mocha

I grew up in a dishwasherless house, and thus handwashed everything. Even
now with my own house, I've always been one to rinse off my plates/flatware
before putting them in the dishwasher for fear of food concretions requiring
a jack hammer to get off. I know the dishwasher has the rinse/hold cycle
that's supposed to do that for you, but it seems like an extra use of
electricity and water that would be a waste. Does anyone have experience
actually using this cycle, and do you feel it's a more efficient use of
resources versus doing it by hand? Thanks!

JP

vox humana

Most late model dishwasher don't require that you rinse your dishes.
Generally, you can simply sc**** them and put them in the dishwasher. There
are grinding mechanisms or screens that deal with the particles of food left
after scraping. You are correct that the rinse and hold cycles are a waste
of resources. However, you will probably waste more water and energy by
rinsing the dishes. I would sc**** them without rinsing, and machine wash
using the appropriate cycle. After some time, you will learn what your
dishwasher won't deal with well, and for those items only, you will need to
do some pre-scrubbing. The only time that I would consider using the rinse
and hold cycle is if I don't anticipate running the dishwasher for an
extended period. That almost never happens as even with only the two of us,
I run at least one cycle a day. I see the rinse and hold cycle as a way to
reduce odors from food left on dishes for a prolonged time more than a way
to rinse the dishes prior to washing. Most dishwashers increase the number
and duration of rinse and wash cycles as you go from light, to normal, to
pots and pans. If you find the your unrinsed dishes are not being cleaned,
then you should make sure the water is hot enough, you are using fresh
dishwashing detergent, use a rinse agent, and select a longer cycle. Also,
you might have to try several brand of detergent to get one that works well
in your machine.

kate dicey

We just sc**** the lumps into the bin, and wash. If stuff is cooked on,
I might soak a while first. Sometimes I use the pre-wash option, but I
don't have a rinse and hold cycle I don't think. Not something I'd look
for...
--
Kate ******
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

edwin pawlowski

Used the cycle once in about 30 years of DW ownership. It is supposed to
rinse the dishes and keep them ready for the wash cycle when you finally
fill up the machine. To me, it is a waste of time.

FWIW, the machine uses less water than the typical hand wash and rinse.
Detergents today are better than they were when the R & H cycle was
invented. My guess is that the manufacturers are afraid to eliminate it
because no one want to be first to eliminate a "feature" no matter how
dubious a value it is.
Ed
esp@snet.net
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome

vox humana

I have seen the rinse and hold cycle recommended as a way to warm dishes.
Unfortunately, I never start a large meal with an empty dishwasher.

dawnk

Neither do I! LOL! I don't like the rinse/hold cycle. If I run the rinse
and hold, then let the dishwasher sit, wet, overnight. When I open it the
next day, I'm knocked over by the smell of mustiness from all the wet dishes
sitting in a dark, warm dishwasher. Yuck!

Dawn

cape cod bob

I just read a Consumer Reports 2003 report on dishwashers at the
doctor's office. CR recommends against Rinse and Hold and against
manually pre-rinsing dishes. Neither gets dishes cleaner and both
waste water.
Cape Cod Bob
Visit my web site at http://home.comcast.net/~bobmethelis
Delete the two "spam"s for email

blanche nonken

Wow. My doctor's office doesn't have any dishwashers. :-)

sd

No. My dishwasher (an Asko) uses far less water for a load of dishes
than I would washing by hand. In addition, I've seen several
admonitions against rinsing plates before dishwashing, especially with
enzymatic detergents, because if the detergent cannot work on food, it
works on the finish of your dishes and pots and pans. Don't bother
with rinse-and-hold.

sd

viviane

The only times I use the rinse option is if we've had something smelly (like
fish) in summer and the dishwasher isn't full enough for a cycle. Or if
we're going away and I've got some dirty dishes in there I rinse them as I
don't like to leave it running when we're away for a few days. We also just
sc**** and put the dishes in - the dishwasher does the rest - that's why we
have one.

Viviane