Peak Performers

Miele

Unless you scrape, scrub and rinse everything before you load the dishwasher, there’s a good chance that you’ve occasionally discovered stray debris that’s on a plate, pot or utensil when you unload the unit. In other words, the best way to make sure that your dishes always come out clean is to wash them before your dishwasher does.

Some of the spray technologies that are on the latest dishwashers, however, are designed to do a better job of eliminating that spot of oatmeal or that remnant of baked-on cheese or that grain of rice that clings to your dishes. Although you still have to scrape all of the leftover food from your dishes before you load them, the latest dishwashers are designed to let you skip the scrubbing and rinsing.

That’s not the only change that you’ll find on the latest models. Manufacturers continue to decrease the amount of water and energy that their units use. And if you’re willing to shell out big bucks, you can get the first dishwasher that has a color touchscreen control panel.

STICKING POINT. In the latest efforts to remove stuck-on debris, three manufacturers have introduced dishwashers that adjust the position or power of the spray nozzle. Only one manufacturer, Kenmore, gives the impression that its new feature will completely solve the problem of stubborn debris.

Kenmore’s premium Elite line, which came out last August, represents the first models that use extra nozzles and arms to create a spray pattern that Kenmore says will cover every corner of the dishwasher. Unlike other models that have just one spray arm that’s at the bottom of the tub, Kenmore’s six Elite models feature 360 PowerWash, which adds two smaller spinning spray arms that are attached to the main spray arm.

Instead of spraying water in concentric circles, as traditional dishwashers do, the jets that are in a Kenmore Elite dishwasher blast water in intersecting patterns (think Spirograph).You’ll pay from $823 to $2,117 for a Kenmore Elite model that has this feature, but the least expensive models that are in the line won’t have typical high-end features, such as extra rinse jets or a silverware basket that has adjustable compartments.

Kenmore’s marketing materials say the 360 PowerWash in combination with the dishwashers’ existing premium spray-jet technologies get “every last [dish] sparkling clean.” Kenmore refused to share with us its test results to verify those claims, because it says the results are proprietary information. And there are no independent studies to support Kenmore’s claims. So if you really want to know whether 360 PowerWash works as well as Kenmore says that it does, you’ll have to take its word for it, unfortunately.

But according to the independent appliance experts with whom we spoke, all of the features that manufacturers have introduced to reduce tough-to-clean food debris, including Kenmore’s 360 PowerWash, do a better job than previous technologies have.

In May 2010, Samsung launched the DMT800 ($899), which has a nozzle at the bottom of the machine that sprays water at a higher pressure than do the other nozzles that are inside the machine. Samsung refers to this feature as StormWash and says it’s designed to clean tough debris that is on pots and pans. The dishwasher’s lower basket has a marked area where these hard-to-clean pots and pans should be placed face down, so the spray from the nozzle can strike them.

Meanwhile, Maytag introduced the Silverware Blast in 2009 to target hard-to-remove debris, such as peanut butter or oatmeal, that can stick to forks, spoons and knives. Spray jets target the utensil basket and use three times more pressure than what other spray jets that are in the machine use. Maytag says the Silverware Blast, which is available on models that start at $549, diverts pressure away from the other spray jets but only during part of the cycle, so other dishes don’t get shortchanged.