New is a PowerControl spray arm that can find the dirtiest dishes wherever you put them (as long as that spot is on the lower rack):
The PowerControl™ spray arm provides targeted intensive washing from anywhere in the lower basket, wherever the dishes are loaded.
Basically, you can target specific lower basket quadrants for extra attention. According to manual for one of the newer dishwashers, it looks like you’ll need the Bosch Home Connect app to actually set those quadrants; otherwise, your options are to split a more intensive cleaning between the front half and the back half. That’s all well and good, but what about when you’ve left your phone in another room or the Wi-Fi is down?
In case you need any stats to understand the intensity of the dish charging discussion, Bosch provided several from an SWNS survey of 2,000 people on Bosch’s behalf. It says 54% of Americans argue over how to load a dishwasher, 87% rearrange after someone else has already loaded the dishwasher, and finally, 35% have “considered” giving to someone with whom they experience the silent treatment after an argument.
The spray arm’s new pitch for “helping” is that it can clean anything no matter where it’s loaded (again, on the bottom rack). That’s quite a claim, and to that I say: good luck, you fools.
Because I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe. Food-laden fonts encrusted on top rack. I watched metal straws being placed in the rack on its side, never touched by the dishwasher jets. All these dishes will be washed again, wasting water until it is time to dry.
Many years ago, my partner and I resolved our dishwashing debate without buying a new app-controlled dishwasher. Having worked in several commercial kitchens and bars where I needed to optimize all the space on the drying rack, I have a very good idea of where things go, and when we finally got a dishwasher a few years ago this extended to placing the rack inside the infernal machine.
Likewise, she is convinced that clothes should not all be washed and dried together, using the same settings over and over again for each load. Appreciating her feelings on this and she mine, we agreed that a fair distribution is a total compartmentalization of these tasks. Of course, if you want to handle things without messy solutions like “having a conversation”, then have you heard of these new dishwashers?
The new dishwashers become available this month and cost up to $1,799. The cheapest model listed on the Bosch website with the new PowerControl arm is the $1,299 800 series.