Kenwood dishwasher a1212

[ricky5050]

A proper which style test !!

I hope you're not getting bored of this thread! But Friday nights have gone from trolling around bars to doing dishwasher tests ( sometimes! ) so I thought I'd do a proper full test on the kenwood.I borrowed an old dinner service from my mam ( my ikea set didn't really fit and my vintage table ware isn't dishwasher safe ) so I created some "dirt" by mixing gravy granules , veg oil and dried rosemary to make a sauce that covered all the dishes, plates and cutlery. I used tomatoe sauce on the inside and bottoms of cups, saucers and glasses. I stacked everything to cover both sides and let them sit for 30 mins ( to re create the after dinner time where chit chat about mortgages , the new maxi, and the price of food at liptons may have taken place in true 70s style! ) I stacked the machine and let them sit another 40 minutes before starting. The machine holds 6 place settings with room for a few extras. I didn't. Pre rinse or scrape anything from crockery

 

[ricky5050]

Dirty

.

 

[ricky5050]

Upper rack

Dirty

 

[ricky5050]

Lower rack

Dirty

 

[ricky5050]

Finish detergent

I used program I

I've timed it. This is the longest wash cycle but I thought it would be longer. It's just an extra wash to program II that's lasts 3 min longer.
Here are the timings.

0 start machine fill and heat no action
12 wash starts
19 wash finishes and empties
20 fill and heat no action
32 rinse starts
36 rinse finishes and empties
37 fill and heat no action
49 rinse
50 rinse finishes and empties
51 fill and heat no action
63 rinse
64 rinse finishes and empties
65 dry impeller starts with empty machine to dry dishes
69 program finishes.

So you can see wash with detergent is on 7 min long cycle, 4 min medium or 1 min short.

 

[ricky5050]

All loaded

Before wash

 

[ricky5050]

After

As door opens

 

[ricky5050]

Rosemary

Left in door

 

[ricky5050]

All dishes

Spotlessly clean!

 

[ricky5050]

And dishes

Too

 

[ricky5050]

Top rack

All clean , the rosemary was a challenge as impeller machines have no filter so things like that get re deposited ( the reason I used it) it had deposited on out side of glasses and bowl.

 

[ricky5050]

Cups clean

,

 

[ricky5050]

Rosemary on outside of glasses

.

 

[ricky5050]

And bowl too

In conclusion in very impressed this little machine cleans well and quickly and without lots of water. I was sceptical that the top rack would clean without upper rotor arm but with careful loading in lower rack they all clean. As long as your meals aren't loaded with dried herbs!

If any dishes had been pre rinsed I think they would have been spotless. The cutlery was gleaming too I was a little unsure as a 6 place setting seemed cramped. I sneaked a look as the main wash cycle drained , all the detergent had dissolved and everything looked clean , the subsequent rinses just add the gleam!

I'm going to try a pots n pans wash next !

Thanks for all your interest !

Richard

 

[turquoisedude]

Well, that's pretty impressive!! I think it's a "keeper"!! I like the pauses to heat the wash and rinse water.

As an impeller-wash lover, I guess I take extra precautions with 'bitty' foods like herbs or pepper flakes. I used to be a manic pre-rinser, but now I'll just give plates or utensils a quick scrape and all turns out fine.

Is the solid version of a rinse agent like Jet-Dry available in the UK? If so, give that a try - I find that it helps with the yibblet accumulation on the top rack items.

 

[parnall_doug]

Great results Richard!
I know our Kenwood always cleaned the dishes very well.

Incidentally, my 'job' to help out, as a kid at the time, was to take the cutlery rack out at the end of the wash, and put all the knives and forks etc back in their respective places!

Loving the 'Dream Scheme' link, and the other colour photos of kitchen layouts, as those are the exact model of Hygena kitchen units we had, so the Kenwood looks very 'at home' there! Also, in the first of the scroll down pics on Hygena layouts, I spot the exact model of Moffat cooker (model E110) that we had too!

Getting back to the Kenwood, you may remember I mentioned previously that I recalled my grandparents (and subsequently my parents) got their machines through some kind of offer.
Well I popped in on my parents today, and they were very interested to hear of your machine!
My mother said that my grandparents bought us our machine through an offer that the sugar company (Tate & Lyle I guess) must have been running in conjunction with Kenwood at the time. Details are vague of course, but I guess you got so many vouchers or coupons each time you bought sugar. Now my grandmother bought LOTS of sugar, as she was always making jams and baking etc (I always remember her larder shelves being full to the brim with jars of jam!).
So I guess once my grandparents got their Kenwood, they continued to save up the coupons, and bought us our machine in the same fashion!

So there you have it. A little of our history with the lovely A1212 Kenwood!

I shall show my parents your photos of your machine, next time they pop over!

Doug

 

[ricky5050]

Hi Doug !

Thanks. I bet in those days as these machines weren't as cheap as they are now it must have been a lot of sugar ! I'll see how it goes as an everyday machine ( prob down to what it will hold ) when I'm back offmy holiday. !

Thanks again

Richard.