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Jul 30, 2023

9 Best Stainless Steel Dishwashers of 2023

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Reviewed's mission is to help you buy the best stuff and get the most out of what you already own. Our team of product experts thoroughly vet every product we recommend to help you cut through the clutter and find what you need.

This high-end Bosch dishwasher can remove tough stains and get all of your dishes (including plasticware) completely dry. Read More

The Beko DUT25401X is that it pairs an excellent, energy-efficient performance with an incredibly low price tag—a great value. Read More

This Bosch is one of the best dishwashers we've ever tested. It gets dishes clean and dry, quickly, and is ADA-compliant. Read More

The G 5266 blows most other dishwashers out of the water. If your budget can accommodate its premium price, it's one of the best models you can buy. Read More

This feature-filled, high-performing dishwasher comes in a Tuscan stainless steel finish that is sure to elicit jealously from your neighbors. Read More

Updated November 15, 2022

Stainless steel has increasingly become a mainstay of modern appliance design, adding a touch of class to even the most humble kitchen. But, there's more to stainless steel than mere aesthetics.

When used inside a dishwasher instead of plastic, it's been proven to muffle operating sound, offer a better cleaning experience, and dry dishes more efficiently. It's true that stainless steel dishwashers are a bit more expensive, but you’ll reap the benefits of that extra hundred dollars or so.

At Reviewed, we’ve tested hundreds of dishwashers, including many with stainless steel tubs. Our favorite so far is the Bosch 800 Series SHPM88Z75N (available at Appliances Connection) , because of its awesome cleaning power, sleek looks, and quiet operation.

The Bosch SHPM88Z75N delivers quiet, efficient cleaning power. It's one of the quietest dishwashers we’ve ever tested at just 40 dBA. It blasted away our toughest stains, like burnt-on cheese and spinach. The one weakness we found was redeposit—bits of food from one dish getting dispersed to other dishes. However, this problem is common across many dishwashers.

The SHPM88Z75N also boasts a CrystalDry feature that relies on zeolite, which heats on contact with water. This dishwasher even gets plastic containers completely dry, at a fraction of the energy cost of traditional heating.

If you use a lot of plastic food storage containers, the SHPM88Z75N's thorough drying can save you a lot of time and effort.

Dries plastics

Stellar stain removal

Quiet operation

Nothing significant that we could find

The Beko DUT25401X dishwasher features convenient racks that flip down for larger kitchen utensils.

The Beko DUT25401X offers the best combination of powerful performance and low price that we’ve found, making it an easy pick for the best affordable dishwasher(that also happens to have a stainless steel finish).

This Beko offered solid performance. Its normal cycle is above average, and its quick cycle is slightly below average, but its Heavy cycle is an absolute powerhouse that earned a near-perfect score. The drying feature also works beautifully; every plate and glass was bone dry after the Normal cycle.

The DUT25401X also uses far less electricity and water than average for each cycle. Not only does it have an Energy Star official certification, but it earned a spot as one of Energy Star's Most Efficient models in 2021.

Finally, this model is user-friendly in some important, thoughtful ways. The upper rack features different tines for multiple dishes and angled height adjustment. There are also two height-adjustable shelves/wine racks and a small, fixed third rack.

Our one big complaint is that the control panel is a little difficult to use. Pressing the buttons takes far more pressure than seems necessary. It's not a dealbreaker, but it's an odd oversight for a dishwasher with so much else to offer.

Excellent performance

One of the highest-value dishwashers for its price

Hard-to-push control panel

The Bosch 800 Series SGX78B55UC/13 brings ADA accessibility features to Bosch's legendary heating and drying power. It's fast, powerful enough to scrub out stains, and features a new take on Bosch's CrystalDry tech that got each dish perfectly dry on every cycle.

The SGX78B55UC/13 also boasts smart features, a third rack, an adjustable upper rack, and foldable tines in its lower rack. It's ADA-compliant, so it's physically smaller, can be accessed from the front, and features controls that can be operated with one hand and minimal force.

This is an excellent dishwasher overall, with some great accessibility considerations, Bosch's strong performance and smart features, and more. We ran into some issues with spinach redeposit, but that was our only complaint.

Excellent cleaning power

Gets dishes dry

Tons of features

Minor issues with redeposit

The Miele G 5266 SCVi SF is a great high-end option. Its cleaning power is among the best of the best, with the vast majority of dishes we ran came out spotless. The number of dishes where we could find so much as a speck was half as many as other dishwashers. And yet, a normal cycle clocks in at just 108 minutes—30 minutes faster than average.

It's thoughtfully-designed, as well. The pocket handle is sleek, and the adjustable upper and third racks can help ensure there's room for everything you need washed. The third rack in particular is very thoughtfully laid out.

It's hard to find a lot to say about the G 5266 because its performance is so thoroughly smooth. We do wish that for this price, you could get a warranty longer than the 2 years Miele offers. Still, if it's in your budget, it's a fantastic choice.

Impressive cleaning power

Third rack and adjustable upper rack

Nothing significant that we could find

The Samsung DW80R9950UT dishwasher is fully loaded. The third rack has room for ladles and other larger utensils along with your silverware, and the other racks feature adjustable tines to help hold awkward dishes. The futuristic-looking control panel and fingerprint-resistant stainless steel finish offer a sleek, elegant aesthetic.

The Samsung DW80R9950UT backs its good looks with performance. The Quick cycle removed over 97% of our test food stains. Normal and Heavy were both over 99%. The Heavy cycle takes about 2.5 hours, which is great since it's not unusual to see heavy cycles that take as long as 4 hours.

Spinach redeposit was minimal, and the dish drying was almost perfect. The Samsung DW80R9950UT is user-friendly, sleek-looking, and powerful—all in all, a great choice.

Short cycles

Third rack

Fingerprint-resistant stainless steel finish

None that we could find

Like other Bosch dishwashers, the Bosch 500 series SHPM65Z55N is definitely pricier, but you get what you pay for. The third rack and adjustable tines help make great use of its space. It's also very quiet, at 44 dBA.

The cycles are on the long side—even the "Quick" cycle takes about an hour—but the resulting clean is worth it. This dishwasher removed nearly all of the stains from our test dishes during the Heavy cycle, which is a rare feat.

The Auto Air function opens the dishwasher door after a cycle has ended to expedite dish drying, and it helped get nearly every test dish in the Normal and Quick cycles bone dry. All in all, the SHPM65Z55N is a great way to get Bosch's performance and features at a lower price.

Quiet

Great cleaning ability

Gets dishes dry

None that we could find

The KitchenAid KDTM404KPS is carefully designed for maximum capacity, making it great for large families. The deep divot in the third rack can hold small bowls and drinkware, with special jets to get everything clean. That helps this model clean up to 16 place settings.

With a smudge-proof finish, adjustable tines, and LED lighting inside, there are plenty of user-friendly, thoughtful features. The fundamentals are strong, too: the Normal and Tough cycles performed extremely well. The one downside we found is that the Express cycle is slow compared to the competition.

Attractive exterior

Powerful Normal cycle

Well-designed top rack

Slow cycles

The Hisense HUI6220XCUS offers a lot for its low price. It skips high-end features like bottle jets or a third rack, but it does have its strengths. It's very effective at cleaning, and it features a lightning-fast Quick cycle that finishes in just 15 minutes. There's also a Sanitize cycle that's great for parents who need to clean baby bottles or toys.

There are a few issues: the press-and-hold controls aren't intuitive, and the cutlery basket attracts food redeposit. But for this performance at this price, those are very minor inconveniences.

Strong cleaning for its price point

15-minute Quick cycle

Good value

Very few extra features

Slightly unintuitive controls

Minor issues with redeposit

The Café CDT875M5NS5 is a gorgeous upmarket appliance that dazzles with its Platinum Glass finish. Its cleaning quality was excellent overall, but we did see some inconsistencies where certain stains just weren't getting cleaned well.

While the rest of this dishwasher's performance and its expansive feature set still makes the CDT875M5NS5 a good pick for anyone whose budget isn't broken by its price tag, at this price point the level of competition is very high: Most of the dishwashers listed above have even better performance at a lower price (though they might not look quite so sleek).

High-end aesthetics

Third rack, bottle jets, and smart features

Inconsistent cleaning

Not the best value at its current price

Reviewed's past and present lab staff has many collective years testing all sorts of large appliances, including dishwashers, both in the lab and at home in day-to-day life. (While maybe taking a few more notes than the average user).

We test a dishwasher's Quick, Heavy, and Normal cycles by challenging them to clean dishes with baked-on food stains—milk, spinach, egg, oatmeal, meat, and more.

When it comes to testing dishwashers in general, we assess three major areas—performance, features, and usability.

For this guide in particular, a dishwasher also needs to be made of stainless steel, both on its front and inside its cleaning compartment. An interior stainless steel dishwasher tub allows for sound dampening and odor control, and just offers a higher quality overall.

When it comes to stain removal, we test the three most common cycles on a dishwasher: Quick, Heavy, and Normal, measuring how baked-on food stains are actually removed by the cleaning cycle. We also record how long it takes these cycles to run.

Then, we look at redeposit, those gross leftover bits you find on your dishes sometimes. It happens when a dishwasher's water jets blast food from one dish, just for it to get stuck on a second dish. The less redeposit, the better.

Rest assured: We’ll never recommend a dishwasher with bad performance just because it boasts fancy features that sound good. But when a feature actually adds something to a dishwasher, we want to call it out.

It would be a questionable design choice to make the interior of a dishwasher out of a material that isn't dishwasher safe.

This is the #1 most-asked question we get about dishwashers. Interpreting its meaning can go one of two ways, but luckily, the answer to each is "yes."

First, If you’re asking if objects made out of stainless steel are dishwasher-safe, then yes: Experts agree that it's OK to wash stainless steel items in your dishwasher. This includes all your stainless steel cookware straws, flatware, and skillets.

Most manufacturers do recommend hand washing skillets and cookware, since harsh ingredients in dishwasher detergent can leave stainless steel pots with white spots, discoloration, and/or a duller finish. However, we have run loads of stainless steel skillets and pots through dishwasher cycles in our lab and they have come out gleaming, although not all burnt-on stains were removed.

Secondly, if you’re asking if a stainless steel dishwasher is safe, the answer is also, yes.

Reviewed's chief scientist Dave Ellerby notes that there is some concern that stainless steel cookware can leach heavy metal ions, like nickel and chromium, into food. To some extent, this is true, according to the National Library of Medicine. Consumers’ concerns could be tied to general food safety issues around stainless steel. But, in the case of dishwashers, the rinse cycle would remove any metal ions, and since you’re not eating off your stainless steel dishwasher tub, you should be OK.

The other issue could be concerns about electric shocks. According to Ellerby, some people have questions around this as a potential problem with stainless-clad appliances. If you had an electrical fault like particularly poor grounding, then a metal housing would be more likely to conduct electricity than an old-school plastic housing. However, all appliances are tested for electrical safety, and stainless steel surfaces are insulated from internal wires, so there's little cause for concern.

In any case, stainless steel interiors are increasingly becoming the standard for modern, full-size dishwashers, and they are totally safe to use.

In a lot of ways, yes. For starters, it's more durable than the most common alternative, plastic. For another, it's less porous. That means it doesn't collect stains from hard water or hold on to gross smells from leftover food or gunk buildup the way that plastic can.

Stainless steel does a great job of resisting rust and corrosion, but be aware that dishwashers are a particularly punishing environment for steel. Rust and calcium can build up over the years due to moisture, the chemicals in dish detergent, and calcium from hard water.

Stainless steel also withstands higher temperatures than plastic. That means you can sterilize dishes, get a better clean, and also get hotter temperatures for more complete drying. It's also more energy-efficient. Stainless steel retains heat, conducting heat away from the dishes and condensing it into water that falls down into the drain.

As discussed above, stainless steel is great as a sound baffle, insulating the noise created by the dishwashing process so you don't have to deal with a loud appliance. And finally, while it's a matter of opinion, it just looks sharp, and adds a nice touch to your kitchen decor.

Stainless steel dishwashers are more expensive than those with plastic interiors, but for better durability and stronger, quiet performance, it's generally worth it.

A hybrid dishwasher tub is one made from both stainless steel and plastic parts. Usually, the door—and possibly the tub's back and sides—are stainless steel, while its liner, or bottom, is made of plastic.

Hybrid models include Samsung's DW80R2031US/AC, Bosch's 100 Series SHXM4AY55N, and GE's GDT635HSRSS.

Despite its name, stainless steel can, in fact, rust. Stainless steel contains chromium, which, when exposed to oxygen, forms a protective layer of chromium oxide that can keep rust at bay.

This layer can be damaged in all sorts of ways, from particularly abrasive cleaners to high salinity. Once this protective layer of chromium oxide is damaged or removed, stainless steel can rust.

So, how do you get rust off a stainless steel dishwasher? There's really no trick to it. While there are lots of specialty products out there you can use to clean your stainless steel dishwasher, we recommend sticking to warm water and baking soda.

If the rust keeps reappearing, you may want to treat that area with a silicon coating or a stainless steel sealant. That should re-establish its protective coating and stop further rusting.

Yes, but while it used to be a premium feature, it's been almost completely phased out over the last 10 years. Almost every modern dishwasher uses nylon for their racks. That's because nylon coating is less likely to peel or warp, and it won't rust.

Michael Garrett Steele

Contributor

Michael Garrett Steele has been writing and editing professionally since 2013, and has been a part of Reviewed since 2020.An MFA in music composition, Garrett has lent audio expertise to everyone from Independence Community College to Bethesda Softworks, informing reviews of audio equipment and services. Garrett also covers tech, drawing on experience working everywhere from IT helpdesks to enterprise architecture sales. Steele has also become a go-to reviewer for minor plumbing fixtures since covering bidets for Reviewed in early 2020.

Leigh Harrington

Executive Editor, Home

Leigh Harrington has more than 20 years experience as a writer and editor for myriad print and digital publications.

At USA TODAY and Reviewed, Harrington oversees large appliances, including refrigerators, dishwashers, ranges, and laundry, and manages Reviewed's overall home content, including areas of focus like home improvement, cleaning, gardening, cooking, and parenting. She focuses on writing, but mostly editing, consumer ed content and product reviews.

Harrington is also an experienced travel writer, and has authored books including Fodor's Boston, 100 Things to Do in Boston Before You Die, and Colorful Boston, an adult coloring book.

Mark Brezinski

Senior Writer

Mark Brezinski works on the Home Team, reviewing refrigerators, minifridges, dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, air conditioners, air purifiers, and fans.

Julia MacDougall

Senior Scientist

Julia is the Senior Scientist at Reviewed, which means that she oversees (and continually updates) the testing of products in Reviewed's core categories such as televisions, washing machines, refrigerators, and more. She also determines the testing methods and standards for Reviewed's "The Best Right Now" articles.

Jonathan Chan

Senior Manager of Lab Operations

Jonathan Chan currently serves as the Lab Manager at Reviewed. If you clean with it, it's likely that Jon oversees its testing. Since joining the Reviewed in 2012, Jon has helped launch the company's efforts in reviewing laptops, vacuums, and outdoor gear. He thinks he's a pretty big deal. In the pursuit of data, he's plunged his hands into freezing cold water, consented to be literally dragged through the mud, and watched paint dry. Jon demands you have a nice day.

Our team is here for one purpose: to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. Our writers, editors, and lab technicians obsess over the products we cover to make sure you're confident and satisfied. Have a different opinion about something we recommend? Email us and we'll compare notes.