Tag Archives: dishwasher

Glassware: Buying & Care Tips

Buying Glassware

Anchor Hocking glassware
Anchor Hocking glassware

Glassware is pretty much a personal preference. I guess the first thing to consider is if you care whether or not it’s made in China. Obviously you’re going to be paying more if it’s not. The second thing to consider would then be the level of durability you’re seeking, particularly if you’re putting it in the dishwasher or it’s going to be utilized by children. Libbey, Anchor Hocking, and Duralex are very popular brands for folks looking for durability.

For barware, shape plays an important role in the type of liquors you’re consuming. A lot of liquor drinks are either served in a highball [tumbler] glass (taller and skinnier) or an Old-fashioned [rocks/double rocks, lowball] glass (shorter and wider). Then, of course, you’ve got specialty cocktail glasses like martini or zombie [Collins]. And let’s not even get started on all of the various types of beer glasses the connoisseur could find themselves looking for!

Different barware shapes
Riedel
Riedel

Stemware obviously puts us into another category because some people are very particular with what they are putting their wine into! What I have learned is that the shape of the wine glass matters because how the wine falls out of the glass and into your mouth – different wines need to hit different parts of your tongue. However, what the glass is made out of also plays a significant role, and personally, I was very skeptical of this fact until I did a special tasting with Riedel. If you’ve ever been to a winery, sometimes you can pay extra to use a fancier glass. Most people don’t care, but real wine affectionados will want the special glass because it’s made with lead crystal. It is also most likely a Riedel since there’s not a whole lot of widely distributed manufacturers that are still making glassware this way.

Libbey stemware
Libbey stemware

As for stemware durability, of course there is always Libbey, reliable and inexpensive. For something a little swankier and with more choices in shape and style, Schott Zweisel is a favorite. It’s reinforced with titanium so they are super strong – safe for dishwashers and boisterous toasting! These are actually one of my favorite wedding gift ideas because banging together wine glasses is sure to impress anyone, trust me. 😉

Schott Zweisel titanium-enforced stemware
Schott Zweisel titanium-enforced stemware

Glassware Care

Glassware care: DON’T DROP IT! But seriously…

Most sturdy glassware will be dishwasher safe, but I’ve never seen a glass come out of a dishwasher without at least a little dot of a watermark on it, if not several. I’ve also opened dishwashers (albeit mostly in work environments) to see some of the sturdiest pieces of glass shattered to bits on top of the drain piece. My advice to you, as always, if you truly love it, do not put it in the dishwasher.

This dishwasher was obviously built to handle stemware!
This dishwasher was obviously built to handle stemware!

I try to make sure nothing fragile is going to shake around and knock into something else when I’m loading the dishwasher, so that should help. Something shaped like a martini glass is probably not going to hold up well in a dishwasher, and if your wine or champagne glasses actually fit in yours, I would definitely recommend cheap, thick stemware. Heat is brutal on glass and the temperature extremes your dishwasher can reach will slowly make your glassware more and more brittle. It’s the same reason why your glass coffee pot can one day shatter to bits on you if you barely tap it on the edge of your mug by accident.

I have seen fancier dishwashers that actually have a glassware setting, so perhaps those work a little better with them, but one of my favorite quotes again is, “It’s called a dishwasher for a reason. It’s not a pots and pans washer. It’s not a glassware washer.”

The problem with hand-washing glassware, particularly specialty stemware, can be getting inside and washing it properly. There are specialty cleaning brushes for stemware as well as glass decanters available.

Brushtech wine glass and decanter cleaning brushes
Brushtech cleaning brushes for glassware

Wine glasses should be rinsed immediately and left overnight with a little splash of warm water inside of them. A lot of wine glass representatives will tell you that you don’t really even need to wash your stemware with warm, soapy water every single time if you’re doing that.

Use a microfiber cleaning cloth to remove spots on stemware
Microfiber cleaning cloth to remove spots!

As for towel-drying, most of us are familiar with the lovely little flecks of fuzz that most towels would leave behind. Air-drying is the best method, although this can still sometimes leave unsightly watermarks. A microfiber cleaning cloth is recommended for keeping your stemware sparkling clear!

I couldn't resist - she's using lead crystal glasses to make music!
I couldn’t resist – using lead crystal glasses to play music!

Ceramic & Glass Dinnerware and Bakeware Information

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Dishwasher

I will admit to you that a lot of issues with kitchen wares arise out of putting them in the dishwasher. I grew up without a dishwasher, so I’m pretty great at hand washing them and don’t have an issue doing them that way. I’m also pretty fast at it so it doesn’t take up hours of my day. 

sexist_dishwasher_adI have used dishwashers since then. I’ve known people to have lovely looking dishes come out of theirs. I’ve lived with people who bought cheap dishwasher soap that didn’t work and had nightmarish issues with them at jobs. But now that I understand them a little bit more, how various products react in them, and have been using one in my own home a little more regularly – I have learned to stop worrying and love using my dishwasher!

The Basics:

  • Don’t put things in the dishwasher that aren’t dishwasher safe. They usually say that for a reason.
    • Cheap plastics leach BPA, some ceramics aren’t strong enough to handle bumping each other with the shaking motion of the washer, and certain finishes can’t handle the harsh environment, etc.
  • Pans on the bottom, plastic on the top. Some items will specify they are top-rack only. The heating element in the dishwasher is on the bottom, so this is to keep the item away from the heat.
  • Do not lay knives down on the top rack! If they don’t fit in the utensil holder, hand wash them.
  • Wood does not ever go in the dishwasher. (Epicurean brand can because it’s a special compressed wood that is dishwasher safe.)

Dishwashers get EXTREMELY hot, so that’s the reason a lot of items can’t go in them in the first place. They are the problem with plastic leaching BPA, so if you don’t have a dishwasher you really don’t need to worry about it. Plastic baby bottles are almost never dishwasher safe and unfortunately a lot of parents try putting them in on “sanitize mode” which is usually the hottest setting on the dishwasher. Not a good idea!

Notice the heating element is in the center of the inside of the machine.
Notice the heating element is in the center of the inside of the machine.

I have overcome this issue by sticking to the lower-level settings on my dishwasher. I have a couple of settings above “normal wash” and I have never touched them. If you have anything dirtier than that it’s not even worth trying in the dishwasher, in my opinion. Whatever is stuck to the pan will just get baked on inside of the machine.

Which brings me my next tip – turn off the “heated dry” setting if your dishwasher allows you to. This is just a waste of electricity (in my opinion!) that literally just bakes the dishes after they are washed, so if anything is still stuck to them, it just got baked on harder. The dishes are hot and usually still moist anyway if you do use it, so what I do is turn it off and when the wash cycle is over I just open it up and pull the racks out so they can air-dry. The plastic storage stuff doesn’t seem to dry well so I pull them out and put them in the counter dish rack to dry. Of course this is easiest when done later in the evening so they can dry overnight.

dishwasherYour dishwasher shakes. A lot. Think about your dishes getting bumped around into each other inside of that thing for an hour while it runs. This is why ceramic dishes chip in the dishwasher, because they bump edges with each other. Same with your nonstick finish, if something is bumping into it in the same spot over and over – chipping. I worry about my ceramic bowls even though I put them on the top shelf and they are a really good brand name, so I put the dishwasher safe plastic items between all of the ceramic items to try to avoid them bumping into each other.

The worst is if you put your sharp knives flat on the top rack – they shake and cut into the plastic rungs. This is what causes  your flatware to rust, when the plastic coating is exposed inside of your dishwasher. You can sometimes remove this staining with Barkeeper’s Friend but usually you will end up having to replace all of your flatware and also replacing the racks inside of your dishwasher, which is very costly.

As I already said, if my pans are really dirty, I just resolve to hand washing them. I let them soak overnight and wash them with any other items I have that are not dishwasher safe.  Sometimes you can get away with scrubbing the pan with a dish brush or a scrub sponge and getting all the big stuff off of it so it is dishwasher-ready, however. I pretty much end up cleaning them first if I do this because if anything is stuck to the pan, it will be baked on in the dishwasher, usually. And if it does come out this way, dirty, resign yourself to hand washing them at that point – putting them in for another dishwasher cycle will not get it off!

happy-lady-with-dishwasherMy motto is, “If you love it, hand wash it,” so even a lot of the things I own that are dishwasher safe – I still hand wash. Some items I will throw in the dishwasher every now and again and it’s not the end of the world, but some little thing will happen that reminds me that I do indeed love it and I better wash it by hand next time. And actually, sometimes putting your stainless steel Kitchen Aid mixer bowl or stainless pot in the machine actually helps bring back its luster – just not every time so I only do it every handful of uses. One of my dearest kitchen store friend (and mentor) had the best saying about dishwashers: “It’s called a dishwasher for a reason. It’s not a pots and pans washer. It’s not a glassware washer.” So keep that in mind when putting items other than dishes in that machine, even if it does have special settings for those other things.

Speaking of glassware, I don’t put anything with a painted design in the dishwasher, nor any stemware. If you have really inexpensive, sturdy stemware like Libbey, that will probably hold up. Anything shaped like a martini glass is just asking to break because of the bumping. Luckily most stemware is too tall for most dishwashers unless you purchase one that has specific glassware settings. Use at your own risk! I find that the glassware tends to come out with a teensy bit of spotting, but maybe that’s because I don’t steam clean them afterwards with the “heated dry” setting!

If you just can’t stand to hand wash, make sure you read the labels of what you’re buying and avoid items that aren’t dishwasher safe. There are still kitchen items that you cannot find dishwasher safe, and I’m sorry, you’re just either going to have to not use it, hand wash it, or buy really cheap so you can afford to keep replacing it because you put it in the dishwasher anyway. 😛 (Meat tenderizer is the item I know you can’t find as dishwasher safe. Even the OXO one can’t go in there – it’s a kind of metal that will oxidize. All the generic metal meat tenderizers I have seen are the same kind of metal so there must be a reason for it.)

Cascade Complete Pac
Cascade Complete Pac

My last tip will be on dishwasher detergent. The only thing I have found to work almost all the time are the Cascade dishwasher pacs. They now make a few different versions of this, and I find the Cascade Complete work the best. (Although now there is a “platinum” version I will have to try!)

Just use your best judgement, and the dishwasher can be a great help in your kitchen without costing you a fortune in replacement costs if you’re smart about how you utilize it. Of course spending the extra money for more durable kitchen wares always helps, but clearly we can’t always afford that. So the Dollar Tree items…those get hand washed in my house. 😉

And remember…if you love it, hand wash it!

Leave dishes to air dry, like this!
Leave dishes to air dry, like this!

Happy Cleaning! 🙂

Read more about My Favorite Cleaning Gadgets.

Plastic & BPA

The BPA scare started several years after Nalgene brand water bottles started getting really popular. People were putting them in the dishwasher despite use and care instructions stating NOT to do that, and then you started hearing the stories about BPA leaching into your water bottles. Bisphenol A, BPA, is a synthetic compound added to some plastics.

The BPA scare actually started before that, but not as many folks listened, and still don’t today, which I find kind of humorous. We’re so scared about the plastic that we’re buying to store our food in that we’re not thinking about the plastic water bottles we purchase in the grocery store. The first scare came from studies showing that refilling these cheap plastic bottles is leaching BPAs into our bodies.

Store-bought plastic water bottle–don’t refill it!

Once the anti-BPA craze took off, to really scare you they of course had to look at baby bottles. Same as with the Nalgene bottles, plastic baby bottles are generally not dishwasher safe. Top that with the fact that a lot of serious moms are using the “sanitize” mode on said dishwasher, which is the hottest, harshest temperatures your dishwasher can reach, and you’ve got yourself some leaching!

So honestly, aside from the plastic store-bought water bottles you’re refilling, the real culprit is your dishwasher! You really don’t need to worry about BPA leaching if you’re not putting your plastic in there. But, I realize this is America and a lot of you want to use that big machine to save yourself some time, so here’s a few tips:

  • Don’t ever wash any plastics on sanitize mode; try to keep them on the top shelf if you’re going to be using anything like “pots and pans” or any other high/harsh settings.
Plastic container from packaged deli meat
  • If you’re reusing cheap plastic, like the Gladware or Rubbermaid containers that all the pre-packaged deli meat comes in these days, don’t put it in the dishwasher or microwave.
  •  Don’t reuse store-bought plastic water bottles!
  • If you really care about the sanitation level of your baby’s bottles, hand wash them! 

I know it’s more work, especially on a mom, but I personally never feel like my dishes are clean unless I or someone I know is as awesome of a dishwasher as me has hand washed the dishes. I’m a firm believer that a good amount of germs is good for you, too, so that’s why I’m not completely OCD when dining out….I’m just saying if you care that much about germs and your baby, you should be hand-washing those bottles, not putting them through extreme heat treatment in some machine! If not, definitely look for dishwasher safe bottles; it’s a lot easier to find glass ones these days, too. This Consumer Reports article also recommends hand-washing bottles even if the label says it’s dishwasher safe.

Most plastic products have actually always been BPA-free, they just have to start printing it on their labels now. Don’t assume that just because the label isn’t screaming “BPA Free!” at you that it’s not—check with the manufacturer first. Tupperware is one of my favorites because it’s the original plastic food storage, and it’s always been BPA-free! Remember that stores/manufacturers have to sell out of the old packaging before you’ll start seeing it printed on the label.

Tupperware brand has always been BPA free and made in the USA!

I searched all around and I think it’s been too many years, but I recall reading an article about a woman who was very passionately anti-plastic in any way, shape or form. And then her son got really sick and almost died, and looking around the hospital room she realized that without plastic he never would have made it through his ordeal, changing her entire outlook on the subject. Pretty cool when you think about all the good plastic has done for the world.

Frigoverre is very nice glass storage

I’m obviously not a plastic hater; I do encourage smart use and care! Plastic really does store food the best, in my opinion, and anything glass you buy for storage is going to have a plastic or rubber seal or lid to try and keep it airtight. The combination isn’t as good as plastic-on-plastic, and I will take my Tupperware over the most expensive glass storage containers any day! I will say that glass storage can be awesome for freezer storage, but I don’t feel safe riding my bike with one full of soup to work! People do it, I just don’t feel like trying. Frigoverre is a great brand with a good seal.

I’m sure most of you have your crazy Tupperware cupboard, too!