Imagine you spent the entire day cooking.
You baked lasagna, made chocolate milk for the kids, and even fried a few eggs earlier in the day.
Now, it's time to clean up.
You start scrubbing because conventional dishwashers can't scour this mess.
Or can they?
We tested the newest wash systems from Miele with their AutoDos dispenser, the Bosch PowerControl dishwasher with its intense bottom spray arm, and Beko with their CornerIntense wash system.
In addition, we tested the LG steam dishwasher with its steam generator and the GE Profile UltraFresh with special bottle and silverware wash jets.
These dishwashers were tested with a sinister concoction of the worst stained dishes in a dishwasher.
By the end, you will know which dishwasher has the best cleaning performance.
First, let's look at the washing features.
Note: This article looks at washing systems and rack design. Drying, reliability, noise level, and overall features are covered in the following articles:
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Miele is possibly the most complete dishwasher for washing dishes.
Miele dishwashers have three full spray arms. Most dishwashers only have two wash arms and a sprinkler head on the top.
I went into these tests thinking that matters.
Every dishwasher has a third rack, but most don't have a full arm on the top to wash.
Miele’s rack design is decent, with tons of adjustability. Anything in orange is adjustable.
The level of adjustability changes between the levels of dishwashers, with the most expensive having more adjustability.
The middle rack is adjustable like the others. The top rack is the best in the industry, even in the basic model.
The tines hold the silverware so it doesn't move around and scratch mid-cycle.
For fine flatware, it is certainly a consideration.
Miele starts at $1,199 and goes to $1,600 for their lower-priced G 5000 series. The G 7000 starts from $1,700-$3649.
Miele offers different drying systems for each of their series. However, we have dedicated a separate article specifically covering the topic of drying.
For washing, you have an increase in cycles, adjustability in the racks, and quietness.
Mieles' best dishwashers are super quiet at 38-40 decibels.
However, the motor slows for a four-hour wash and dry cycle to reach a 36 dB noise level.
AutoDos, an automatic dispenser, is featured on their better G 7000 series.
It has a 20-load capability and works. Clients reported the cleanest dishes using Miele’s AutoDos with PowerDisk feature.
However, this feature starts at $2,249 for the G 7336 model.
The G7336 model is the one we tested.
Bosch is the most popular dishwasher sold at Yale and possibly nationwide.
You have five series: the 100, 300, 500, 800, and Benchmark series.
Bosch's wash system is two spray arms and a sprinkler head on the top from 100 to their best Benchmark series.
100 Series
The 100 is the most basic, yet you have three series: the 100, 100 Plus, and 100 Premium.
The 100 has more basic racks, a lighter door, and a plastic bottom.
The upper 100 series has the more adjustable "RackMatic" nine-position rack.
The top rack does change slightly in the better series.
300 Series
The 300 series is all stainless with a heavier door.
500 Series
The 500 Series is the same washing as the 300.
It meets the quietness standard and has the AutoAir opening the dishwasher after the cycle is complete to speed drying.
800 Series and Benchmark
The 800 series has all of Bosch's washing and drying innovations.
For washing, it's their new PowerControl spray arm.
You can control the spray as light, medium, or heavy.
The bottom rack can also be divided into four quadrants to wash baked in Tupperware and more delicate China in the same wash on the same rack.
It's innovative, but we will see if it works.
My neighbor bought an LG dishwasher, so I tried washing a pan still in my sink from the night before.
I will keep you in suspense as to the results.
The wash system is similar to the Bosch, with a spray arm under each bracket and the sprinkler head top.
The LG, LG Studio, and SKS line of dishwashers is best described as with or without a steam generator in the front.
Steam loosens up tougher stains. It's a more popular idea in laundry, but LG is the only dishwasher with that feature.
Beko, like Bosch, is a dishwasher's first company.
They have many styles from $529-$1,399.
Beko, like LG and Bosch, washes with two arms and a sprinkler head top.
However, Beko's innovative CornerIntense wash system washes dishes in a square pattern.
Think about the dishwasher as a square, so theoretically, the dishwasher reaches the edges better than the rounded arms of the other brands.
In addition, Beko has special bottle sprays for that chocolate milk stain we are testing later.
Also, you have a direct spray on the filter, so you don't have to clean it as often.
Beko employs an ionizer pumping negative ions from a fresher-smelling dishwasher to cancel out the positive ions for odors.
The parent company, Haier, engineered all of GE's brands, including Profile, GE, Café, and Monogram, in the last few years.
GE Profile's dishwasher is popular and brand new.
Their most popular model includes their Microban surfacing for germ resistance.
You'll get tired of reading this, but like most dishwashers on this list, GE Profile dishwashers have two spray arms and a top sprinkler.
GE Profile, like Beko, has dedicated bottle washes on the top rack. You will see a test with hardened chocolate syrup later in the article.
GE Profile dishwashers also have dedicated silverware sprays in their silverware basket for those utensils with caked-on food.
In fact, with their third rack up top, you can fit more silverware in a GE Profile than in any other dishwasher.
We used baked-on lasagna dishes, fine China, sports bottles slathered with chocolate syrup, and Tupperware with red sauce.
Keep your eye on the pan with the fried egg baked in.
Miele washed the best. They even almost washed that impossible egg off the pan.
Every other dish was cleaned properly, including the sports bottles.
I thought you needed dedicated bottle washes for that.
But clearly, you do not.
Before you buy that Miele dishwasher, wait until the conclusion - seriously.
Bosch was the second best. Miele cleaned the egg a bit better, but Bosch cleaned pretty much everything else.
Remember when I brought that leftover plate to my neighbors? I was shocked at how clean the plate was after the cycle.
Steam does a nice job of loosening tough stains; everything was a tough stain in our test.
Both left more than the others, but then again, this test was the worst-case scenario.
This brings us to the conclusion (sort of).
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Well, you don't need specialized sprays for bottles or silverware because all the dishwashers clean them well.
But which dishwasher is the best? Miele.
However, the best dishwasher for the money to clean your dishes is another story.
The Miele G 7336 we tested is priced at $2,299.
In comparison, the Bosch model is $1,349, which might seem like a smart choice since it's $900 cheaper.
However, this perspective changes when you consider the GE Profile and LG models, which are priced under $1,000, making them $300 to $400 less expensive than the Bosch.
Before you decide how they wash, look at how they dry in the next article: Which Dishwasher Dries the Best (Even Plastics)?
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