November 17, 2011
I think you mean "concave," not "convex," when referring to the side of the plate that you put the food on.
posted by Prawn at 7:33 AM on November 17, 2011
posted by Prawn at 7:33 AM on November 17, 2011
Best answer: Disclaimer: I work for a major kitchen and laundry appliance manufactuer.
Load them like this.
Here's the thing: dishes get clean not just because of the soap, but because of the spray action. As one engineer over on our dishwasher team told me, "It’s all about the spray. Think the spray. BE the spray."
Anyway, load all your dirty dishes so that they’re separated and facing the center. That's going to maximize the dirty dishes exposure to spray. Ideally, the plates should be in the lower rack, facing center. Glasses go in the upper rack, between, not over, the tine. Use the top rack for plastic and delicate items. Bowls go in the upper rack, too.
Knives go in point silverware basket point down. Other flatware should alternate (some handles up and some handles down). Mix spoons, forks, and knives so they don’t stick together and block the spray.
Keep your really big dishes/pots/pans at the sides and back, so that they don’t hog all the water and detergent and keep it from reaching the other dishes. This will also keep them from blocking the detergent door. If some of your dishes have baked-on food, set them in the rack facedown and toward the sprayer in the bottom rack so they can get blasted clean by the spray.
The most common dishwasher-loading mistakes are (1) blocking one of the arm sprays with a tall item on the lower rack, and (2) nesting the dishes (the water has to be able to get to the dirty spots). Your number one rule should be: don’t load anything, in any way, that could block the spray. If you have any doubt about how to load something into a dishwasher, ask yourself, "does loading it this way serve the spray?"
Think the spray. BE THE SPRAY.
posted by magstheaxe at 7:38 AM on November 17, 2011 [53 favorites]
Load them like this.
Here's the thing: dishes get clean not just because of the soap, but because of the spray action. As one engineer over on our dishwasher team told me, "It’s all about the spray. Think the spray. BE the spray."
Anyway, load all your dirty dishes so that they’re separated and facing the center. That's going to maximize the dirty dishes exposure to spray. Ideally, the plates should be in the lower rack, facing center. Glasses go in the upper rack, between, not over, the tine. Use the top rack for plastic and delicate items. Bowls go in the upper rack, too.
Knives go in point silverware basket point down. Other flatware should alternate (some handles up and some handles down). Mix spoons, forks, and knives so they don’t stick together and block the spray.
Keep your really big dishes/pots/pans at the sides and back, so that they don’t hog all the water and detergent and keep it from reaching the other dishes. This will also keep them from blocking the detergent door. If some of your dishes have baked-on food, set them in the rack facedown and toward the sprayer in the bottom rack so they can get blasted clean by the spray.
The most common dishwasher-loading mistakes are (1) blocking one of the arm sprays with a tall item on the lower rack, and (2) nesting the dishes (the water has to be able to get to the dirty spots). Your number one rule should be: don’t load anything, in any way, that could block the spray. If you have any doubt about how to load something into a dishwasher, ask yourself, "does loading it this way serve the spray?"
Think the spray. BE THE SPRAY.
posted by magstheaxe at 7:38 AM on November 17, 2011 [53 favorites]
I have always assumed that the bottom spinning jet is the most powerful in any dishwasher, and have placed the dishes pointing downward to accomodate this.
posted by No Shmoobles at 7:39 AM on November 17, 2011
posted by No Shmoobles at 7:39 AM on November 17, 2011
"Do I place the business side down in the basket so when I take out clean utensils I am grabbing the handle or handle side down so the business side gets more direct hits from spraying water?"
My dishwasher's manual says business side UP for better cleanness (mine also has those things that separate the utensils individually in half the basket, so they can't nest), don't let them next, and sharp knives go point DOWN because the risk of stabbing yourself outweighs the slightly-less-cleanness of putting the point down.
It does a tiny bit gross me out to be grabbing all the eating surfaces of the utensils when I grab them out, but I usually just wash my hands first, I'm a pretty habitual handwasher when I get into the kitchen (since I'm going to prepare food, or make a bottle, or do something else I want to wash my hands before I do) so I don't even think about it much.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:13 AM on November 17, 2011
My dishwasher's manual says business side UP for better cleanness (mine also has those things that separate the utensils individually in half the basket, so they can't nest), don't let them next, and sharp knives go point DOWN because the risk of stabbing yourself outweighs the slightly-less-cleanness of putting the point down.
It does a tiny bit gross me out to be grabbing all the eating surfaces of the utensils when I grab them out, but I usually just wash my hands first, I'm a pretty habitual handwasher when I get into the kitchen (since I'm going to prepare food, or make a bottle, or do something else I want to wash my hands before I do) so I don't even think about it much.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:13 AM on November 17, 2011
Also, if you have *ahem* Mineral Rich! water like mine, stack the dishes so the water all runs off, or else you will end up with white spots. Ugh.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:30 AM on November 17, 2011
posted by wenestvedt at 9:30 AM on November 17, 2011
Cutlery handles up. That way, food on the business end has a shorter distance to fall. The other way, all the food on the business end has to slide all the way down the length of the... knife, let's say, before falling off the cutlery. What if the food doesn't make it all the way down? Unclean. UNCLEAN!
Added benefits: no stabbing yourself when you go to empty the dishwasher. No fingerprints on the business end. No wrapping your fingers around dirty handles that didn't get clean because you loaded the dishwasher wrong.
posted by emelenjr at 9:41 AM on November 17, 2011 [2 favorites]
Added benefits: no stabbing yourself when you go to empty the dishwasher. No fingerprints on the business end. No wrapping your fingers around dirty handles that didn't get clean because you loaded the dishwasher wrong.
posted by emelenjr at 9:41 AM on November 17, 2011 [2 favorites]
I think you have received a lot of helpful responses. I view this from another angle altogether:
At least your partner loads the dishwasher! I had one that never did.
posted by Monday at 3:51 PM on November 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
At least your partner loads the dishwasher! I had one that never did.
posted by Monday at 3:51 PM on November 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 6:16 AM on November 17, 2011 [7 favorites]