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nerdyhousewife

Is it hard to load a Bosch dishwasher?

nerdyhousewife
11 years ago

Looking at the placement of the tines on the bottom racks of Bosch dishwashers, it looks like it would be difficult to find a spot for a casserole dish or cutting board. Is this true?

It's not like I ever use 12 saucers, so I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with the little tines in the front right corner.

I really want to buy a Bosch for all the other reasons - I'm just not sure how to fit my dishes in it. I usually have a ton of glasses, dinner plates, salad bowls, and cookware I'm too lazy to hand wash.

If you have one, how difficult is it to load?

Comments (58)

  • carolmka
    11 years ago

    I have a 7 year old Kitchenaid Dishwasher that I am replacing with another Kitchenaid dishwasher. For me being able to load a lot of dishes is important. I looked at the Bosch and just could not see the configuration working. I did pick the Kitchenaid without the food grinder. You have to scrape which we did not do in the beginning. There is not easy access to clean out the food grinder. The food grinder cannot handle soft food. I decided I would rather have easy access to the filter in the Kitchenaid.

  • seabird66
    11 years ago

    We bought two high-end Bosch dishwashers when we remodeled the kitchen, which I regret. I hate the racks, hate them. In particular, glasses don't fit well. One reason we added a second dishwasher was to clean up after dinner parties. But stemware fits so poorly, I have to run multiple, half-empty loads. The bottom rack has such a big grid that I couldn't use it for glassware until I wired in some small metal racks (the kind for cooling cookies, etc.). The units clean fine, and I like the natural drying, but I would not buy them again.

  • sophie123
    11 years ago

    Seabird - did you read the below thread? The last one talks about wine glasses - i just did the adjustment and it worked!

    Here is a link that might be useful: bosch dw

  • TonySak
    11 years ago

    I have 2 bosh 800plus units. They are great. Uber quite. The racks aren't bad, you just have to get use to them. My only complaint is large baking sheets are a little akward if you want to wash like 5 of them. Other than that, they are built like a BMW.

  • jirka09
    11 years ago

    I have a Bosch, stainless interior (and out). Sometimes I load things a bit haphazardly in order to get them to fit and they still come out spotless. I love this thing. The stainless interior allows it to dry naturally and it's quiet. I have had it 3 years and have had to clean out the filter 3 times. No big deal.

  • bonesoda
    11 years ago

    I am not sure and i don't want to point fingers as well, but why is everyone having a hard time loading hte dishwasher?!?! i have a 800series.

    the bottom rack is for plates and it has the rear rack that can collapse so you can put bigger items.

    I can put in my cutting board fine.

    It has special area for stemware so they don't move about and clank with other dishes (can get 6 easily).

    the cutlery tray took time the first time i used it but now i know where and how things go.

    I prefer this dw over my old KA/whirlpool model.

    I have used the dw about 4 times (less than a month).

  • attofarad
    11 years ago

    >>I have a Bosch and my bottom tines fold down but I usually leave them up

    Does anyone make a DW that has tines that can be folded down half at a time? i.e., where every other tine folds down. That would be great for fitting thicker bowls.

  • whirlpool_trainee
    11 years ago

    Do you mean like the LG Smart Rack? Just go to YouTube and enter "LG Smart Rack".

    Alex

    Here is a link that might be useful: Example video

  • attofarad
    11 years ago

    >Do you mean like the LG Smart Rack? Just go to YouTube and enter "LG Smart Rack".

    Yes, exactly. Thanks!

  • barryv_gw
    11 years ago

    Nerdy, Bosch offers several different types of racks depending on the model of the dishwasher. I agree with Seabird, I have had my Bosch for a few years and hate the racks - don't like the top rack at all, though the bottom is not too bad. One major problem for us if you have salad bowls that are close in size to a full sized plate, the bottom tines are too close together, and so you have to take up a lot of room. I think we normally run our machine when it has about 2/3 as many items as our prior dishwasher, because the tine layout is not optimal. We did buy the entry level stainless steel Bosch, if we spent much more, we could have gotten one with a different rack system, though I didn't see the problem at the time, and haven't gone back to see if it would work better for us. OTOH, the Bosch sure is quiet.

  • bonesoda
    11 years ago

    Also if the tub size and runners are the same i bet one can order different lower racks atleast.

  • idrive65
    11 years ago

    "I am not sure and i don't want to point fingers as well, but why is everyone having a hard time loading hte dishwasher?!?! i have a 800series. "

    Because Bosch makes more than one type of dishwasher, and people have different types of dishes? My Bosch is quiet and gets dishes clean, but it is terrible to load. I could get a lot more into my very old (and cheap) Kenmore and wash them in less than half the time. In the Bosch that I have:

    The silverware basket can only go in one spot, dead center, which limits how I can arrange dishes.

    The grid spacing on the lower level rack is so wide that I can't put anything narrower than a wide coffee mug there.

    The plastic flip-up doohickeys on the top rack will slice your fingers if you aren't careful.

    The lower rack of my Bosch skews to the side and comes off the runners completely unless I am very careful when pulling it out, a problem I've never had with ANY dishwasher before.

  • JuneEtta
    9 years ago

    Yes! I have a brand new Bosch, which I have used two times. While the unit is super quiet, and the dishes come out practically sparkling, I find it very difficult to load. The silverware baskets take up a lot of room; the tines are very short and are so close together that many of my dishes and bowls don't fit; also, the tines are angled in a way that dishes can only be loaded in one direction (sort of a "toilet-paper-over-or-under" type deal, but nonetheless it is rather annoying to have to change directions after years of loading a preferred way); very few glasses fit in the top rack; the little utensil holder on the top rack is completely useless--it makes it impossible to put much below it. The bottom rack comes off track much too easily, and after just two days, I am pretty irritated with just that.

    An entirely separate problem is the fact that, while the dishes come out mostly dry, the tub does not. I am concerned about mildew/odor build up. I really wanted to love this dishwasher, but am seriously considering returning it today.

  • sjhockeyfan325
    9 years ago

    I don't know what model June has, but I have none of these problems - except I'd like the third set of tines on the bottom rack to be a little wider. Mine is the 800 series.

  • Bunny
    9 years ago

    Yes, it's stupid to load with odd spacing. Great for little saucers and plates. And the inside does stay damp. It gets dishes clean, but considering mine are 90% clean when I load them, it's not a surprise.

  • sonny_h
    9 years ago

    I've had two different bosch DWs for the last 7+ years. An older 600 series, and a new 800+ series 42DB with the third rack.

    I'm surprised to hear the comments. I've never felt there was any issue with stacking/loading all sorts of variable sized items. I regularly wash an assortment of regular plates, bowls, glasses, as well as large and small pans, pots, casserole dishes, cutting boards. Between the adjustable tines, and the deep tubs, I've never felt that something won't have a place to fit to be washed. I've never owned a KA or samsung, so can't really compare, so take this for what its worth.

  • sjhockeyfan325
    9 years ago

    Like I said, I'm in the same camp as Sonny. My last two dishwashers were dish drawers (held pretty much nothing, although I understand they're redone the inside layout) and GE Profile, which held half as much as this Bosch.

  • hoosierbred
    9 years ago

    I really really dislike our Bosch 500 dishwasher lower rack. We moved to our new home a month ago. Every time I go to put something in the lower rack other than plates, I start this litany of "I hate you, I hate you!" :-) I really should have looked at the configuration more closely before purchasing the dishwasher. We have large plates, so the only thing I really checked before ordering it was that the plates would fit. But, placing large serving bowls and a 13x9 baking dish in there, you might as well forget it!

  • conate
    9 years ago

    I have two Bosch dishwashers.

    First, if you have really thick dishes like Fiestaware, it may be difficult as the tines are relatively close. I have Corelle, no issues.

    Other than that, I Have zero issues with either of my Bosch dishwashers. And I cook, A LOT.

  • dml4u2
    8 years ago

    I bought the Bosch 800 series recently, it's awesome, what other appliance shines a light on the floor to let you know it's running, it's that quiet! The one thing that will take adjustment is how to load it, agree with others. For those experienced users, where/how do you stack salad/cereal bowls? That seems difficult. As far as those having problems with drying dishes, some tips: make sure you use rinse aid (Finish), there is a programmable setting for "intense drying" (check your manual), and at the end of a wash cycle open the door to let the steam out (that is how it dries in some of the new DWs).

  • sjhockeyfan325
    8 years ago

    I line up cereal bowls on the upper rack (which it shares with cups and glasses). Dinner and salad plates, and large soup bowls all fit in the bottom rack, which I also use for pots and pans and serving bowls.

  • Tobi Bassin
    8 years ago

    I just got this and am regretting it. No room to load cSserole dishes but worse I can't load my regular dishes in these times. Poor design. Perhaps if I lived alone and only had one setting it would be okay. Wish I had realized this before.

  • sjhockeyfan325
    8 years ago

    I can fit at least 8 full place settings in my Bosch (if not more) and I don't have thin plates. If I were home I'd take a picture, but I'm out of town. But, that's the reason I took my dishes with me to the store before I decided which de to buy.

  • Jakvis
    8 years ago

    I'm constantly amazed at how much I can actually pack into my Bosch. I do have a few really deep bowls that make it harder to fit but we always get them in there including the casserole dishes my wife likes to cook with. There's 4 of us and it seems we get all the breakfast and dinner, cups, glasses and dishes in there every evening.

  • cynls
    8 years ago

    I had to laugh - to keep from crying, I guess - as I read thru these posts. We bought our dream retirement home a year-and-a-half ago, and the first thing I did was spend more money than I care to remember on a top-rated Bosch SHP65T55UC (which I think is the 500 series?). I hope whoever designed the !%^* thing was fired; I'm almost 60 and this is by FAR the absolute worst DW I've ever seen. I curse it every single time I have to load it. I can't for the life of me understand how it ever got a single positive review.

    I did take some of my dishes with me to the appliance place where I bought it - but only a few samples. That did not give me an accurate impression, unfortunately. I ended up using a cookie sheet to bend half the tines on the bottom rack so they're now straight up. Prior to that, forget trying to load a blender jar, large pot, etc. And I still can't figure out where you're supposed to put glasses if you also have cereal bowls - which we always do.

    Yes it's quiet; but that's only relevant if you can actually put dishes in it. I've told everyone I know not to even consider this DW!

  • PRO
    Kreative Touch
    8 years ago

    We used to have a kitchen aid or Whirlpool dishwasher (I forget which - it came with the house). When it broke, I thought we would have trouble finding a dishwasher where we liked the layout as well. Following someone's suggestion, we took our dishes over to the store and tried out several dishwashers. Much to our surprise, they fit better in the Bosch dishwasher than anything else.

    Our other constraints were (1) water softener, (2) no side vent - to avoid steam damage to cabinets and (3) quiet. We ended up getting a Bosch 800+ dishwasher with a third rack. It met all our requirements. It's been a great improvement over our previous dishwasher! We thought the third rack was gimmicky but it ended up being great for little things. As well as one cooking and serving utensils. The dishwasher is quiet, holds a lot, and does not not get the calcium buildup (unlike our last dishwasher) and does not damage the cabinets (again unlike our last dishwasher).

    If you are considering a kitchenaid dishwasher with a side vent, before purchasing it, you might want to read the discussion about potential problems of steam damage to cabinets.



  • 1701anonymous
    5 years ago

    I agree with all of the complaints about loading a Bosch dishwasher. You can't load pots/pans if you put a few plates on bottom rack, and bowls slide over in the middle rack. My brother bought a different Bosch model and has same complaints. Clearly someone who designed this has never loaded a dishwashwer in their life. If I could go back to my Kitchen Aid, I would in a heart beat.

  • Lyndee Lee
    5 years ago
    My Bosch DW complaints are many years old but I did not even consider buying another one after fighting with one for over a year in a British rental. Our conclusion was that Bosch is designed for German lifestyles and German dishes not Americans with chunky pottery dishes, coffee mugs, and big ice tea glasses. For formal china plates and small glasses, no problem butour lifestyle did not match that dishwasher
  • Michele Marino
    4 years ago

    We have the Bosch 500dishwasher and it was the biggest mistake we made when we built our home. fiesta cereal bowls are easy to fit nowhere if there are ant pans they end up taking up almost all the space AND the thing is noisy. It cracks me up that there’s a red light that shines on the floor to alert you the thing is washing. We have to turn the volume up on the tv if we have to run the dishwasher.

  • M
    4 years ago

    Things depend a little bit on the shape of our table ware. So, it's always a good idea to take a representative sampling of plates and bowls to the store and see if a particular dishwasher works for you. Personally, I have hands-on experience with Kitchenaid (very inefficient packing density) and Miele (amazingly well-suited to our dishes). Don't know about Bosch.

    We regularly load all sorts of differently-sized bowls, glasses, tupperware, pots/pans, cutting boards, plates, ... No problem whatsoever. And the Miele gets them 100% clean no matter how densely I pack things. On the other hand, the Kitchenaid usually leaves a few dishes dirty, even if I pack the dishwasher very lightly.

    Most of the higher-end dishwashers these days are really quiet. If that's not the case, it usually means that they have been installed incorrectly. One of the important details is that you cannot have any gaps on the sides of the dishwasher no matter how tight. That's where all the sound escapes. Miele ships gaskets that seal the dishwasher and the cabinet. I don't know what Bosch does, but I suspect it is something similar.

  • peppjoy
    3 years ago

    Unfortunately our KA died in the midst of shelter at home so taking our dishes to the store wasn’t an option. Based on reviews we went with the Bosch 500 series. As someone mentioned if you have cereal or ice cream bowls there is no where to put them unless you are willing to sacrifice your glasses space. If I had 24 salad dishes with each wash it would be perfect. But I don’t. Huge disappointment. I kept thinking I must be missing something obvious because it couldn’t have been designed like this.... I was wrong.

  • M
    3 years ago

    Not that this helps you, but just as a reference for others who might reads this archived thread in the future:


    Our household is half-Asian / half-Western. We use an insane number of bowls on a daily basic, but we also use lots of plates, serving bowls, cooking pots, glasses, ... . And our Miele has proven to be extremely adaptable to this work-load.

  • Maureen M
    3 years ago

    Peppjoy, same here! I absolutely love how clean it gets everything, but loading it is a bit of a struggle. There's one tine at the back left that I'm considering cutting off....if it wasn't there, I could stand a 9x13 pyrex in that space instead of taking up half the bottom rack with it.

  • Steven Comisso
    3 years ago

    I am on my 3rd dishwasher at home and here are my general thoughts on the 3 brands I have owned. Bosch - best cleaning by a good margin however died after 3 years. Miele - good cleaning with their soap. Cutlery tray was pain to get used to but I much prefer it to a basket. Had some problems after 10 years AND when we bought our new plates that have high rims, they did not fit. Fisher and Paykel - has an adjustable tine rack in each dishdrawer which you can slide to make the tine spacing double regular - works great for the plates. (I believe Whirlpool may have this feature too) Issue with F&P is that anything that is layered over the dishes in the drop down side shelves does not always get clean. Not suitable for family of four IMO with loaders who dont follow the rules.

  • Carey Sakert
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    I just purchased a Bosch 100 series to replace a 20-year old Amana dishwasher. Absolutely anything and everything fit in my Amana dishwasher. The only reason I replaced it was because the closed part of soap dispenser broke and without the 2nd wash cycle, the dishes were not coming out clean. It's only been a couple of weeks, and I hate the Bosch already. Hate, hate, hate it. Yes, it's quiet. Yes, it gets the dishes clean and dry. But the design of the tines prevents anything other than plates from being loaded in the bottom rack. The tines are so close together that you cannot properly fit any bowls in the bottom rack. The bowls have to be laid over the top of the tines and then only 2 bowls will fit. (And, no, the tines are not adjustable.) I could fit 10 bowls, 10 dinner plates, and 10 salad plates in my Amana. So now bowls are going top rack, but it's the same problem of them falling over and taking up too much room and then there's not enough space for my glasses. Whoever designed the Bosch must not use anything other than plates, and thin ones at that. Worst design ever. I'm running this dishwasher 2-3 times more than my Amana because only a fraction of the dishes will fit. Let me repeat - I HATE this dishwasher.

  • kaismom
    3 years ago

    I have a Bosch in my second home that I do not like due to the rack design.


    I have used 1 Asko 1 Miele and 2 Bosch in my house in the past 20 years. I like Miele's rack the best. Asko the slightly behind second and Bosch the distant last. .


    Asko has the best angle for draining water off of the bottom groove when bowls are turned over, The upper tier that flips over the coffee cups on the edges can fit the most. I like the Miele bottom slightly more than Asko.


    Miele and Asko total capacity are can about the same.. The tines are close together and if you use thinner china dishes, you can fit a lot of dishes in the racks. If you have thicker earthenware dishes, your plates may not fit.


    Miele racks that flip work remarkably well and are durable.


    Miele also has white dish racks. With the darker stainless tub, I find that I like the white better than the darker grey racks. I can see everything better when I am working quickly.


    I have used 2 Bosches and they both cannot fit much. I moved one dishwasher out of my house into a rental we own after 6 months because I hated it. I was only able to get 80% of the dishes that I was getting into the Asko that I replaced.


    The second Bosch (circa 2010) is in my vacation rental home that I have no way of getting rid of until it dies. The capacity seems about 1/2 to 3/4 of the Miele at my primary home. The flip tines on the Bosh are flimsy and get loose over time and are not wearing well. The parts are literally falling apart. I have never had that with the Asko or Miele. I actually need to replace some missing (due to parts breaking) tines and it turns out that I cannot get them because they are no longer made. This is crazy because I have never had to find a missing rack part for the other dishwasher manufacturer.....


    The Bosch rack maybe much better now. I am not sure. Both of my Bosch were about 10 years ago.


    For the positive, Bosch has a quick cycle that works quite well and is quite short. I try to remember to use that as much as I can. The Miele that I have, the quick cycle does not really wash. It is for washing party glasses.

  • M
    3 years ago

    Just for the record, the quick cycle on our Miele works remarkably well. You need to be a little more diligent about scraping when using that cycle. But it's really a minor adjustment. Most of the time, when I used that cycle I was amazed how the results looked (almost) the same as with the long cycle

  • HU-190119122
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    We just bought a house with what I think is a 300 series Bosch. I hate the layout for the dishes we use regularly. We are a couple without kids. It takes several Meals for us to fill a dishwasher. First complaint, silverware basket buried on the bottom rack. I have to open the door completely, and reach in or roll out the bottom rack to put one or two utensils in. As someone said the basket sits in the middle, not at one end. the Only way to fit the silverware basket on the top rack is to move the top rack down. Then dinner plates don’t fit on the bottom rack without hitting the sprinkler arm. I ordered two shorter baskets at a cost of $60 to get around that problem.

    The other issue is we use mostly bowls of all different sizes, cereal, soup, casserole, salad, ice cream, etc. We use very few dinner plates and almost no salad plate. Bowls fit very inefficiently, and again as someone noted, no room for regular sized glasses when bowls are In the top rack. This configuration of tines and racks is really awful for our lifestyle. Might be Ok if you throw traditional dinner parties a lot with chargers, dinner plates, salad plates, dessert plates. lots and lots of plates, no bowls or glasses.

  • Renee Hoewing
    2 years ago

    I just got a 500 series Bosch and loading 12-16 oz beverage glasses in the top rack is impossible without them all falling over every time I pull it out. I can't put each glass over a tine so there's very little "holding" them in place. No way can I put them on the bottom rack or I'd have no space for dinner plates and cookware. Help!

  • TXGuy
    2 years ago

    Although I haven't yet lived with a Bosch, I recently brought a bunch of plates, bowls, utensils, casseroles, pans, glasses, and containers to a store to compare loading the Bosch and a Miele. I greatly preferred the Bosch, with 1 exception: I couldn't find any good way to load my wine glasses -- they are too tall to fit in the dedicated wine glass holders (or at least I couldn't figure out how to make it work).

  • Little Ebil
    last year

    Came here to say I've owned the Bosch for less than a week, I hate it already, you can't load bowls into it. I can't believe that anyone ever tested this product before releasing it. Might be fine if you only ever use plates exclusively.

  • M
    last year

    I agree. Just came back from an Airbnb that had a Bosch. It was definitely a step up from a basic KitchenAid. But it was no Miele. There always were some dishes that hadn't gotten clean perfectly, and loading bowl and other "odd sized" items was much more difficult than in our Miele.


    If Miele is not possible for one reason or another, then Bosch is a good fall back option. But everything being equal, I'd always choose the Miele. It's not even any contest.

  • Louise Smith
    last year

    I've had my Bosch for several years and never had a problem loading dishes. It has been suggested many, many times on this board and by other people, that you take your dishes to the appliance store and load the dishwasher before you buy it. I did that because my dinner plates are larger than average, and the soup bowls have a large rim. My highball glasses fit very well on the top shelf.


    Stemware is not a problem because I always wash and dry these by hand. Recommendation of stemware manufacturer. They know their product best.


    All the people who complain about the loading difficulties could have avoided this issue if they had "tested" their dishes and glassware.

  • Renee Hoewing
    last year

    Snarky snark! I've not seen people bringing a basket full of dishes, glasses, pots and pans (and silverware too, right?) to load up dishwashers in the store. Unlike you I don't think there's anything extraordinary in my plates or other kitchenware. I guess they and you have had the last laugh. I don't frequent this board and certainly haven't seen similar advice anywhere else.

  • dadoes
    last year

    I have seen recommendations to take some dishware for test-loading models of consideration if one has items of unusual design, deeper-than-usual plates, odd-shaped bowls, stemware, serving platters, etc. Dishwasher racks aren't all created equal. People test-drive cars ... why not a dishwasher that'll be in service for some years?

  • HU-16168550092
    last year
    last modified: last year

    While my sister’s Bosch has been both quiet and reliable, I tend to swear a lot when loading it when I visit. Ive found Kitchenaids new models to be similar in most respects but MUCH easier ti load. I cannot speak to other brands such as Miele, Cove etc.

  • dadoes
    last year

    I used a Bosch several times a years ago to wash packed/unpacked dishware and utensils when helping a friend move from an apartment to a house. Can't say which Bosch model was it but the racking on it is irritating. It has an upper silverware rack which obstructs headroom for stemware, pots/pans, serving bowls and such items in the regular upper rack, which is adjustable to a couple (maybe three) heights but adjusting it is clunky (compared to the smooth 16-way raising/lowering/tilting of vintage KitchenAid), and of course lowering it likewise impacts vertical space in the lower rack. The tine arrangement in the lower rack is OK for plates and other flat items ... not so much for placing cookware and serving bowls. The BEST racking among the limited range of dishwashers I've used is the "old-style" KitchenAids produced from the 1970s (probably 1960s) into the 1990s.

  • likestonehomes
    last year

    @Little Ebil Do you have the model nno for your Bosch, thanks

  • Little Ebil
    last year

    @likestonehomes series 700.

  • HU-190119122
    last year

    Agree with Lil Ebil, bowls dont fit well in a Bosch. Cereal bowls on the top shelf dont get clean unless I pre-wash them. We run the tap to preheat the water going in, use name brand detergent, and make sure the top shelf seats in the back.