Thanks so much everyone for your great responses! I'd started responding to each of you when I last wrote (starting w/ the "oh no I wish you hadn't told me they're coming out w/ a new line" post) but then kids called and I never got to finish responding to the rest of you! My apologies... antss - those crate & barrel bowls seem perfectly fine. Thanks for relieving my fears! numbersjunkie - I wish! I can't pull the cabinets out because between the floor space being small enough and there being doors on either end of the long countertop, there just isn't room. But that would be a great idea otherwise! monicakm - trust me - I'd love to be able to get the Kitchenaid! From reading everyone's posts, I'm thinking or at least *hoping* that the problem you've had is more w/ Bosch and less w/ Miele (?) re. platters, baking dishes et al. I don't feel you're being pushy myself just because I made it clear how much I really wanted the Kitchenaid - FYI. You're just trying to help. ;) But like I was saying to numbersjunkie, I can't pull the dishwasher out more because there's a door that when opened (a fear I have - of it happening w/ too much force) will hit the dishwasher if it's even a little further out. It would also make it so that the door could never be opened fully and flush w/ counter to let in all the light from the mudroom/back yard...that would drive me batty. You do have me wondering though: can the Miele's 2nd rack be raised up like the Kitchenaids do? Hope so! carol jk - that's odd. Our water here is soft on its own so hopefully I can just disable the water-softening option. antss - it's funny...when you wrote "some people like the neat orderly loading of a Euro and others prefer the ability to load chaotically in an American tub" I thought that oh dear - I'm the chaotic messy one - very NOT Type A - haha! I want to be as chaotic as I please (w/ option of being orderly of course, when I decide to wear that hat as I do on occasion!) but I think I can still be chaotic w/ the Miele dishwasher, within reason (if that's not an oxymoron)! For example, I'm HOPING I can just lay the flatware on the top tray on occasion, knowing I can't put as many pieces in. I've seen that work for other people in other dishwashers. It all gets clean just the same unless there's heavy soiling. For me the highest priority is unfortunately that it fit in the space, then the second is that it is a reliable machine that's built to last, the third is that it's very good at cleaning very soiled/stuck-on dishes. Not sure where efficiency of space/flexibility of baskets falls in line but probably somewhere soon after! As for the new models not coming out anytime soon...I won't bother holding out. :( fauguy -Thanks for answering those q's! I don't have china/crystal that I use but I do use wine glasses. Can typical wine glasses take a lot of heat - e.g. same setting as pots & pans or cheese/starch? If they can take that kind of heat, I wouldn't have to do two separate loads. I guess if the new models end up being WOW FANTASTIC better, I could sell my current model and pay for the upgrade that way you know? Meanwhile I wouldn't waste time waiting around. Also, if the upgraded racks can fit into an older machine I could always just purchase those but who knows. Not all that important for now. whirlpool trainee/Alex - Thanks for the press release link! I love the lights, but most of all the intensive option. I could care less about the extra silent cycle having a separate kitchen however if it saves on water and electricity more then it would be a nice overnight option on occasion. buffalotina - good to know! I can't BELIEVE the off-the-charts excellent reviews everywhere I look. I don't know if I wrote this earlier or not but the bottom line is that if I had to get new bowls or a better-fitting but lesser-cleaning dishwasher, guess which one I'd choose? Bowls don't cost THAT much! And I'm sure they'd fit one way or another. Plus, I noticed the tines are surprisingly flexible - not that I'd rely solely on that. Alex - That video won't load properly for me for some reason. I eventually got it so that I could scroll slowly through stills but no video. Got the gist of it though, thanks! fun2cook - I've asked my contractor 3x now and he just won't recess the Kitchenaid due to it being an external wall w/ only 2x4 studs. And I explained above why it can't stick out, darn it. As for getting a dishwasher in black, apologies in advance for the following rant-of-sorts: I think black's generally a very nice idea and can look very good. I wonder though if it would fade into the background when surrounded by white cabinets and w/ nothing else being black (?). We have a white range and microwave and there's no space for wall ovens. I haven't had a dishwasher in years (so excited!) but the last one I had years ago (and for several years) was black and I wanted to try something different and new-to-me. I'm doing the integrated "cabinet door" look for 2 reasons: one being that it's trendy in the fun sense (I've always been behind in the times or unable to get the latest thing so that's new for me)! :) The other reason: my new stainless countertop (in 1913 period style if all works out well) will sit above the DW, w/ new stainless fridge being on opposite wall. The way that whole wall is set up in conjunction w/ the rest of the room is such that balance seems to be required more than usual. So again I'll have two walls opposite each other that will have noticeably stainless elements so hopefully no other distractions (just white cabinets and white farm sink and marble subway tile backsplash) and then the other two walls will just have white w/ no stainless (the white stove w/ white microwave and white 1913 cabinet above). So while things will be overwhelmingly if not annoyingly white, it's a small room and there will be some balance overall - and then there will be black accents from the original hardware on the cabinets but they will be relatively subtle. The true color in the room will come in through wall paint and accessories. It's the best I could come up w/ for staying w/ painted original cabinets and not having a whole lot of money - or my own personal designer! fauguy - I do know dishwashers come in white, thanks. I could get a white DW but that wouldn't be as attractive I don't think. I love combining "modern trends" or "upadated looks" with period-appropriate (not something we've always gotten in the past!), which the integrated cabinet door look offers. Plus it just helps w/ the overall symmetry of the lower cabinets under the counter. It can also help when dealing w/ a small, dark, easily-cluttered-looking kitchen. gwentm - you're so lucky your DW will go on an interior wall! Jealous! It's a GREAT dishwasher...really good reviews and at such a better price for their top of the line model. I suppose there's some validity w/ the argument that K.A. appliances aren't built to last as long as the Mieles but on the other hand, as technology advances, I might want to change out my long-lasting Euro dishwasher before the 20-year mark has arrived, anyway! ;)

Oh...I hated my Kenmore DW for this very issue. I first used liquid detergent squeezed from a bottle, but that seemed to dry and glue the dispenser closed when I'd use the delay start. I'd open it in the morning only to find the soap hadn't dispensed. I switched to Finish Powerball tabs only to find the the stuff baked on in the dispenser like you've experienced. Part of the issue is that any of my big pots and pans in the lower rack blocked the dispenser lid when it tried to open during the cycle. IMHO, the placement of the dispenser is horrible. I often re-arranged dishes so as not to block the dispenser, but that was difficult sometimes as the dispenser is located right at pot level. The other issue was that the lid just sometimes didn't disengage. Maybe it was from being blocked too often early on in its life. When I had a repair tech out looking at my rangetop, I asked him about the DW. He said its common for that to happen. He suggested either ordering a new dispenser from Sears to see if that helped, or just listening for the time when the dispenser would open and then opening the DW to check to make sure it dispensed the detergent. I chose the latter, but that got old reeeeeeaaaal fast as I run the DW about twice a day. I remember starting the DW at night when I just wanted to go to bed, and waiting around for the dispenser opening time. Ugh. This was just part of the reason I couldn't wait to get rid of my Kenmore. I was so happy when it died. I bought a heavily discounted clearance Miele and have never experienced this issue as the dispenser is located much better on the door. And it's leagues quieter also. Oh...and it cleans better.

I had a Bosch in my last house and loved it. Plastics don't get totally dry but glass and ceramics do. It has to do with the condensation drying. It works best on things that hold heat. Plastics don't do that so they never get try in most European dishwashers. I find that plastics have all kinds of lips and crevices that hold water too that drive me nuts when I pull them out only to have them drip everywhere. Condensation drying is very energy efficient though and if you don't have a lot of plastic stuff it will save you a lot of money in the long run to not have a heating element running all through a drying cycle like many US-made dishwashers offer. I now have the FP dishdrawers and love that they are small and ergonomic. They are easy to load and, more importantly, easy to unload. I'm the kind of person that won't run a load until the thing is FULL. In my Bosch that meant every dish I owned was in there and it would get funky after a day or two. Not an issue with the FP. Drawbacks: plastic interior (not stainless steel) that stains and doesn't hold heat so condensation drying isn't quite as effective, it's relatively loud compared to my low-end Bosch, and it has a pretty disturbing reliability record (mostly I think due to the mechanical failures associated with the lid clamping down to make them watertight - I had a problem with this early on my DH is a total fix it guy and it hasn't been a problem since). I stayed at a friend's house who had the Miele and I could NOT get used to the upper cutlery tray. That's entirely optional since many models do without it. I don't think you can go wrong with the Miele or the Bosch. I was even considering the GE for my next remodel - something kind of convenient about that fill-it-to-the-brim dishwasher fluid feature. I see they are even using it in their front-loading clothes washing machines. Must be a popular convenience feature.

I have the Kenmore Elite equivalent of your dishwasher. I use the equivalent of Pro Dry and I don't have rinse aid in the dispenser right now and everything comes out dry, no moisture on the inside. My extended dry cycle is 1.5 hours long and the little fan runs for an additional hour after that. Use Pro Wash cycle and not Normal cycle. The extended dry and little fan is one of the reasons why I selected my KitchenAid produced Kenmore Elite. Do you not realize energy standards have rendered heating elements almost useless for drying now days vs. 15 years ago?