I want to give you 5 Reasons I (no longer) love my new Miele dishwasher, and why it’s (not) the best brand out there.
UPDATE: Edited on August 29, 2017, over three years later, to include up to date review information in italics.
You probably cannot imagine how many dishes, bowls, glasses, plates, pots and pans I use on a daily basis. My new Miele dishwasher has saved me from a nervous breakdown. You can read about how excited I was to replace my failed Bosch dishwasher with a new Miele dishwasher.
Disclosure: Miele has provided me with a dishwasher so that I can write about it and inform my readers about my experience. I intend to review this dishwasher and honestly report my findings here. As always, my opinions are solely my own.*
Not only am I an avid cook, I’m a messy cook. If I need one bowl, I’ll end up using two. Nothing has changed here, unfortunately ? Due to the fact that I usually make three different things at once, I don’t have time to clean as I go. This makes even more of a mess. So, when I tell you that a really reliable dishwasher is a godsend to me, I mean it more than you can imagine.
You’re probably wondering about the photo above? I’m not a normal person who brings paper plates and buys cupcakes for dessert when going to an event, like a concert at the Hollywood Bowl. No, I make and bring homemade rhubarb crumble in glass ramekins. Then, when I come home around midnight, I’m tired. I often leave the dirty dishes and deal with them the next morning. Do you see where I’m going with this? I need a workhorse of a dishwasher and I’ve finally found one. I have yet to find something it can’t wash properly. (See my other post for the full story on the photos below. It includes an awesome Pasta al Forno recipe.)
For the last 11 years, I have been a Bosch dishwasher owner, and a very unhappy one. My dishwasher was brining me to the point that I really felt I was going to lose it. From the moment I first ran my dishwasher, until the moment it “died” a few months ago, I was disappointed. Looking back, I should have returned the machine right away. If solely due to the noise factor, because it was so loud. I had a Whirlpool dishwasher before my Bosch, and it was more quiet than my Bosch. Right after we installed it,
I had a technician come out to check it. He told me that our model didn’t come with insulation, which explained the noise. However, I just couldn’t understand why a dishwasher would be made without insulation. Especially if the company advertises how quiet they are. As they say, “hindsight is 20/20”, so it’s a mistake I’ll never make again.
The only reason we hadn’t considered a Miele dishwasher was because we were dissuaded by the price. However, if I’d truly done my research properly, I would have found that we were missing a vital piece of information. This probably would have made a big difference in our decision on which brand to purchase.
Miele products are built and tested to last 20 years, which is twice as long (or longer) than most other brands. Many of you are probably thinking to yourselves, “I remember when appliances used to last 20 years”, but Miele’s still do. To fairly compare Miele’s prices with other brands, one should actually figure out a “cost/year”. In doing this, there’s a realization that it’s a much more reasonably priced appliance. I really should have enjoyed a reliable dishwasher all these years with how much time I spend in the kitchen.
I purchased a Bosch because I’d read reviews about how quiet it was, and it was supposed to be a good quality product, but I learned otherwise. I should have added that my Bosch cooktop was a lemon, too. The technicians who came out actually told me I had a defective cooktop, yet I’d been using it for 7 years because Bosch didn’t want to do anything about it. Grrr… Given this experience, I am now a current Miele owner, and a very happy one. I’d like to share some of my reasons for being so satisfied and pleased with my new dishwasher. I am listing these in no particular order as it’s really difficult for me to decide which features I like more than others. NB: I do want to add that the Bosch model I had was not comparable in cost and features to my current Miele dishwasher, however I’m letting you know of my overall experience, and I would definitely be doing a disservice to withhold information about my experience with Bosch.
5 Reasons I Love my New Miele Dishwasher
- NO NOISE. It’s quiet. Compared to what I’ve had to listen to for the past eleven years, it’s incredibly quiet. One night my husband asked (while he was standing next to the dishwasher), “Are the dishes clean or dirty?”. I responded, “Neither one, it’s running!” We’ve been used to hearing our Bosch dishwasher from the dining room.
- CLEANING. It washes everything PROPERLY. Actually, it goes above and beyond, “washing properly”. I’ve been having to re-wash so many glasses, dishes, pots and pans for so many years, that I am over the moon with the ability of my Miele dishwasher to clean everything I put in it. I’m kicking myself because I didn’t take a picture of the dirty pan, but I made a pork roast last night and I wanted put my Miele dishwasher to the test again. I did take a shot of the roast for instagram though!
- WATER CONSERVATION. This is a triple feature, because I’m saving water three ways.1. Not having to rinse dishes (it’s simply unnecessary and ill-advised). 2. By not having to re-wash dishes because they come out of the dishwasher clean the first time (unlike my old Bosch). 3. Miele dishwashers are so highly water efficient, I’m saving water just by using the dishwasher. If you haven’t heard, California is in its worst drought since records started being kept. Water conservation is incredibly important to us now, more than ever. Not pre-rinsing can save up to 3,500 gallons of water a year! That is a lot of water, time and money saved. My Futura Diamond model has a cycle which runs for only 35 minutes for a light load, and it works great! I never could have imagined such a short cycle could wash dishes so well. Especially given my experience with my old Bosch. The normal cycle on my old machine ran for over 3 hours and the dishes still came out dirty. There are so many different cycles and options on my Futura Diamond. Each load of dishes can be washed according to what sort of dishes, pots and pans, or china has been loaded. I also set it according to what kind and of food is on them and how much. Now, I can actually run my Miele dishwasher, not feel guilty and have clean dishes!
- TIME-SAVING. If I could add up all the time I’ve spent re-washing dishes for the past 11 years, I’m sure I could have taken a trip with that time. :(
- DESIGN. I was talking to a friend about my Miele dishwasher and I ended up telling her, “I really think they thought of everything.” When I realized there was no cutlery basket, but a third rack instead, I was concerned. So much so, that I kept the cutlery basket from my old Bosch, just in case. I thought I might miss the basket, but there was no need because I simply love the third rack! It makes so much more sense, and I no longer loathe putting my cutlery back in the drawer. It’s all organized before I even get to the drawer. Then there’s all the easy-to-adjust options: anywhere there is a yellow tab, an adjustment can be made in seconds, it’s just brilliant! There’s a stem for vases, flip down slots for wine glasses–I could go on and on. As I said, it’s as though the designers have thought of everything.
Below is a photo of my loaded Miele dishwasher. It doesn’t look like it does in magazines, with every single matching plate and bowl in perfect order, because this is the real deal. I’m using this dishwasher in what I’m sure is one of the most-used home kitchens in LA and I love it.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask in the comments below. You’ll also find my other posts about Miele there.
I believe in sharing information about companies that try to dupe their customers, so check out my Open Letter to Lagostina.
Another Miele appliance I own is a bit smaller. I entered and won a contest on Instagram. I am now the proud owner of a Miele CM6 Fully Automatic Coffee machine!
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Life in LA…
Tchaikovsky Spectacular at the Hollywood Bowl, with the USC Marching Band. It truly is spectacular.
*Miele agreed to provide me with a dishwasher in exchange for my review and posts on my blog. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone, and as always, I only recommend quality products and services that I truly believe in and would purchase and use myself. There have been no conditions stating that the reviews must be positive; I am disclosing this in compliance with the FTC’s regulations.
You just saved me from going for any other dishwasher but Miele. Thank you for sharing this great piece!
Awesome, Jessica!! You’re going to love it!
I’m glad you love your Miele. Wish I would’ve done more research before buying our Bosch. Despite it doing a decent job of cleaning, I HATE IT!!!! See photos why this is the case: https://diyloftbed.wordpress.com/2016/11/14/our-new-dishwasher/
Sorry I missed this comment, Jamie! I know how you feel, trust me. :( Good luck!!
We are considering buying a Miele. My one concern is it doesn’t appear to have an indicator light of any kind to let you know when the dishes are clean. Say I load the dishwasher in the morning and run it. Then my kids and husband are home in the evening and I am gone. How do they know if the dishwasher is clean or if it is waiting to be run? I have a light on my old one that we are needing to replace so I am use to it turning on when the dishes are done! Thanks :) Your article was great!
Hi Lisa, first of all, there is a red light on the top of the door which lets you know that it’s running (it reflects off the bottom of my countertop, too). Secondly, my model opens when it’s finished, but it’s propped open with an “arm” which is the only time you will see this: after a load has been run. Hope this helps! I’m still LOVING this machine!! Good luck in choosing. CC
We’ve just bought a Miele dishwasher and had the same question! When the timer displays zero, the wash is finished then the display goes blank after 10 minutes. Then I found I could turn off the “Optimise Standby’ feature so that the display stays at zero for 6 hours, plus there is a time delay option so you could delay the cycle for a few hours too.
That is wonderful news to hear!! Thank you so much for taking the time to post this!
Thanks for posting this, Wendy! I didn’t know this either! :)
P.S. We currently pre-wash using a plump Welch Terrier.
With our current dishwasher, we have to clean the filter frequently. It is sticky and an unpleasant. It is awkward to reach and unscrew. The Miele’s trap is more convenient. How often do you find it necessary to clean the filter? How gunky, yucky is it?
Goodness, Don! I’m so sorry I missed your comment! I think I was flying home for London on that day so I apologize. I clean the Miele filter about once a week, but no gunk at all. More like little bits of food if anything, but very easy to clean.
I see, by your photos, you put copper bottom pans in the dishwasher. Isn’t this not recommended?
Good eye, Susan! Yes, you are correct that they should not go in the dishwasher, however this is an old inexpensive pot which I bought for a dollar at a yard sale and didn’t keep for very long! :)
Hello Christina, I’ve been having a difficult time getting a dishwasher that dries the dishes as well as washing them well. My previous dishwasher did both, not matter what dirty items were placed in it. Everything came out clean and dry and it seemed to take more items than I thought would even fit. Then I moved but left this year old dishwasher behind thinking I could just get another one. I’m now on my third one after returning two and am not sure if I’ll keep this one either. This is the best so far because it has a third rack that I much prefer to the cutlery basket and many fold down tines for flexibility in loading. My problem with all three of these dishwashers is they don’t dry the dishes properly. Actually the dishwasher itself is never dry and this third one has a heated dry option. But still there is always moisture in the machine. This causes odor as it sits. I obviously don’t use my dishwasher as often as you do. Does the Miele dry the dishes well and leave the machine dry also? Thanks
Hi Erin, as you know, I can completely relate to dishwasher difficulties and what a pain to have to return two dishwashers already!
I am extremely happy with the way my Miele dries dishes. It has a feature that opens the door slightly at the end of the cycle, so that you don’t have the problems that you discuss (moisture, causing odor). You can see more aout the drying feature here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0srbtNvuIs. I think it’s pretty ingenious, and has other benefits such as saving electricity too.
As an aside, I just happened to watch the video after the link I added above (Miele’s cake test video). It’s pretty amazing to see! It’s easy for me to believe these results because I’ve had my Miele for over a year and have not been able to find anything it can’t tackle! However, when I had my old dishwasher, I’d never have thought it was possible. I highly recommend the Miele Brand, Erin! Good luck!
hi,
i am looking for a first time dishwasher and the Miele was recommended , but, all the reviews i read for the under $3000 machines have not been great.
can you tell me your model number?
thanks.
Yes, Jo- it’s a Futura Diamond Model 5975. When I did my research, I gave up: that huge consumer testing company led me astray with 3 out of 4 appliances when we remodeled our kitchen, so I wasn’t trusting them again. I asked my readers on FB what they recommended and the only company that no one had a complaint about (but lots of good things to say) was Miele. I trusted my readers and am so glad I did! Good luck! CC