(PepOmint)
Real Simple has a list of things you can and cannot put in your dishwasher (Caution: annoying slideshow.) One of the suggestions stood out. Potatoes…?
From Real Simple:
Potatoes can get nice and clean in the top rack with a rinse-only cycle (no detergent). Sound crazy? It makes mashed potatoes for 20 a lot quicker.
Further research uncovered additional corroborating evidence of dishwasher food prep, including a recipe for “Dishwasher Salmon,” also from Real Simple. One should note that while one commenter claims it makes your dishwasher stink of fish, another says they have been cooking salmon this way for 25 years and has experienced no odor problems.
Time for a poll, we suppose:
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I think I just threw up a bit in my mouth. It could be because my dishwasher is broken and it’s disgusting. So I can’t imagine “cooking” anything in there. Speaking of which, I’d have to replace it one of these days…
I hear Sears has some good deals these days…….
That’s actually where I’m thinking of going… Plus they would deliver + install it for me. I’ve always had really good experiences with my local Sears *knocks on wood and hope I won’t jinx it*, so I might just go back to them. I just don’t know if I get something that’s around $3-400, would that be too cheap or too low-end. I don’t know anything about dishwashers because I don’t use them…
Oh boy, I was being milldly sarcastic on that one.
Personally have never had problems with Sears, but I would be scared after the stories. Honestly, check around and see what specialty appliance stores in your area are selling them for, as they normally have staff that can take care of problems easier.
Lets just hope we don’t see a Consumerist post from Chizu in the near future about Sears where everyone will blame OP.
I am laughing at your last line. I really do hope that won’t happen to me. But I did get a very expensive set of washer and dryer + a refrigerator from them. All came in time and every staff I dealt with were fast and very professional. (I know, unbelievable, isn’t it?) On top of that, I could finance the item, have the old one uninstalled and towed away, and have the new item delivered and installed. I know I’ll be paying for it, but at least I know it’ll get done. So I’m knocking on wood right now and hopefully I won’t jinx myself… (We have a few local stores, but none would do the uninstall and install for you. As much as I like these stores myself, it was somewhat problematic for me.)
My mom had a stove delivered from Sears yesterday. There were no problems, and they took the old one away. We went there after Best Buy would not work with us on delivery times.
Just don’t pay with cash, check or a Sears card so you can do a chargeback if needed.
I bought my dishwasher from Sears two years ago for less than $200, it was the cheapest one they sold.
I brought it home with me and installed it myself, so I have no complaint with Sears.
And according to Consumer Reports themselves, Kenmore usually ranks
higher than mid pack on most appliances and accounting for price paid
that is significant since I have no use for a $4000 frig, a $2500 washer
and $1800 dryer, I think you get the idea. Sears/Kenmore negotiates with
a number of major manufacturers (Whirlpool, GE, Amana, LG, etc)
for contracts to make their appliances for them since it is a respected
name for nearly 100 years, those makers know that if they screw it up
big time, they might not come up on the short list again for a long time
so Sears makes them -compete- for the Kenmore name. Pretty smart
if you ask me. I have a Sears/Kenmore washer/dryer pair that cost me
about $700 in 1996, I bought a preventative service plan that inspects
them once a year and fixes any problem for free and they are still
working perfectly with only preventative inspections.
“Hard” goods have always been Sears forte, and that is the same today.
Best Buy, Lowes, Home Depot can ONLY compete on price not quality.
I hope this means we get to talk about cooking by putting stuff under your car hood next.
I’m personally looking forward to trying the “bake on the dashboard cookies”. There’s nothing I like better than cookie dough on my GPS – yummy!
Manifold Destiny! No different from the meals we made in Boy Scouts by putting a ground beef patty, a potato and some veggies in a foil packet and tossing it in the fire. Also, recently (on a bike ride–RAGBRAI–during which temperatures in the first part of the week in Iowa went above 100), we did the cookies on the dashboard thing. All it really did was heat up the chocolate chip cookie dough, but that was fine, too.
Do people put a head of lettuce in the washing machine? If not, why would anyone wash potatoes in the dishwasher, especially since you’d have to make a crap ton of potatoes to justify using that much water. It’s not like you can toss them in there while you’re washing your dishes.
I think it is more for the steaming effect than the washing when it comes to Potatoes.
I suspect the DW would use a lot less water than scrubbing a bunch of taters under running water.
Well, the article does say mashed potatoes for 20, so that could qualify as a “crap ton of potatoes”, couldn’t it?
I’ve always used my dishwasher to clean and cook my food. She also does my laundry.
Badumching!
I’ve been watching you all week. Based on your previous recommendation, I did try the veal. It was amazing.
That’s because it was cooked in the dishwasher!
Enter text…
In? Is she running a fever?
Ewww. No. Just no.
Didn’t know about potatoes, but salmon we’ve done before. 2 or 3 times. Usually a pan works fine though.
Just make sure your dishwasher is clean, or you might get salmonilla.
I thought that was the giant fish that destroyed Tokyo?
I’ve never cooked salmon in my dishwasher, but I have made a personal serving of lasagna in it.
This reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer wanted a garbage disposal in his shower because he was preparing food in there.
Yes!!! Thanks for reminding me of that episode. Cosmo Kramer = one of the most absurdly hilarious characters in television history.
Off topic a bit, but I absolutely despise those slideshows. Just give me the damn list!
Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor cooked salmon in the dishwasher on his show. He also demonstrated effectively the need to do it on the top rack, rinse only.
I think this would be a huge waste of energy and water. If you’re so minded, you can just toss this stuff in the microwave for a few minutes.
I haven’t done food. But it can clean all the food bits out from under the keys of a computer keyboard.
heh. I just the same suggestion by Leo Laporte on Bill Handel’s show this morning.
You can actually get dishwasher safe keyboards.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823336002
Like this one! Look, it’s medical grade, too!
Here’s some real simple advice: Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
I don’t even like using a dishwasher to wash dishes.
Dishwasher and toasters are two modern conveniences that generally don’t save any time compared to the “old” way of doing things, and produce significantly worse results.
Hasn’t it been proven time and again that dishwashers use less water and (presuming that you do not use a heated dry cycle) not that much electricity, and practically sterilize your dishes?
Good question. Has it? I’ve never heard such a thing before, but I don’t scrutinize appliance comparison tests much either. Where would you go for such information, Consumer Reports?
They don’t save time? I can load a day’s worth of dishes and hit the ‘start’ button a lot quicker than I can wash and dry those same dishes by hand.
Or do you mean the ‘old’ way where I get water from the well, build a fire to heat the water on the wood-burning stove, then wash the dishes. Dishwasher is quicker than that too.
The dishwasher machine in my kitchen doesn’t save time or effort. A full wash cycle takes at least 40 minutes, possibly a whole hour. I can wash a whole “dishwasher full” worth of dishes by hand in about 20 minutes. As far as the effort side of the equation … my dishwasher doesn’t in fact make the dishes much cleaner when done than when they went it (the machine is old, but I ain’t replacing it ’cause I don’t own it … came with the apartment just like the low quality stove, microwave, and fridge which all work poorly). Just to have any hope that dishes would come out of the machine clean means I’d have to “pre-wash” everything going into the machine in the first place, which results in (a) more water use and (b) more wasted time & effort. So instead, I use the dishwasher as a drying rack only (unpowered air dry, just leave the door open) for all my dishes which I wash by hand.
Reasonable. I see where your opinion comes from now.
On the other hand, a properly functioning dishwasher that does a good job will save time because you have no prewashing and you can do other things while the dishwasher runs. Furthermore, a dishwasher runs hotter than your sink full of water stays (or even starts off as).
But to be fair, you can walk away in that 40 minute and do something else, right? It doesn’t use up 40 minutes of your time the way doing them by hand uses up 20 minutes of your time, right?
Why let facts get in the way of a good whiny rant?
It seems like an awful waste of energy and water to cook food in a dishwasher. I can cook potatoes in a microwave and salmon in my toaster oven faster than in a dishwasher. Just doesn’t make sense.
Cooking in the dishwasher has probably been around longer than the author of the article.
Maybe if I’d cleaned the dishwasher out beforehand.
What’s that you say? How can a dishwasher not be clean? It cleans dishes, surely it cleans itself as a side effect?
When they took phosphates out of the detergent, our dishwasher stopped cleaning the dishes as well as it used to. A coating of slime and funk started appearing in nooks and crannies. It eventually got so thick that I had to partially disassemble the dishwasher to clean it out.
I discovered that if I run it empty with some bleach and OxiClean it will clean it out really well, so I haven’t had to disassemble it again.
I also picked up some TSP, and put a tablespoon or so into every load.
The closest I’ve come to this is thawing Toaster Strudel icing packets by putting them in my bra.
Interesting. Tell us more. Pictures would help.
I got a better idea – toss both salmon and potatoes in the dishwasher, and add some barbecue sauce instead of the regular dishwashing soap. Voila! All-in-one instant dinner!
Thank you very much.
I wash my kitties in the dishwasher. They love the bubbles.
I do apologize. I really need a new mouse.