Growing Up with Hand-Washed Dishes and the Joy of a Dishwasher

When I was growing up in a tiny New York City apartment, our family didn't have the luxury of a dishwasher. Every dish, pot, and fork had to be meticulously washed by hand and then piled onto a single dish rack to dry. It was a laborious process that we were accustomed to.

Discovering the Convenience of a Dishwasher

It wasn't until my husband and I moved into our current apartment that we were introduced to the convenience of a dishwasher. As working adults who relied mostly on takeout, we initially only ran it every two or three days. We would simply pluck the dinnerware we needed straight off the rack. However, everything changed when we had a baby.

With a baby at home, we were cooking a lot more. We were preparing prepped meals to scarf down between bottle feedings and diaper changes. And when our son hit six months old and started on solids, the dishwasher became an indispensable part of our daily routine. Between the cutting boards, bowls, and spatulas needed for his food and the sippy cups, plates, and bibs for feeding him, we were packing the dishwasher to the brim every night.

Now, my son is four years old and our dirty plate situation has only intensified. There are days when I actually have to run the dishwasher twice! I'm still constantly learning about proper dishwasher care and maintenance, such as how to best load it and when to run the machine to avoid sticker shock on our energy bill.

The Importance of Hand Washing Before Unloading

Earlier this year, I interviewed food safety expert Darin Detwiler about the dangers of cross-contamination in the kitchen. When he asked me what I do first when I need to unload the dishwasher, my honest answer was that I usually just open it up and take things out.

Detwiler, a food policy professor at Northeastern University, emphasized the importance of washing hands first. He said, "I tell my students all the time that the first thing you should do is wash your hands because everything in there has been sanitized and I don't know where your hands were last. You want to make sure you don't undermine the whole idea of sanitizing dishes in the dishwasher."

His tip has stuck with me. I now make sure to wash my hands before touching my newly washed and sanitized dishes. It may take an additional minute, but especially on days when I'm working with raw meat or doing cleanup around the apartment, I know I'm doing my best to keep my dishes and eating utensils germ-free.