bntowen's Full Review: Bosch Evolution 500 SHE45M06UC 24 in. Built-in Dis...
This is the second time in three years I’ve had to slip into Lowes appliance department to find a dishwasher. Read my revised epinion on my KitchenAid dishwasher that after three repairs, Lowes seriously no-hassle warranty department sent me a gift card for the full price of the only KitchenAid in America that failed…repeatedly…in my kitchen. Please hear me though; my in-laws and millions of others bought KithcenAids and they're working well. For me it reminded me that NO appliance company is perfect.
My brother-in law, Gary, bought a Bosch dishwasher years ago and was so impressed he bought one for his in-laws. I immediately dismissed the Bosch when he said he bought it because it was quiet. I live in a house with five children, a demure wife, and me, the loudest of all of them combined. No dishwasher in the world can drown out my pseudo-operatic renditions of Queens “Bohemian Rhapsody” as I sauté my way through the kitchen. Few middle-age men like me have the neurosis to admit that what they really want in an appliance is raw, unadulterated power! I'm talkin' cleaning power e-readers. I wanted a dishwasher to knock the rivots off my 19 10 stainless steel pans as it blasted twice burned eggs and spaghetti sauce off the sides and bottom. So when Gary extolled the virtues of the near silence of the Bosch in operation and the lack of a hard food disposal, I chalked his recommendation as accepting noise reduction over the central reason for buying a dishwasher_ washing dishes. If I wanted quiet washing in the kitchen, I’d scrub the dishes with a pillow.
I approached the Lowes appliance department fully loaded with Epinions and information from another source that the mysterious Epinion powers warned me not to spell out or they’d force me to host a Journey Cover Band Blog. Suffice to say, I was armed with knowledge, and firm commitments my "absolutes" in a dishwasher: cleaning power defined as not having to scrub the dishes (merely rinse off chuncks) before running the dishwasher, sturdy racks defined as easy sliders with metal rivets in the rollers or massively heavy plastic rollers designed to glide with one-finger ease once loaded with three case iron skillets, and a hard food grinder that need not puree an uncracked pecan, but better turn fried rice of celery tops into unrecognizable matter.
My wife and I slid every rack of every model regardless of price. The Bosch Evolution 500 SHE45M06UC racks slid with ease, and were suspended in the middle of the rack and bolstered near the end unlike the KitchenAid whose rear suspended rack resulted in severe tipping and stress when fully loaded at the end. Repairmen said I should know better than fill a rack at the end. Repairmen should know better than to defend the engineers who want you to put Styrofoam cups instead of ceramic coffee mugs at the front edge of the top rack like I can in my Bosch. The top basket grid though smaller, is made if thicker bars and the rails and rollers were thicker and smoother than any other model. The bottom rack was equally sturdy but could slip off the track. This is a minor secondary outcome to a primarily wonderful design to make the basket rollers wider than they are tall, similar to the front wheel/roller on Fred Flintstone’s car.
Now for the power. It says nothing cleaned better. How could that be? A cursory glance around the stainless steel interior compared to KitchenAid, Maytag, and GE hinted of jet lack. There is an under-jet on the top rack and bottom with smaller jets around unlike the bold multi-level hose-it-from-all-directions models surround the Bosch. I thought it was due to the middle-of-the-road Bosch price-point I was at (pardon the English there but it sounded right). But the pricier models were equally jetted. The enlightened Lowes salesperson swore on his red smock that Bosch dealers assured him in German and English that no other washing machine cleans better than a Bosch. Warum (German) or Why (English) I asked if there is such a paucity of jets. He said it’s not only about the jets. He said the Bosch Evolution 500 SHE45M06UC super-heats the water to a whopping 160F. So as not to disturb the children in my disbelief, I cussed in German. He said, “No, it’s true.” Looking deeper into this the super water heating also accounts for the food dissolving power. This corroborated with past customer o and epinions I read. So all that was left to close the deal with me was the food disposal. The salesman bent over, reached into the Bosch and pull out…The Cup.
I haven’t been so scared to see a cup since junior high. Once I saw the cup, and imagined cleaning out half digested broccoli and cheese globs, I made what my wife referred to as a suicidal gesture by moving towards a GE machine. After a brief evaluation, the officers returned me to the Bosch area. The Lowes appliance guy explained the three-stage cup filtration that rarely has to be cleaned out. In practice after five months with my Bosch Evolution 500 SHE45M06UC, my wife and I have only seen a few flecks twice. This machine dissolves food big time.
Another near deal-breaker for my wife was the lack of a dish dryer element and the need for rinse agent. My brother-in-law and others I read said the plastics in the top rack will have some water on them after washing. That happened with me flame-throwing KitchenAid dryer-equipped model. With this Bosch, we’ve washed with and without rinse agent. The dishes are surprisingly hot and amazingly dry coming out of the last cycle. The drying action is caused because the super-heated water evaporates quickly with the help of an internal fan blowing out the evaporating water. With a rinse agent, the plastics are near totally dry. As for rinse agents, store brands have worked as well as Jet-Dry, which costs more per ounce as a Sonoma Chardonnay. Also, the lack of an over-sized drying fan saves a far more electricity than in needed to superheat the water.
As for the quiet? It's Zowie-quiet. I know I went technical just then but after the KitchenAid pump wouldn’t pump in enough water even after two pump replacements (remember, a unique problem for my unique life), I frequently had to open the Bosch Evolution 500 SHE45M06UC door to see if it was running. It’s like a Prius-at-a-stoplight-quiet. That goes for the Power-Scrub Plus setting as well.
Now for the Quickwash feature. That button is about as worthless as the “china” setting button on most dishwashers. But I experimented. My e-friends it works. The dishes that on average need 100+ minutes for a full load are clean in 28. Lest you think I’m a paid Bosch-shill, I did warn you that the average full wash is over 100 minutes. It’s ironically about ten minutes less in the Power-scrub Plus setting that I use most often. But again, for an average to light soiled full load or less, the Quickwash feature really works.
Stacking the Bosch Evolution 500 SHE45M06UC is easy given the Shaq-tall tub in this baby. The foldable rack prongs are good to fold down when washing an obese stockpot. The top rack adjustments up and down are so convenient with odd-sized objects on the top of bottom. The stemware foldable racks on the top just deep enough for a midsize wine glass, and the flatware tray is removable. Like me E-brother who wrote a Bosch Evolution 500 SHE45M06UC review, the racks do not hold set after set of flatware and kitchen gadgets, and could have been larger of in the door like a Whirlpool. But a unique feature surprise came when I watched the sales person adjust the top rack and then remove it altogether. Imagine the tall things we can wash with the top rack removed. Also, the door latch and hinges seem heavier than even pricier models which is important to a family that is holding so many things in the kitchen the door has to often be closed by foot.
Overall, the Bosch Evolution 500 SHE45M06UC has all the features, cleaning power, rack durability and adjustment capability I wanted, and the quiet I didn’t’ originally want, but enjoy. Thanks for the read.
Bosch Evolution 500 Series: SHE45M0UC Full Console Dishwasher with 4 Wash Cycles, Platinum Mid Racks, 19 Hours Delay Start and Silence Rating of 51 dB...More at Home Everything
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