To rinse or not rinse when loading the dishwasher?

No I told about this in 1953 !!!!

In spite of mfrs claims that you don't have to, you still should. Otherwise, crud collects in the filter and it's a real pain to clean out. Also, if you ever need to pull a piece out and wash it by hand because you don't have time to wait for the next cycle, it'll be a lot easier if you don't have nasty, dried on gunk to deal with.

I use the Rinse & Hold button a lot.

And no, I let my dishwasher do its job and do not practically wash my dishes before loading them. They rinse at my brother's house and I think they're silly for doing so.

"Pots and pans" cycle is bullshit, so I don't merely rinse, I wash those before I put them into the dw just to sterilize.

I got a new weird-fangled Bosch dishwasher recently. The manual says to not rinse dishes clean before washing. Why? The fuzzy logic that tests the water for dirt level will think the dishes are clean before they really are, therefore curtailing the wash cycle. The machine needs time and repeated water action against the dishes to get them really clean. A typical cycle in this machine lasts about 1 hr 40 minutes. It does not have a heated dryer, just a fan.

Also, the more recent gel and the single-dose d/w detergents are much better at removing crud than the old ones. I cook a lot and even with the old d/w, I never rinsed. I just knocked off the big chunks. My dishes were always clean.

That is fuckin stoooopid.

If you're going to rinse them, just fuckin' wash them.

No, it's not. You can do a lighter wash on your dishwasher if you do. The machine will last longer and you can always use the ECO wash.

What kills me at work is that morons who have a napkin (or several) to wipe their hands throw them out and then put their plates covered with fish and sauce and all kinds of shit in the dishwasher. With big chunks of food on them and the silverware, which always comes out with food crusted on it when it's "clean".

How hard is it to scrape your plate with the fork and then wipe it with the napkins you will throw away?

You didn't use to have to clean the dishes (and not just rinse them, but really remove most of the dirt/ food traces) before putting them in the dishwasher back when the dishwashing detergent was still permitted to use phosphates. The dishes always came out clean.

Now, however, if there's ANYTHING left on the plates or silverware, it simply doesn't come off with the phosphate-free detergents. It's a huge nuisance, and I honestly question whether removing the phosphates was all that green a move, since now you use far more water pre-cleaning the dishes.

I've never understood why people like r4 think dishwashers sterilise. That plate with two soggy grains of rice stuck to it isn't sterile and neither is anything else in there.

R8, you can still get Cascade with phosphates from a restaurant-supply, but it's called fryer boil-out. In my search to find something that would work with my new Bosch and extremely soft water (which is another thread in itself), I kept seeing it mentioned as being the same as the old detergent that had phosphates.

I hand wash all my dishes then place in the dishwasher and use the sanitize setting.

I just scrape off the leftover food and give it a quick rinse under the tap just so there isn't too much rotten food smell buildup inside the dishwasher before I turn it on. A friend of mine would basically wash each item before putting in, I said what is the point, he just said he always does it that way. Anyway I hate washing dishes so it's not a big sacrifice to put them in still half dirty.

I do what R12 does. I'm going to assume that for most it depends on your dishwasher. I don't have to do too much rinsing before putting it in the washer, but I've noticed a few times that there will be left over crud on some knives or on some dishes. Now I at least make sure to get rid of what I think my washer won't get, but most of the time I just toss the dishes in there.

If it is avocado or guacamole, for sure...that's like rubber cement to my dishwasher. Oatmeal and melted cheese can be still stuck after also. I just let it soak in the sink and wipe off the food after it soaks overnight. Finish Quantum Tablets seem to work well.

Modern dishwashers have a soft food disposer built-in.

The key is to look at the size of the drain holes surrounding your impeller in the center at the bottom. Scrape any food or food residue that will not fit though the holes. The disposer and water pump are on the other side.

I wouldn't have to tell you this if you'd read your damn Owners Manual like you were supposed to.

More detergent is often not the answer to incomplete cleaning, improper loading is.

Everyone thinks they're an expert at dishwasher loading, just like most folks think they're excellent drivers and everyone else is the idiot.

Only that Crawford bitch rinses and scrapes before loading. Hell, she rinses and scrapes after unloading!

I can't believe I wasn't invited to the DL 1930s Dishwasher Party!

The used to make gasoline-powered washing machines for people who lived in the countryside with no electricity.

I rinse off actual scraps, but that's it. My Bosch dishwasher gets the dirtiest dishes and pots and pans spotless. Even a roast pan with burnt cooking juices comes out spotless. And this is a pretty basic Bosch.

My Kenmore Elite does a wonderful job. Nearly silent with an affordable price.

Yes. Dishwashers suck shit at washing; they're there to sanitize.

R4, dishwashers do not sterilize.

On the sanitize setting, the heating coils will bring the water to 150°F or more, which is hot enough to eliminate 99.999 percent of bacteria, according to NSF International, which certifies dishwashers based on sanitation standards. A cycle this hot will also kill influenza and rhinoviruses. By comparison, a regular wash cycle peaks at 120°F.

From the interwebs: Sterilizing means the killing of ALL living organisms, while sanitizing REDUCES the number of such organisms to a level considered safe for public health. Dishwashers are not typically designed to sterilize items within them.

Are you guys running operating rooms in your kitchens? Why do you need things to be sterilized?

Here, read this from GOOD HOUSEKEEPING:

yet another strange mundane thread. seeing a strange patten here. Out of place.

Mr. Mundane above @ r28 -- go play somewhere else.

Bump, Huge argument about this tonight at my house , Huge !

I don't see the harm in doing a quick rinse before loading them into the dishwasher.

When my stack of unwashed dishes gets to about 2 feet high, I call the Salvation Army for pickup.

Why would you rinse? If you are doing that, you might as well wash them by hand. Perhaps you have one of those old dishwasher or cheap models for poorer people?

Rinse rinse rinse

It was just me, so during the day I would put my dirty dishes and utensils in a dishpan filled with soapy water until right before I went to bed when I loaded the now yuck free dishes into the dw and turned it on. I liked going to sleep to the sound of the machine, and in the morning, the dishes and flatware were cool and easy to unload.

R35, so now you're living with someone and can't do that anymore? Coupledom--always a mistake.

my grandmother had a built in dishwasher put in when she had her house built in 1949. It was a top loader and you had to pull out the top rack to load things in the bottom first. She always rinsed her dishes completely off and no one was allowed to load it except her. When she died in1987 she still had that dishwasher and it still worked like new. I always rinse my dishes.

R18 are those the same guys from the infamous Princess Diana is dead scream video? Was this extra footage from that same night?

I let my cat "Morris " do the " pre-rinsing "

R12 and R16 win the thread

I always rinse because it takes almost a week to fill the washer up. Food stuck on the dishes will start to stink in a few days.

How they do it in the UK