I've found in 35+ years of experience using dishwashers that Rinse/Hold or Rinse Only cycles cause odors more than prevent them. All dishwashers retain some water in the pump area, they can't drain 100% of the water (the residual moisture also helps keep pump seals from drying out). A rinse cycle leaves "dirty" water dripping on the dishware and in the pump.

What I do is scrape off the chunks and debris, but not sink-rinse. I don't have odors even leaving items two+ days to accumulate a full load.

Why do dishwashers have the cycle? Marketing moreso than anything, and it may have been useful years ago when detergents didn't have the powerful enzymes that they have nowadays.

I only scrape my dishes and sometimes leave them for a week and I've never had any odors. Just don't get a Bosch :-)

Thank you for answering my questions. It's so nice to be able to come here and learn from others experience/knowledge.

Until a few months ago, our DWs always had a Rinse or Rinse & Hold cycle. We never ever used it. We scraped and rinsed, but did not pre-wash by hand, and placed in DW.

With our new DW, Bosch has a video on youtube that says scrape only, no rinsing. DW cleans fine, but the interior smells of whatever is on the plates & dishes. Our filter can be pristine clean, and will not smell for a day or two after running. but as soon as we start putting dirty dishes in there, it starts to smell. Normally, we run the DW every other day.

I think the Bosch doesn't have the fresh air circulation between running loads that our old DWs had. Perhaps it is because the door closes more before latching, than our old American brand ones. The techs might disagree but I've carefully watched what is going on, checked the filter, there is no visible water on the bottom, etc.

So, we've gone back to scraping and rinsing (but we never pre-wash) and it has helped somewhat.

Cavimum, I have done some reading here and read a number of reports of problems with odors in the Bosch. I've also read many reports from those who have had no problems. Since I, too, usually only run the DW every-other-day, I've decided not to buy a Bosch---plus our dishes are chunkier cafeware-type dishes and I think they fit better in other DWs. I've read that some people just run the DW every day, even if it's not a full load, to combat the problem. I'm not sure my frugal nature would allow me to do so.