What is it about dishwashers and oatmeal?

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joeekaitis

joeekaitis

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Rialto, California, USA
 

 

 

I have seen my prized Kenmore plow through mac-n-cheese, marinara sauce and the grime left from using Corning Ware and VISIONS as broiler pans, but nothing makes a dishwasher roll into a fetal position in the corner while whimpering "No, no, I can't, I won't do it, you can't make me" like oatmeal.

 

If you leave a single oat in the pan or in a bowl, it will defy all efforts to go down the drain.  It will either cling to the original vessel like a barnacle or, if it does dislodge, it will attach to a new host and stay there through the drying cycle, transforming from a healthy superfood particle into a fossilized booger from the nose of a long-extinct small mammal.  As if to mock you, it seems to know which item you will put away last.

 

Oatmeal: Good for you.  Terror for your dishwasher.
 
I hear your pain!
I will say that my Kenmore Ultrawash does a pretty good job with it on bowls IF I make certain they are getting direct spray from the bottom wash arm. Top rack: forget it. Nestled where they don't get full-on spray: forget it. Cooking pots only get clean if they have been soaked. Cold water for a few hours and then a quick swish with a brush usually does it.
 
This is often the instance or exception that I have to pre-wash/pre-rinse my dishes!

And my wife's scrambled eggs (which she microwaves in a bowl--covered w/ Plastic Wrap, of course!!!!), too!

-- Dave
 
Oatmeal has always been my test for s dishwasher, for as you say, it is a nasty
carbohydrate that loves to cling onto dishes. the only other close contender for nasty clinging is dried egg yolk.

If you have read my posts, you know I have had inumerous dishwasher. I have never had a tall tub machine that consistently could cope with dried oatmeal. Frigidaire, Whirlpool or GE. GE's tall tub did the best of the three, but not by a very wide margin. It still, all too often left oatmeal remnants.

My top machines for 100% oatmeal removal, consistently, are the older conventional (non-tall tub, two front panel models) of GE, and the Reverse Rack Maytag.

My GSD2800 GE and reverse rack Maytag DU242 breeze through two day old dried oatmeal laced bowls, on the upper rack, without even raising a sweat. No trace or remnants, just nice shiny bowls come out.

It's been several years since I had a Whirlpool Power Clean module dishwasher, but if my memory serves me right, it scrubbed the oatmeal off very well, too. In general, the WP PC modules scrubbed everythig pretty thoroughly.

So if you eat a lot of oatmeal, and other starchy things, I would go out and grab an older GE two panel from Craigslist or the Thrift Store. Make sure you get one with 7 water changes. For a short time in the 80's GE used timers with only 5 water changes, and I don't like the washability of these quite as well, having had several of both.

The Maytags are great and have hurricane power, but are sometimes harder to find than GE's.
 
I would second bwood's observations regarding the best "oatmeal" removers. I grew up with a Reverse-Rack Maytag and it always did well with oatmeal. I have owned 2 Kenmore Ultrawash machines over the years (Same design as the WP Power Clean) and they both have been good with oatmeal.

Now, for environmental purposes I would suggest you find a used Kenmore Ultrawash or WP Power Clean. These machine use at most four 2.2 gallon fills of water (that's on Pots and Pans) and still finish a cycle in about an hour. They only stopped making these about 2 years ago so there are LOTS around on CL and at used appliance shops. I see at least a dozen on CL every week here in mpls. Prices are usually in the $50-$150 range.

For my money, the Kenmore/WP machines I mention were the ideal mixture of energy and resource efficiency that still cleaned dishes well in a reasonable timeframe.
 
Oatmeal tends to stick to pots and bowls like crazy glue.
After using two Kenmore and then got this Shitty Frigidaire knows that oatmeal and spinach removal is a challenge for these new energy saver machines.
That is why I keep pressing, if you want to know how well your machine cleans, put cooked dried on oatmeal and dried on spinach on the top rack of your dishwasher, then you will see what I mean. Any good dishwasher should clean both bowl and pots on both racks, no excuse and I will not compromise on this!

This was the dishwasher that could not remove these two food produce on the top rack. 2001-2003 series. And the machine was lightly loaded! SMH!!!

cleanteamofny++12-17-2011-13-43-53.jpg
 
I can safely say that Nate's RR Maytag makes short work of oatmeal. I was quite impressed with how well it handled a pulp-covered sieve used while juicing lemons and saw no reason to think it wouldn't do equally well with oatmeal. In fact, we had oatmeal one morning I was there, and the dishes went straight from the machine to the cupboard, so there you go.
 
I only put cereal bowls in the bottom rack, always have because I thnk they waste spacfe up in the top rack. My Kenbmore Elite Tall Tub does just fine with old-fashioned oats which havbe been cooked in a cereal bowl and eaten from said bowl with milk. The bowl may sit in the dishwasher for 3-7 days. Put in the Cascader Complete (phosphatged) and hit smart wash and all bowls with oats are positively clean and no remmants. Spinach I have found to be a little bit more challenging. As long as I rmember to put the vessel in the bottom rack, it will do fine.
 
Oatmeal ='s Krazy Glue!

*LOL*

We're big on oatmeal for breakfast and have found it's best to make sure the bowls are well scrapped before going into the dw. Any particles of oats allowed to remain especially if allowed to sit for several hours or days until the unit is run next will stick like a barnacle to a ship's hull.

Next while the pre-wash cycle should have hot enough water to activate but not kill off enzymes found in most modern dw detergents, the main wash should be quite hot indeed. Find we have less problems during the colder months of the year when the boilers are on to supply heat as it also increases the water temps from the tap. Since my Frigidaire (badged Kenmore) 18" portable seems to heat water based upon time and not temp this results in near boiling washes.

Finally use a good rinse agent in the final rinse to prevent yibbles from collecting anywhere and remaining. If one is awake tend to reset the dw for a second rinse by letting it fill for the rinse then stopping and resetting to the final portion of the preceeding wash. This seems to also help with keeping oatmeal and the ground flax seed gruel we have at breakfast flushed away.
 
Sorry Everyone...

All my KDS's do a perfect "No Scrape, Pre Rinse " Job of scrubbing Oatmeal , Egg and anything else I can throw at it. I just use the most Long, Hottest Cucle and it all comes out clean with no "Touch Ups".
I'm going to my Dad's house with a Bosch this week and doing all the cooking for 3 days. I wonder when that machine gets my stuff throan at it how it's going to ? LOL feel...
 
Porridge (Oatmeal) comes off fine in our Bosch dishwasher, but it very much depends on the detergent you use.

It's all about the enzymes! You need to ensure your detergent contains Amylase which will breakdown starches.

Most TOL detergents, and even good store-brand detergents will manage to remove oatmeal, in my experience anyway.

Obviously, the best solution is not to let oatmeal dry onto bowls. If you have got dried on gunk on them, and you know your dishwasher won't shift it, just soak the bowls in a sink of hot water (no detergent needed) and then wash in the dishwasher. The long soak will usually loosen it up in a way that spraying in a dishwasher usually doesn't.

Also bear in mind there are two different methodologies in use in dishwashers.

Older machines tended to rely on higher pressure sprays to get dirt off.

Current generation TOL machines like the high end Bosch models tend to work by absolutely inundating the dishes with lots and lots of hot water with a much more dense spray. They use less water, but keep more of it on the dishes by using a lot of spray nozzles and a spray pattern that aims to really get the dishes very wet for as long as possible.

This tends to keep them much wetter and dirt will tend to just fall off quite effectively as the warm water and detergents get more time to react with it.

Basically, the more nozzles and the more spray arms the better!

Also, removing starch requires a long cycle.
 
I don't have an issue with oatmeal in my GE, but I had a terrible time with scrambled eggs when I used to eat them.  i did them in the microwave and the dish would never come out clean no matter what....
 
Scrambled egg

My Bosch is not troubled by oatmeal, up to 5 days dried on however, in common with others, scambled egg sticks like s**t to a blanket, particularly when attached to a silicon spoon/spatula. Needs so much scrubbing with a scouring pad that I don't even bother to put it in the DW!
 
Here is a hint that your dishwasher will like.
Before putting a Oatmeal bowl in the dishwasher, put it in the sink and fill with cold water. Let it stand for 10 minutes and then dump out and put in the DW. The oatmeal will come off each and every time.
 
UltraWash to the rescue

I throw everything in mine, never rinsed, Normal or Pots & Pans cycle. Never have problems with anything, and I eat oatmeal regularly.

Mine is running now, and of course I can hear it from any room in the house, but I take comfort and have convinced myself that if you can't hear it making a ruckus, then it's not doing a good job!

I will be so bummed when it quits. I guess I should start learning UltraWash restoration.
 
Oatmeal has never been a problem.  My GE and Maytags have always been able to handle it.  Cornmeal, now that's the test.  The only machine I have ever had that could handle a mixing bowl with cornmeal was the Maytag Jet-Clean with tripple filteration.  Otherwise unless you rinse everything in the machine comes out coated with the fine grain-y powder all over.
 
Sometimes i let the "tappan" an electrolux product fill and start washing, then i unlock the door without completely opening the machine... and let em steam while i clean the stove and countertops, by then the water is good and HOT.  reclick the door to lock and were off to the race.  I will admit i often wash my heavy magnalite pans by hand.  The racks are pretty flimsey, but on a budget when we fixed up I bought the midnight special. My HVAC guy cut out the cabinet and did the connections, so when it gives up the ghost i will try to buy something a little higher up a different brands selections.  It is better than washing tableware by hand. alr
 
Intestesting

My WP Tall Tub has never had a problem with oatmeal (even after a few days of it dried on and not running a load) even in the top rack.

What amazes me most is that bowl(s) will be clean, yet there is something that should have easily been cleaned, yet it isn't. It's like HUH???
 
I make oatmeal for breakfast nearly every morning. It takes me five days on average to fill my ten year old Bosch DW. So when I fire up the DW, the oldest bowls---which I neither rinse nor scrape---have five day old, dried on oatmeal on them. Either Regular or Power Scrub Plus cycles gets them clean--all the time. Quick Wash is too brief and not hot enough to do the job---nor would I expect Quick Wash to be effective in this setting.
 
It's all about the Rinse & Hold cycle baby!!!

I agree, Oatmeal stuck/dried on cannot be removed by Frigidaire's two pump model. My parents have one, and every time I load/unload it I laugh at the top rack, and the poor cleaning performance on that kind of heavy soil. The GE Medallion I have with the Multi-Orbit spray arm will blast concrete off of the dishes.

Everyone is right, dried on oatmeal, spinnach, or egg removal can be a tall order for some machines. However, potato starch is a nasty problem, not enough rinses and washed and that stuff can hang out on your dishes and cups for ever. Baked on pasta sauce can also be a trouble, but nothing, nothing is as bad as dried on oatmeal.
 
 
Ran a load this morn, included a bowl holding since Monday in which two consecutive packages of instant oatmeal were micro-cooked.  Also a coffee mug that took two consecutive micro-cooked egg batches (one egg, then two).

Cascade Complete poweder with enzymes and 5.4% phosphates.

The bowl is perfectly clean.

The mug had some residue, which came off easily with light scrubbing with a blue S.O.S. sponge.

Sorry, no pics.
 
I grow my own avocados and enjoy using mashed avocado (when in season) with some salsa and lime juice as a dip or even as a spread on toast. Delicious! But the plate and utensils I mash it with generally won't clean up 100% in the Bosch dishwasher. It has to be scraped off. Doesn't take a lot of force, cause the stuff is still not hardened, but it really does seem to repel soap and water.

I guess that's why it's so good for the arteries ;-)

Other than that, yeah, eggs and silicone spatulas. Who would have thunk? But they are so good to nonstick cookware, can't do without them.

Latest cool little acquisition, by the way, is a Chef's Choice egg steamer. It can do the usual six or seven boiled eggs. But where it really shines is that it can poach up to three eggs with a different insert. And these come out GREAT. A poached egg on a bed of steamed chinese broccoli sprinkled with olive oil and resting on a seasoned brown rice. Makes a great and healthy breakfast.
 
Wow, I never knew avocados grew that far north (writing this as a native of San Diego County, which accounts for 90% of the US crop). Do you have to use a special cultivar or variety, or do all varieties do well in the Bay Area?
 
Avocados do well here, in part because they are such thirsty trees, and the moderating influence of the Bay keeps the winter temperatures from dropping too low.

No special cultivars are needed. I have a large Haas tree, which tends to bear alternate years. Also a "Bacon" which bears more evenly. I have a Pinkerton that has been doing badly in a 5 gallon container for years. I should really give it a bigger container or plant it but I've run out of land in the backyard for another big tree. I gave away the "Minicado" I had in a planter - it was growing sideways and only gave one or two avocados every couple of years. I needed the space in the paved courtyard.

Young trees can get frost bit in cold winters here, but they survive. The Minicado got the most damage from strong sunlight on hot summer days, which burned the top branches (which were mostly horizontal).

The biggest problem I've had in recent years is that the local robins discovered they can cause fruit to fall by pecking at it on the tree. Then it falls to the ground and isn't in the greatest of shape, even though it can be collected and ripened. And of course the squirrels go after them as well. The robins and squirrels also do a number on the figs and grapes. They do leave the citrus alone (yes, I grow oranges, lemons, and limes here as well).

I stumped back the Bacon a few years back but it's recovered all its height and then some. The fruit is good for salads - not heavy and as oily as the Haas; it has a lighter taste and a firmer texture that does better in a tossed salad. It also acts as an extra pollinator for the Haas, although I understand that in this climate the A/B flower thing isn't as important as it is in warmer climates, because the flowers get confused by the more variable temps here and tend to pollinate their tree mates. (I won't bore you with a discussion of the time- and-temperature-dependent hermaphrodite nature of the avocado).
 
I have two Sears kenmore convertable/portable dishwashers one is newer then the other but both are Whirlpool made. I eat lots of oatmeal and use it on cookie dough. I have yet to ever need to rewash anything,including oatmeal,off my dishes,bowls or cookware.I always use the hottest cycles available and rarely use the prewash.I don't have to put any or all plastic pieces in the bottom rack because I use only a cold dry.I also use only Finish (previously known as Electrosol)tablets and never pre rinse anything.I also had a "FrigiScare" Pro Series dishwasher. What a P.O.S.they are.I'd do better using a garden hose or my Dishmaster faucet with cold water to wash my dishes.I thank EBAY for having the one I got that was never used and cost me only $150 as oposed to its retail price or M.S.R.P.(manufacturers retail price)listed in their line of products on their web site.
 

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