Been eyeing it for two years. Finally bit the bullet!
Written: Jan 26 '07 (Updated Jul 12 '07)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
| Ease of Cleaning: |
|
|
| Style: |
|
|
|
Pros: Washes well. Very quiet. Rinses well. Dries well.
Cons: I hate buckets for silverware, but I'll live with it for this machine.
The Bottom Line: For a dishwasher that actually washes the dishes without pre-rinsing, is quiet, and makes your life easier, this one is it.
|
|
|
| waynephinney's Full Review: Bosch SHE44C02UC / SHE44C06UC / SHE44C07UC 24 in. ... |
As an appliance salesman for over two years now, I've sold a fair deal of dishwashers. The brands I seemed to have the most good luck with not only in sales, but with the fewest complaints, were Kitchen-aid and Bosch. The more Bosch units that I've sold, the more I wanted one. I simply didn't have the cash for a $600 dishwasher, even with the employee discount, and personally, I feel like it's a waste of money to buy a $200 dishwasher that doesn't work, so I kept saving the money.
Well, I finally decided to get the Bosch SHE44 model in white. My wife is the one who does the dishes around the house (it's the only chore I won't do), and as an early Christmas gift (romantic, huh?), I got her this dishwasher. Now, my wife is quite particular about appearances, so although I could have spent $100 less on the SHU33 (which is a very similar unit), it looked too chunky, and I knew she wouldn't like it. So, we went with the sleeker looking SHE44.
The machine itself has just a few cycles, and in fact, I've sold many units because lots of people like just having a few buttons on their machines. It has a Power Wash (your heavy duty cycle), the Normal Cycle, Quick Wash (a quicker wash for lightly soiled dishes), and a Rinse and Hold cycle. The Rinse and Hold rinses the dishes for 5-10 minutes. I've found this is good if it takes a few days for the dishes to pile up, because some foods are smellier than others (fish, garlic, etc.). It's just my wife and myself, so we only do 2-3 loads a week, 4-5 if we have guests, but we've only used that cycle once. I am yet to use the quick wash, because I find that I'm rarely in a hurry. I have far more dishes than I could fill my dishwasher up with, so this is never an issue. I find that I use Normal and Heavy Duty about 50/50.
On the normal wash, I find that all of my normal dishes get cleaned just fine. I make sure to use Cascade (because from everything I hear, it's the best dish detergent you can buy), and all my dishes come out clean without any pre-rinsing. In fact, I've heard this from so many customers of mine that it was a major factor in me purchasing it.
Being in the industry, I'm a fanatic about putting my new products to the test. Because of this, I was really thrilled about lasagna night. Sure, the food was great, but I wanted to see how well it handled the lasagna pans. So, I put one pan in the top rack, one in the bottom rack, and filled the detergent dispenser to the second line (which is for heavy duty washing). I ran it through the cycle and was surprised. I honestly didn't think even a Bosch could clean it that well. Well, lo and behold, when I opened the dishwasher the next day (I usually run it before bed so dishes don't start piling up in the sink in the evening... I HATE piles of dishes), the pans were spotless. These weren't just typical pans. They were those glassware casserole pans, and they were spotless. I was amazed.
Of course, it's fair to say that loading the dishwasher properly is half the battle. Almost every dishwasher works better if loaded properly, and Bosch is no exception.
I have also cleaned saucepans, stockpots, etc. in this machine, and loved it.
Another great feature I didn't expect to like was the adjustable top rack. It has two sets of rollers, so you can change the height of the top rack. I never thought this was a feature I would need, but I was surprised how many times I have used it in the 6 weeks I've had this machine.
Another feature is the Tall Item Sprinkler. Basically, it's a little shower cap that goes over the hole that's left behind when you remove the top rack altogether. I had pizza night with some friends (I love making homemade pizza... delicious!), and we had several pans with baked on cheese and such (I go crazy with the cheese). I threw them all in the bottom rack, spaced them out appropriately, made sure to put the shower cap on, and they came out perfectly clean. This machine makes cleanup after entertaining so much easier.
One thing people should know about this machine is often overlooked. I even see it in many of the reviews here. Some people have legitimate lemons, and it happens in every brand, which is a shame. Still, almost every service call my company has on these dishwashers is because people do not use their rinse agent in their machine. I instruct every customer, and the manual says right in it that for proper rinsing and drying, you need the rinse agent. Jet-Dry is pretty cheap, and we've only gone through half a bottle in these 6 weeks, so even under heavy use, that's less than a bottle a month. It's well worth it for the proper results.
This machine dries very well just so long as you use the Jet-Dry. The only issue I have is with Glad-ware because they have good sized lips that retain water. Unfortunately, even an American styled dishwasher with a heating element wouldn't get that dry. No dishwasher dries pooled up water. The secret to this with any machine is to empty the bottom rack first. Even with the little bit of water that collects on the plastic ware lips, I can't complain. It dries better than any dishwasher I've ever used, and it's nice that if a plastic spoon falls to the bottom, there is no element for it to melt on.
This brings me to another feature, the silverware basket. I myself am not fond of bucket-styled silverware bucket, but I'm not in a place in my life where I can buy a higher-end version with this feature, so I'll put up with it. At least the silverware gets clean. :)
Oh, and this machine doesn't have a food grinder in the bottom. It's a filter system, and so far, not a thing got caught up in the filter that's needed me to empty it. I've heard that it usually needs to be emptied maybe once a month, but so far, everything has emulsified and gone down the drain properly.
And of course, the biggest reason people buy this dishwasher is quiet. The machine is NOT silent, however, it is VERY quiet. I can only hear it if nothing in my house is making any noise, and even then, it's a gentle watery sound. Actually, the noisiest thing I hear is the water itself going down my drain. Given how open my kitchen is to the living room, I'm very pleased with how quiet this is.
All in all, this machine has performed very well and I have enjoyed it a great deal. Ultimately, I'd like the SHE66 since it has every feature under the sun. I've heard this one in a Bosch showroom, or rather, I couldn't hear it. It truly was unbelievably quiet. So, the SHE44 isn't the one I wanted ultimately, but for the budget, it's been doing extremely well. It washes well, dries well, is quiet, holds quite a few dishes, and makes my life easier. This is hands down the best dishwasher I have ever personally used. Whirlpools, Maytags, and others may wash well, but this one is the best. I couldn't be more happy with this machine. Best bang for your buck if you ask me.
Update: 7/12/07
I've now had this machine for eight months, and I still really enjoy it. I have finally found something that actually gets caught up in the filter cup. We had a pot with some burnt on macaroni, and all the macaronis got caught up in the cup. Also, the Bosch wasn't able to clean the scorch marks off the pot. Unfortunately, neither was I. Steel wool and elbow grease just didn't do it, so we threw the pan out. Can't blame the dishwasher for that one.
I love how clean the machine still looks. Getting it in the white was a wise choice. Of course, the stainless interior still looks great, and the machine is just as quiet as ever. Just like before, the noisiest part is the water going down my cheap pipes and echoing out from the sink.
That silverware bucket is still driving me nuts, but I hate buckets in general, so I expected that. I'm still willing to put up with it, because I really couldn't afford much better at the time, but in my next machine, I'll go with a bucket that sits on the side of the machine instead of in the middle taking up valuable space.
All in all, I'm still very pleased with this machine, and I still wholeheartedly recommend it.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 599
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
waynephinney
|
|
Member: Wayne Phinney
Location: Maine, USA
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Married, love animals, aspiring author.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.