Dishwashers - do you have one?

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Dishwashers - do you have one?
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Mrs R

Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 7202

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 09 12:03 pm Post subject:

cab wrote:

colour it green wrote:

Personally, I never understand why anyone would have an electric breadmaker..

For me its because bread is big, and has to be bought fresh during the week, which would mean special trips to the shop just to get bread. And it also takes up a lot of space in a rucksack, which would either mean taking the pannier boxes or bike trailer (or, as often as not, having squished bread coming out of the rucksack). Carrying bags/sacks of flour in the bike trailer infrequently takes up a fraction of the space and uses a fraction of the time, and is the best way for us to have good bread.

Ah you see, everyone is different: I don't think it takes any time at all to make bread from scratch, sans machine, yet washing up takes aaaages for me. And I don't mind handwashing laundry even though yes, that is very time consuming compared to a machine.

I think for us a lot of it may be the size of the kitchen - it's like one of those pocket games where you have to make a picture by moving the squares about! If I had a nice big sink, hot water easily available etc etc I'd feel a whole lot better about it...

HenX

Joined: 27 Apr 2009
Posts: 1459
Location: Forest of Dean

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 09 12:22 pm Post subject:

Nat S wrote:

I think for us a lot of it may be the size of the kitchen - it's like one of those pocket games where you have to make a picture by moving the squares about! If I had a nice big sink, hot water easily available etc etc I'd feel a whole lot better about it...

Have you been to our house and seen our kitchen??!

We have a dishwasher, partly because we both work full time in addition to renovating the house and doing all the outside bits, and I'd rather spend what little time we do have cooking a decent meal than washing up from it! When you don't have much space in the (current) kitchen being able to stick stuff into the dishwasher as you go along is a complete blessing.

Jo S

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 5174
Location: Somerset

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 09 12:22 pm Post subject:
Generally speaking, I do the washing up hand first thing in the morning. Ten years on from leaving home, I know that if I don't do it then, I won't do it at all. And I just use reuse the same dishes etc, so the clutter empties itself as the day progresses. But then again, I clearly have different (lower) standards than many other people, which helps

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 09 12:53 pm Post subject:

Nat S wrote:

Ah you see, everyone is different: I don't think it takes any time at all to make bread from scratch, sans machine, yet washing up takes aaaages for me.

It takes ages for me after she's been baking bread (I never cease to be amazed by the sticking power of bread flour

) but she makes good bread, so I'm not complaining!!

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 09 1:38 pm Post subject:

colour it green wrote:

oh I totally understand making bread just not the need for a bread maker. it's not exactly hard to do by hand.

however, I'm not criticizing, we just have a different choice of electric gadget.

Not hard at all, but the time to knead, rise, and bake it just ain't available during the working week. In practical terms its an extra trip to the shops or its a bread machine.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 09 1:43 pm Post subject:

Nat S wrote:

To make bread requires having time to mix, knead, rise and bake, which is optimistically two hours if you've got the heating on and the dough will rise. Whereas doing the dishes is ten minutes. Not sure I see the comparison; you can't hurry yeast and gluten.

Quote:

I don't think its about the size of the sink (as long as its dinner plate sized or bigger!), I think its more about how you go about doing it. Strikes me that whether you're stacking the dishes in a dishwasher or on a drainer, makes little difference really to how much work is involved.

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9715
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 09 2:41 pm Post subject:
both dishwashers and breadmakers are time saving devices.. just a matter of what you would like to spend your time on. I just dont like breadmakers. but if it works for you, thats fine. I would always have a dishwasher first.

lottie

Joined: 11 Aug 2005
Posts: 5059
Location: ceredigion

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 09 2:53 pm Post subject:

I wouldn't want a breadmaker for free, I used to have a dishwasher when there were 7 of us---I choose not to for 2. I have to boil water in the summer as well. I think it's a lot less hassle and time consuming to make 6 loaves at a time for the freezer than to stand and do a sink load of pots no matter how well organised the method. However I'll time it next time I do either then I'll know for sure.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 09 2:54 pm Post subject:

colour it green wrote:

both dishwashers and breadmakers are time saving devices.. just a matter of what you would like to spend your time on.

I just dont like breadmakers. but if it works for you, thats fine.

I would always have a dishwasher first.

I don't believe that dishwashers are time saving devices. I think they're labour saving devices, but the time spent loading and unloading the machine seems to be so little greater than the time spent washing dishes that I'm not clear where this time saving is coming from. Loading and unloading machines while at other peoples homes seems to take so little less time than actually washing the dishes that I don't see the point.

A breadmaker saves both labour and time, to the point at which it becomes possible to have fresh bread on, say, a Wednesday, when otherwise that couldn't be the case for us.

Simply, if doing the dishes even for a houseload of people is taking too long, seems to me you're doing it wrong. Doing the dishes in our house is faster and uses less water and I should think energy than for friends who use dishwashers. I don't get where the advantage in having a dishwasher is, except for those who have designed and built kitchens with the assumption that there must be a dishwasher. And then the obvious criticism is that they've engineered a gadget into their lives for little or no gain.

Liz in Ireland

Joined: 27 Jan 2009
Posts: 1287

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 09 3:18 pm Post subject:
I have a dishwasher and a washing machine. They are my two indulgences. I use them as economically as possible and have no intention of stopping!

lottie

Joined: 11 Aug 2005
Posts: 5059
Location: ceredigion

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 09 3:27 pm Post subject:

Liz in Ireland wrote:

I have a dishwasher and a washing machine. They are my two indulgences. I use them as economically as possible and have no intention of stopping!

Good for you

---I'm not dragging the dirty sheets out to dhobie at the stream any time soon either.

chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35934
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 09 3:30 pm Post subject:
Honestly, Lottie! You're just not a 'proper' downsizer!

Silas

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 6848
Location: Staffordshire

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 09 4:00 pm Post subject:

lottie wrote:

Breadmakers are great. I use mine almost daily. Saves a lot of time, frees up the oven for other things, is consistently reliable and makes great bread.

lottie

Joined: 11 Aug 2005
Posts: 5059
Location: ceredigion

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 09 4:08 pm Post subject:
One of my sons has a breadmaker---it makes better bread than he could buy locally

madcat

Joined: 24 May 2008
Posts: 1265
Location: worcester

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 09 4:09 pm Post subject:

Dishwasher,run overnight on econ 7 or whatever version of it we're on.Hubby deals with it all it is on his job list and fits into his routine.As we both do a lot of cooking its a godsend.
Washing machine essential and gets a lot of use,another overnight job and on my job list.
Breadmaker no but we have a huge Kenwood mixer and hubby bakes a big batch of assorted breads for the freezer at least once a week.Its one of his hobbies is baking and he also makes great pastry.
Each household is different and I am quite happy with things as they are for us

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