new kenmore elite drawer dishwasher not cutting it....

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.... for me...
As a newly single guy, i hate washing dishes... i purchased this double brawer d/w kenmore elite, and not really happy with it... u have to be carefule how u load it- not glasses in the corner- arnspray doesnt reach. quick cycle is 25 minutes,, the normal cycle is like two hours...
in any event, since the d/w cost me about 1,200 dollars, and i want a good dishwasher to CLEAN what do you suggest? kitchen aid still good? with so many takeovers, i am just not sure.. can anyone direct me?
 
Cycle times...

Unfortunately, the modern energy-efficient machines all tend to have long programmes. Sensor machines can lengthen or shorten the programme times, according to information received from the sensors.

Can you bear with your machine? I know that when I changed from one brand to another, I went through a learning curve as where to place certain items, bowls, glasses, etc.
 
I'm very happy

with my GE Nautilus. Cleans well, not too water-hoggy, and is the quietest portable I have ever used. In my dishwasher life, I have had three portables, and three undercounter units. Each has advantages and drawbacks, but mercy.....so much better than washing dishes by hand.

I cannot think of a thing more boring than doing dishes by hand, alone.

A modern dishwasher uses less water than washing by hand.

A way to make a dishwasher faster is to choose the booster water heat option. Sometimes it can save more than half of a long cycle time. If you do choose the water heat boost, you can turn off the dry, though dish drawers, I believe, don't even offer heated dry.

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
KitchenAid Superba / Also European v American DW

I purchased a new KitchenAid Superba in 2005. Very pleased with it - everything comes out clean. Quiet too.
It is hard to get the dishes to stand erect though. Regardless, everything comes out clean.
SLIGHT CHANGE OF DIRECTION HERE:
Comments please:
I recently learned that there is a difference between EUROPEAN dishwashers and AMERICAN dishwashers.
EUROPEAN dishwashers have no heated dry cycle and depend on the rinse-aid and fans to dry dishes. AMERICAN dishwashers have a HEATED dry cycle.
THEREFORE, if you go out to buy a new dishwasher, you can expect a European dishwasher (ex; BOSCH) to just BLOW DRY your dishes with the retained warm air in the cavity. Conversely, the AMERICAN dishwasher(ex: KitchenAid) will turn on the Calrod to heat the air during the dry cycle.
Now...most people in America would never think that a dishwasher wouldn't heat the air in the dry cycle and therefore may be disappointed with the European dishwasher that they bought. SO If you like nice, hot, clean dishes buy an AMERICAN-STYLE dishwasher.
COMMENTS FROM THE EXPERTS? You're "in the know" ya know....
 
heated dry

Actually, I stopped using the heated dry in US dishwashers back in the late '70's when the first "sanitary" rinses were introduced.
If the final rinse is hot enough, the residual heat will permit the dishes to dry completely without additional heating. A well designed blower, as my Miele uses or my folks 1976 Sears Lady Kenmore had does the job just fine.
I do find that a rinse agent plays a big role in the US; here we have water softeners built in to the machines so a rinse aid is optional (most places in Europe, when you drop a glass of water it is even odds what breaks first, the glass or the hard water).
The current trend in American dishwashers towards dual wattage heating elements is probably the best of both worlds. A very low heat to make the drying cycle faster (and bring back the plate warmer cycle) and a (for the weak current available) high wattage for heating the water in the wash cycle and last rinse.
In all honesty, if US dishwashers were just built to last longer than two weeks, I'd buy one. There have been some really neat ideas incorporated into them in the last few years. But my Miele is now 8 years old, never broken...and still has seven years to go until the first "expected" breakdown.
 
I have a European dishwasher and it has a heated drying cycle, as did my last one. My previous one had a cancel feature for the drying cycle which I used almost all the time. If I am around when my current one goes into the drying time I stop it and open the door. The dishes dry just as quickly with the door slightly ajar. My mother has a new'ish' Bosch and that takes ages to dry as it uses residual heat. I also have very soft water so although I still put salt in the machines dispenser, it last for about 5 months before it needs topping up. I have turned the rinse aid down to the lowest setting and a bottle now last 12 months. All in all it is a very economical and hygenic way to wash dishes, oh, and spotlessly clean also.

Never understood the need for a plate warming cycle - if I need warm plates for a lunch/dinner then it is odds on that the stove is on and they can warm in the drawer.
 
I bought a Kitchen Aid Superba dishwasher 2 years ago, and I am very dissapointed in it's cleaning performance. I have had service twice, and have communicated with the company, no matter what I do, no matter how it is loaded, some dishes and silverware still come out dirty. My water is hot and soft, no issue with anything, it is just the design of the machine using less water. The cycles are very long as well. I never had this problem with any other dishwasher I had. I am told that Kitchen aid uses low water, and a start and stop pulse to try and create the force of an otherwise normal water amount, but it does not seem to work well. I am pretty knowledgeable about appliances, so I can tell you that I previously had a Matag and a GE, both did great jobs at cleaning. I could put anything even crusted on into either of those machines, and it would clean. The Kitchen aid does not even clean well after I pre rinse, which is an absolute requirement, otherwise I have food stuck all over everything. I have two relatives that have purchased GE Profile dishwashers that do an excellent job of cleaning. I bought the Kitchen aid because it looked like it is built well, but I am very dissapointed in it's performance, and would not recommend it to anyone.
 
I'd recomend anything from GE. My BOL hotpoint works very well. I have read many good things about the GE tritons and Nautlis units as well.
 
how much water

does a Kitchenaid DW use? Am curious 'cos I am always aware of how little my Bosch uses and wonder how it compares to a energy efficient US made machine. I will have to dig out the instruction manual to see what mine uses - although it is 7 years old now and still going strong (touch wood)
 
its not just the volume of water used

Part of the problem with American dishwashers is the dishwashing detergent. The situation is the exact opposite to the clothes washing detergents used in the US.
Here in Europe, where our washers can take their time and use truly hot water to clean, our detergents are relatively weak.
In the US, where everything depends on 12 minutes of vigorous agitation in luke-warm water (at best), the detergents are really quite good.
But the American dishwashers are trying to do their work now with the volumes of water we use - at lower temperatures (much lower) and with detergents which were castrated in the name of the environment many years ago.
When I have taken my German dishwasher tabs over to the US, my folk's old Maytag has cleaned much better - especially starchy foods - then with any US detergent.
Ultimately, the US market will have to switch to a different form of heating than the current exposed calrod ring. It just won't work with the small volumes of water involved.
 
And I allow a great deal of error, but this is ridiculous!

MY KA tall tub is total garbage! It can't wash a dish to save its own life!

Beware of Kenmore, Whirlpool and KA tall tubs.
Trust me darlings, any-olde POS inexpensive Hotpoint or GE will do a better job.

My drinking glasses emerge with grit and a coating. EWWWWWWWWWWWW...and I use plenty of detergent!
 
It's getting to the point that I will put a 2 to 3 gallon (8 to 12 Liter) booster hot water heater under the sink with my next DW no matter what it is.

I just CAN'T stand the duration of cycle times and the lack of reuslts due to this Energy Star water-conservation @#$%^&*. Water is a renewable resource; wasted time and electricity is not.
 
Well my Kenmore (built by WCI) 18" portable is hardly the Rolls Royce of dishwashers, but does a decent enough job. Have found adding a scant 1/4 teaspoon of STPP to each detergent cup along with detergent does wonders. Where once had yibbles and such all over everything, no matter how the unit was loaded and or how much detergent/rinse agent was used; now things come out sparkling and yibble free.
 
Believe it or not my house CAME with that model and it was fine for me!

The ex got sick and tired of emptying it so many times a week and or day.

I moved cabinets over a few inches got a new coutner-top and
squeezed in a full-size machine. It was SO worth the effort.

I should have saved the 18 incher as a bar washer for glassware.
 

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