Do Miele Dishwashers have a built-in food disposer?

16 years ago

We have a 2002 vintage KitchenAid dishwasher that performs fairly well (except that its gasket seal has come apart twice - a simple tuck-back fixed the problem). Of course, the KitchenAid has a built-in food disposer, which is great. When we remodel and expand our kitchen this summer, we will buy a new dishwasher and are considering Miele (Excella or La Perla), Asko, Bosch, and KitchenAid. Do any of these makes (other than KA) come with a built-in food disposer? Or must one empty that little trap basket after each load? We used to have an Asko Asea DW at our old house, and it really cleaned well and perhaps even held more items than the KA, but we had to empty that little basket at the bottom all of the time. If that's the case with Miele, we might have to go with a new KA. Any thoughts or opinions out there? Thanks!

Featured Answer

M

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

We have had our Miele for at least 8 years now, if I remember correctly. It's the closest thing you can get to magic. I have occasionally run it without detergent, when I got confused and forgot. And even then, the dishes come out sparklingly clean.

We can load it to the gills (it holds much more than the clearly inferior Kitchenaid in our in-law kitchen), but it still works perfectly. Dishes are always clean and almost perfectly dry. The only exception are plastic containers that might have a few drops of water left on them. On the other hand, the Kitchenaid regularly requires me to hand-wash several items afterwards, as it inevitably leaves some things dirty -- even, when we pack it much less full than the Miele.

As for the filter, I only check it when the dishwasher reminds me to do so. I haven't quite figured out the pattern, but it's only a handful of times per year. And the majority of cases, there simply isn't anything to clean. This is despite the fact that other than telling people to finish eating their foods, we don't do any scraping or pre-rising. Our dishwasher gets used about once a day.

No problems with bad smells, other than we first got the dishwasher and used an off-brand detergent. Now, we usually use the Costco detergent packs, and it works great. We do have soft water though. If you have hard water, you might need a different detergent, or preferably you should use the Miele's built-in water softener.

My family (in Germany) has been using Miele for at least five decades. But that doesn't mean all that much. They get an average of about 20 years of use out of them. So, I think in all this time, my Mom has only had three dishwashers. That makes it easy to justify the higher initial cost.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (9)

cat_mom
16 years ago
No food grinder in the Miele DW's but I can honestly say that so far (a month or so shy of 1 yr in use) it's not been an issue at all. We scrape as well as we can (without going crazy), don't rinse, and I rarely have to clean out the filter/basket. When I do remember to check it, there's nothing in it except perhaps for a few particles of fine grit and a hair or two, that's all.
User
16 years ago
NO - Euro DW's (incld. Miele) use a filtering system instead of grinders.
Related Discussions
Does somebody have expereance with the low end Miele dishwashers?
Q
Comments (6)
Amazon does not sell Miele dishwashers. evVive Home is selling Miele dishwashers through Amazon.com site. That particular Miele was recently discontinued. There is no Miele model with cheap plastic. It has a less expensive white door exterior instead of SS, but the interior tub is SS. It does not have built-in water softener. It has the loudest Miele sound rating. Q1. It does not have all the specialty cycles. Example China, Crystal, Starch and Cheese. It does not have all the various sensors. Load and Dry for example. LED lighting,auto open door(to let steam out at end of cycle), luxury auto close, 3D cutlery rack, wifi monitoring by Miele headquarters of the TOL models. BTW What is the quote to fix the Optima? Are you using rinse aid? Does your Optima have the Extra Dry option?
...See More
We may have no choice but a Miele dishwasher - it's short!
Q
Comments (16)
One of the things I like best about my Miele, which I think is the Optima, (new this year and only in use for about a month) is that you can easily adjust the top sliding rack (the place that holds mainly glasses) and push it up one level to hold tall items down below on the bottom rollout rack. I've found that this is great when we have a cookie sheet, a big blender container or something else that's extra tall. Maybe other dishwashers do this, too, but this is the first one I've had that does it and it is a great space-saver and allows for more stuff to go in. We also have a teenager, plus a tween, and both load the dishwasher willy nilly (the utensil tray can the most challenging for them) but it's working out just fine after a little retraining...haha. We absolutely love the Miele...I was just saying to my hubby that I never thought I'd say this but it really is worth the price. We "had to" buy it because our glasses were getting ruined in our old d/w due to the water hardness here but we didn't want to get a whole house water softener so this was the perfect solution. So glad we bought the Miele!
...See More
food disposal and dishwasher on the same circuit?
Q
Comments (4)
It is possible. Not prefered, but doable. The problem would be if/when the DW is drawing MAX amperage during a extreme heating cycle and the disposer has an abnormal high startup surge because of design and or jamb at exactly the same moment as the heating spike. Unlikely to occur given the average kitchen use habits, but it could. As always, consult you local code/inspector regarding doing this if you don't have an option. I have an apartment with a Bosch DW and 1HP ISE that are both wired on the same line, no problems in 15 years. It's not how i do my everyday houses or what I advise our clients but it is possible. You may inquire over at the wiring/electric forum here at gardenweb too.
...See More
Which is better: dishwasher with food trap or disposal feature?
Q
Comments (6)
I think rather than 'better', it's a matter of personal preference. If you have found the perfect (for your dishes, your use) dishwasher and it comes with trap, don't be afraid to purchase, they don't require a lot of attention. My KA still has the 'grinder'. Its quieter than dishwashers used to be, not nearly as quiet as those with trap where you really cannot even tell if running without a signal light. I'm somewhat indifferent. A bit (low level) of noise during dishwashing cycles doesn't bother me, I'm just happy I'm not hand washing dishes. If I needed to buy new, a trap - or not - wouldn't be a deal breaker either way.
...See More
gizmonike
16 years ago
We've had 2 Miele Excella dishwashers for about a year and have checked the filters three times. There was very little in them. We use enzyme-based powder dishwasher detergent & a rinse agent.
wa8b
16 years ago
Miele dishwashers (and indeed, most European dishwashers) rely on a filtering system rather than a built-in food disposer.

That being said, checking the filter on a Miele dishwasher is something that needs to be done only on a periodic basis. The filter on the Miele DW is designed so that most captured food debris is sluiced out of the filter during the draining portion of each program. You'll seldom find anything remaining in the filter beyond bone fragments, the occasional piece of cellophane, or other bits of debris too large (more than 1/4"-1/2") to pass through the drain pump. I check the filter on my Miele DW about once a month, and in most cases, there's nothing in it.

The big advantage of a filter system over a food disposer system is that food debris is captured by the micro-screen in the filter (later to be sluiced out during the drain portion of the program) and not circulated in the wash and rinse water as the cycles progress. As a result of this, you'll never find grit or other debris in the recesses of glass or cup bottoms or deposited on cutlery.

The Miele filter is very well designed. Only periodic (monthly, or so - depending upon how often you run your DW) checking and cleaning is required. Cleaning the filter in my Miele DW requires one hand and takes about 15 seconds. I remove the filter, quickly rinse it under the tap, then replace it. It's practically effortless. With the filter, I NEVER have grit deposited on glassware or cutlery. It's a far superior system in my estimation.
eggshelly
4 years ago
I had a Bosch with a filter for 5 years and a Maytag with a grinder for 3 years. The filter's good as long as your detergent is pretty good (like the Cascade pods). But if you try to use any kind of eco detergent, the Bosch stinks to high heaven on a weekly or at best monthly basis. And taking apart the filter to clean it is rather time consuming. The Maytag on the other hand is some kind of magical monster. It cleans anything I throw at it. I've really tried to push it, nesting things, obscuring bottles behind plates, it cleans everything perfectly. It rattles and the seal around the door seems to be loose, but ... it cleans amazingly well.
cpartist
4 years ago
Why are you bringing up an 11 year old thread?
M
4 years ago
Probably, because Houzz in its infinite wisdom brings up old threads in it's "featured" section every once in a while. It also shows old threads in search results without making it clear that some of these results are 10 years old.
eggshelly
4 years ago
It was pretty clear, but it’s one of the things I love about Houzz, following up. A review 1 month after purchase should almost always be great, but a discussion like what M said above is invaluable. Thanks, btw, M.

Do Miele Dishwashers have a built-in food disposer?

M

Comments (9)

cat_mom

User

Related Discussions

gizmonike

wa8b

eggshelly

cpartist

M

eggshelly

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US