Dishwasher recommendations

O

oli

Well-known member
We inherited a Bosch unit when we bought this house in 2004 so we figure it is 14 years old. I don't know how long dishwashers last but we discovered a burnt wire type smell in the house after having used the dishwasher, so we decided to buy another unit.

Anyway Consumer reports gave Whirlpool, Bosch, and Kenmore the top rated units. Searching this site some people liked Kitchenaid, but this was back in 2013, nothing since then.

 
I bought a GE Profile 4 yrs ago that I REALLY like. I'll look up the specific style when I get home

after work tonight and post it for you tomorrow. It has 2 racks, the upper one is adjustable; the inside capacity is BIG. I can fit more dirty dishes in this dishwasher than either of the 2 Kenmores I've had or the 2 KitchenAids. My current DW is stainless steel inside & out. (NOTE: Whenever I shop for a new dishwasher, I lug a huge Rubbermaid tub of pots, pans, skillets, dishes, utensils, glasses, etc. to the store with me to see how they will fit in the various makes and models. This little approach might look dumb, but it has served me well over the years.)

 
We had an old dishwasher in our house also. My husband installed

an Lg dishwasher from home Depot, 10 year warranty. i really like it. Marsha

 
Love our Kitchenmaid with the tray at the top for knives and utensils

With our previous one we could remove the top rack for large items like cookie sheets but our current one doesn't have that feature.

 
I did not like my 2 drawer dishwasher. (Bosch?). I think it is the only one on the market. It

did not work properly and required numerous service calls. The bottom drawer was always having problems, and according to our service person, that was common.

We switched to Thermador. No issues... I just want clean dishes!

 
oli, while on my commute home I started thinking that I remembered writing about my current DW so

did a search here at eat.at, and sure enough.....go to the link below. Michael has the GE model that came right after mine. I'm pretty sure my GE Profile model is no longer being made, but would have to check at the GE appliance web site to be sure.

Re your question: How to decide? I went to several reputable appliance stores to talk to knowledgeable sales personnel. (The small "Mom and Pop" stores were the best, IMHO.) Like you, I also reviewed Consumer Reports and read anything else I could find with opinions from the general public. My best advice came from female sales people who actually used the different brands.

I made a list of which features were the most important to me. Example, it was more important to me to have plenty of head room for the top rack because I have tall mixing bowls and I also like to put my food processor bowls on the upper rack which meant I wanted a top rack that was adjustable and that I wasn't crazy about having a 3rd rack for silverware--.unless the 3rd rack could be removed.

I really wanted a dishwasher that had a disposal (like they used to include in dishwashers eons ago) as I don't want to have to practically rinse my dirty dishes clean BEFORE running a load through the dishwasher! I was able to get what GE calls a Piranha Hard Food Disposer.

Our house is NOT an open floor plan so the noise level of a dishwasher didn't matter to me, and I didn't fret if I looked at lower or higher noise levels in the various styles. Now I happen to have a SIL who has a very open home so a low noise level was one of her top priorities.

Some brands came with racks and silverware holders that seemed to me to be made of a flimsier type hard plastic. A big NO to anything like that. I wanted heayv duty ball bearings for the racks to roll smoothly in and out.

One thing people complained a lot about on-line was having dishes that they had to pretty much hand dry after the wash & dry cycles were finished. I wanted (and got) a dishwasher that I can put 98% of the clean dishes directly from the dishwasher into my cupboards without having to wipe much of anything dry by hand.

It took me a good 2 months of research and running around. DH helped with the analysis. It was good to have somebody else to bounce things off. Another good source was asking repair people which brands they thought were better made machines.

KitchenAid used to be the el primo dishwasher back when they were manufactured by Hobart, but that all changed when Hobart was sold. I cannot remember exactly what happened, but something changed and the quality of KitchenAid dishwashers was never as good.

Good luck. Take your time when shopping, and I'm sure you'll end up a very satisfied new dishwasher owner!

http://eat.at/swap/forum/index.php?action=display&forumid=1&msgid=248473

 
I thought that Fisher and Paykel were the only dish drawers

Am I wrong?

Just the 2 of us and we very often run a half full dishwasher. I thought that if we had to replace, we'd go with dish drawers.

 
We love our KitchenAid(s)

Pleased with reliability and performance of KitchenAid. Original home in '80's had a 1-piece DW/sink metal unit - moved unit to butler's pantry, renovated kitchen and added new KitchenAid. Bought third in 3rd home in early 2000's (white) to replace failed Kenmore. Garbage picked and installed 4th to replace failed GE. Removed both white KitchenAids in '13 to sell home and replaced with 2 stainless steel, "floor models" Bosch. Moved the newer (white) KitchenAid to current home (sold garbage picked unit) to replace working black Kenmore. Will move white KitchenAid again to new house to sell current home, swapping with new house stainless steel Samsung suite (DW, range, micro). Colleen

 
My original 1976 KA was still running beautifully when I sold the house but I got a 'free' new KA in

stainless, which of course, all buyers wanted. It was BY FAR, the best ever. So this old guy or 36 years went out to the street. I have had 2 WHirl, 1 Roper, 3 KA, a Kenmore , some Chinese brand, 1 Maytag and many of them were concurrent. The features I would look for after 45 years:

indicator on front so I could see where the cycle was, for adding or removing
quiet!! This last one, KA, friends actually put their ears to the door before they could believe it was running
waste disposal. So so handy but not sure it is available any longer
very quick cycle (20 min) for pre-entertaining cleanups
prongs on top rack for delicate bits
double rinse as the new soaps are so strong
effective top arm as cups with dips need lots of water to remove soap
removable parts in bottom for very large pieces
KA loading system. They still have the best arrangements for dishes.
2 independent soap dispensers for often extremely greasy loads

I loved that last KA and really wanted to move with it.

 
BTW it was my understanding that when Whirl bought KA, part of the deal was that it had to maintain

KA DW standards.

 
smileys/wink.gif This will be our KA's third home

when we finish our kitchen remodel and move. Same for our JennAir range. Will probably miss our SubZero but not swapping for the Samsung fridge in new house. I hope that decision will prove to be best smileys/wink.gif Colleen

 
Friends love their Whirlpool appliance suite

They have nothing but rave reviews for each of their 2016 "new" fridge, range, DW and microwave hood. Colleen

 
My home town is where KA started/Hobart, if you will. The mixers are still made in

Greenville Ohio to my understanding. Dishwashers were their main force and I would think what is said that they wanted them to be made to their standards is "right". We all know how that goes.
But the KA name was put on refrigerators, ovens, etc. that Whirlpool made. Maybe it would be OK but maybe not.
My sister bought a KA fridge--and it was a bummer
Just sayin'!! LOL

 
That has been what I found as well. KA fridges - blah. In fact, I bought a Kenmore Elite over the KA

and loved it, best fridge ever, and so well built, but we all know that is to be no more. Had Whirlpool twice, as recently as last year, but would not buy it again. Noisy dishwashers, fridges about like KA. I think that because I had 3 sets going concurrently, I got really picky.

I have been thanking Hobart about once a week. I remember when I visited the daughter of the mayor of our city in the early 50s. Wow. They had a dishwasher!

Good thing you aren't asking about other appliances Oli or I really would go on forever.

 
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