Odor is a specific problem listed in the Self Help section of the owners manual. Have you looked at the 5 causes they list and the associated actions?

Cause:
1. Food debris is present at the bottom of the dishwasher
2. Food particles are present near the door seal
3. Dishes left in unit too long before running a cycle
4. Residual water is present at the bottom of the dishwasher
5. Drain hose is obstructed

Action:
1. Remove the filters and clean according to the "Care and Maintenance" (pages 13-14) section of the manual
2. Refer to "Care and Maintenance" (pages 13-14) section of the manual
3. Run a Rinse cycle if you do not intend to immediately wash the dishes
4. Ensure the unit has completely drained from the last cycle
5. Remove any obstructions from the drain hose by calling qualified personnel.
Note: If odor still persists, run the Normal/Regular cycle until it flushes and interrupt the cycle and place an 8oz. cup of distilled white vinegar solution on the top rack and then finish the cycle.

Maybe it's those bottom filters that have to manually cleaned. Most of them are greasy and nasty. It's just gross to think about.

I will NEVER own a dishwasher with a manual clean filter...I couldn't care less about how quiet it is!

I appreciate your comments, but that's not it.

After a cycle completes, DW is unloaded, we allowed the DW to sit for sixteen hours with no dishes and door completely closed. No odors.

As soon as we put in some dirty dishes from a meal, allow door to close and not propped open for fresh air circulation, the DW smells badly after two or three hours.

That's my point. I think these odors are coming from the food on the dishes in trapped air and, in most cases, absolutely nothing is wrong with the filters, etc.

Yes, I have the same problem with my Thermador dw. Only way I've found to resolve the issue is to keep the door propped open a little before its full of dirty dishes. Where I live we have hard water and I do have to rinse off all food before loading the dishes into dw so it is confusing where the bad odor is coming from.

Well, if it's the food that smells and not the DW, I'd have to wonder what you're cooking that smells so bad after only a couple of hours? Eggs are notorious for that, but most anything else won't really smell all that bad until it gets to fermenting. That's at least 24-48 hours before that happens. And since using a DW uses less water than handwashing, you should be running your DW every day, regardless of if it's full or not. Are you running it at least once a day? And have you made sure that the drain hose in unobstructed and the filter is clean?

@GreenDesigns - We eat the normal stuff. Scraping and not rinsing leaves a lot more stuff on the plates & bowls, though. My nose is also more sensitive to odors than most people, too.

We do not run the DW every day because there are only two of us, and sometimes it takes two or three days to fill up the DW if we're eating some meals out. Other times, it does get run daily; just depends.

When I prop the door open with a dishrag to give 1/4" clearance for air to circulate, there is no smell at all for hours. I think my refrigerator would smell, too, if it was at room temp inside and we put all the leftovers in there without a cover. The "scrape-don't-rinse" combined with no fresh air is what I think is the culprit in many of these odor complaints. Turns out that's what is going on in our DW, based on my experiments. Our old DW door never closed fully on its own, like this Bosch does.

Keeping a dishrag on the top of the door to keep it cracked open is a hassle, so we may start rinsing dishes again, like we did with the old DW.

We recently had a problem with the drain hose, and a Bosch dishwasher not fully draining. It was obvious as there was water left in the tub at the end of the cycle.

What was less obvious was that it was not pumping out at the end of each sub cycle. That means water and fine food from the initial wash was still there at the end of the cycle. It was kind of an intermittent problem and even when it pumped out the tub fully, and you removed the filter, the water left (and some water left is normal) was cloudy.

So, before you assume pump out is not an issue it is worth removing the filter at the end of the final cycle, and checking the residual water to see how clean it is. If it is cloudy that could be the source of your odour after it sits for a while.

Warm food will rot, and rotten food generally has an unpleasant odor. The widely believed need to scrape but not rinse is very likely the cause. If the dishes are wet, the conditions for bacterial growth are ideal. If the dirty dishes were put in dessicated, then rot would be very much delayed. The actual rule is that the dishes do not have to be rinsed in order to be cleaned but only scraped. The rule doesn't address odor generation.

I have read on this site such concepts as: 'the enzymes will not have enough to eat if the plates are clean, so they won't clean the dishes.' If the dishes are clean you will not need as much detergent to clean them. The enzymes do not multiply like bacteria, and if they are minimally needed ('fed') they will be minimally used. One only wants to avoid having too much foam from using more detergent than is appropriate for the residual grease on the dishes, and if the water temperature is too high, too much detergent that might cause etching.

In many Meile dishwashers there is a crystal cycle for glassware. It uses a lower temperature to avoid etching. Just how much greasy food is one supposed to add to a set of wine glasses so the enzymes will be happy while sloshing over the glassware?

kas

I installed (tilted) my Bosch dishwasher to sit flush with the other cabinets when the door is not closed. That way, I can leave the door slightly (only like .1 inch) open and it still "looks good" in the kitchen. I found that closing the door after the wash cycle will trap a good amount of warmth and humidity in the tub which may increase odors from soiled dishes.

I would recommend to give items soiled with garlic, fish etc. a hot rinse before loading them into the dishwasher. Other than those items, I don't rinse and run the DW every two to three days - no smells, most of the time. You might want to leave the door slighty ajar before going to bed.

FWIW, Bosch dishwashers have a vent to release excess steam and heated air during the cycle. Where this vent it depends on your model. And cloudy water may not be the perfect indicator for a clean rinse as rinse aid actually causes some cloudiness, too.

Alex

I got a new Bosch a few months ago. I scrape *and* rinse. Can't help myself. That discussion is for another thread. The point is, I don't have a lot of food sitting on my dishes to stink up the place. Since I live alone, it might take me up to a week to get a full load. I used to do that with my old Kenmore and there was never a bad smell.

It takes my Bosch about three days to begin to smell, so that's how often I run it. It irks me that there are so few dishes inside, but I'm trying to get over that.

There is no food debris left behind in the filter. I've checked. What I think is the cause is the small amount of water at the bottom of the filter trap. According to what I've read, it's supposed to be there, keeps the parts from drying out and cracking. The Bosch is well insulated. It's like a giant incubator. My theory is that any container of water in a tight, enclosed place is gonna start smelling after a few days. I can't leave my door ajar, mainly because the DW is in a corner and that would interfere with opening other drawers. Besides, it's not a look I sought when I bought a new DW.

I do not have the problem -- or at least, my nose isn't picking it up --- but for those times a few dishes will be sitting, I run the "quick cycle" (no detergent) with the "half load" option plus the Eco-something button. Cuts the energy use down and probably uses no more water than I would for rinsing.

A week ago, we returned from a 2-week vacation. Prior to leaving, I ran a "Sanitize" cycle in our Bosch DW and mopped up the water residue down in that 'trap' and also cleaned the filter. And I allowed to door to close (but not latch) as it normally is closed during everyday life.

Door was closed for two weeks and it smelled fine upon return. No doors at all.

Once we started putting dishes in the sanitized DW, it started to smell awful within hours.

Air doesn't circulate or get in the DW because the door closes quite 'closed' before latching, so this has to be the cause. At least, in our house and DW.

We can't leave it propped open all day or it causes a traffic hazard. Whatever residue is on the dishes, after scraping and a light rinse, causes the awful odors, combined with lack of good air circulation. I refuse to wash dishes prior to putting them in the DW.

Our old Kenmore Elite door just did not close as "closed" as this Bosch door. More air must have gotten in and circulated, because we never had this type odor, and we don't eat weird foods with odd odors; just the normal stuff. Things get bad when we do have the odd highly seasoned meal, though.

My other theory is that due to the condensation drying feature, there is less air flow via the steam exhaust vents like all six of our previous DWs.

After my highly scientific experiment outlined above (LOL), that is my take on it.

I've taken to running the DW every night if it is even half full, just to keep the odor down. Otherwise it be rather disgusting and can knock one over the next day. So much for saving water and electricity . . .

Cavimum, I think your scientific findings are rock solid. :) I miss my old low-end Kenmore with its plastic innards that never smelled bad, ever. Funny thing is, I never used air dry with the Kenmore, yet there was never condensation after a run. It seems that there is always moisture on the door of the Bosch.

That being said, my dishes sparkle. And I'm convinced that the dire warnings that pre-rinsed dishes will either not be cleaned or will be etched are nothing but old-wives' tales.

"Funny thing is, I never used air dry with the Kenmore, yet there was never condensation after a run. It seems that there is always moisture on the door of the Bosch. "

@linelle - I always used air dry with our Kenmore but can't say if the inside of the door was wet, or not. I think the color hid any moisture. BUT .... my Kenmore had the steam vent in the door so maybe there was less moisture in the unit by the end of the cycle?

@cavimum, you may be right about the plastic color hiding any moisture. The bright shiny interior of the Bosch makes moisture very easy to see. I don't even know where the vent is.

My Bosch is one solid, insulated, sealed chamber. I can't rid myself of the notion that the culprit is the water sitting at the bottom of the filter. Plus, all it takes is a few crumbs or drips of food to work its way down there and we have a fetid petrie dish.

Also, bear in mind that the stainless surfaces are supposed to condense moisture in Bosch DWs.