We have very soft water (0 grains). As a result I use very little detergent and a bit more rinse aid. I've gone to Miele tabs and use no more than 1/2 for most washes. Rinse aid dispenser is at 4 -- one tick above average. Was using Cascade powder but got much better results with the tabs. The combo of soft water, more than minimal soap and hot water sometimes causes glassware to streak or etch so less is more. As antss says, change only 1 thing at a time. As for cycle length, it doesn't bother me at all. We put the DW on at night before we got to bed. If I need a faster cycle I use china/crystal. For most large loads we use Normal. For just dishes -- none or few pots -- we use china/crystal.

Bluestar grates will likely fit in any dishwasher. I put the entire top of my Bluestar in the dishwasher. Grates, bowls, burners with ignitors, everything. When you put the burners back, you just blow the water out of the tips first. Shouldn't be an issue with the Culinarian as I think the burner caps lift off. If you are just doing grates on the Bluestar it is easy. Lay them face down in the top rack. Stacking them a bit is fine, but stagger them out a bit. I imagine something similar would work with the Culinarian.

well...after MONTHS of researching, we finally got our miele excella on saturday and i proceeded to install it where our previous never used, 10+ year dishwasher (whirpool) was (never trusted it since we moved in). given that i had all the instructions and diagrams before i began, the installation process went well and quickly (about an hour or so). the power cord to the excella was a little short, so i needed to purchase an "air conditioner" extension cord. also, i need to call up miele and ask some questions on my particular install (no remodeling of the kitten and older home). wife has been hesitate of dishwashers since i started researching them. so, a couple of days prior to getting the dw, we started leaving dishes in the sink so that we can test them in the excella. so, we loaded up the excella. after the load up, we still had plenty of room to load up other things as well. the cutlery rack reals does leave more room on the other racks for other things. loaded up the salt, rinse aid and a half tablet (all miele branded). turned on the sensor wash and let the excella do it's thing. wife commented on how quiet it was (could barely hear it). the excella, 5 min into the wash, indicated that the middle arm was being blocked. opened up the dw and, sure enough, it was. so, adjusted things around and continued on. after it was done, wife was stunned on what came out. everything, except one spatula, came out clean and spotless! the spatula still had some egg residual on it, but that is because i didn't place it in the right location. while the dw was doing it's work, wife and I went out to the backyard and had a night cap. then, looked at the wife and told her..."you realize that our dishes are getting washed while we have our nice drink out here, right?" she responded "yes...it is nice and thank you!" my work is done...for now :) thx to everyone for their advance and comments.

Stainless steel scrubbies and dish soap. I was afraid to use them for fear of ruining the shiny finish. ButDishwasher the Glass enamel is impervious to scratching from the SST scrubbie. I have never managed to scratch it, but not for lack of leaning into it and scrubbing hard. Take 'em over to the sink. Lay a tea towel down and go to town on them. Toss the cast iron grates in the Dish washer. I was afraid they'd rust but they don't. Be careful handling them, they Break; the castings are real garbage. I broke my first set & had to replace 'em.