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A FEW WORDS ABOUT A VITALLY
IMPORTANT SUBJECT
And what is this “vitally important subject”?
I’m glad you asked!
The vitally important subject is:
When putting silverware into the automatic dishwasher, should
I put it in “handles up” or “handles down”?
Let me explain.
All my life — well, at least all of that portion of my life
during which I have lived in a house that has an automatic dishwasher
— I have been accustomed to place the silverware into the
dishwasher in the “handles up” (i.e. “business
end down”) position.
Why? I’m not really sure. It just seemed like the way to
go.
But, if I think about it, there does seem to be a certain interior
logic about it, a kind of “Natural Law of the Kitchen”:
We normally pick up knives, forks and spoons by the handles (unless,
of course, we are still of high-chair age and haven’t quite
got the hang of it yet) and, so, it seems more “natural”
to hold these items by the handles when putting them into the
dishwasher — therefore “handles up”!
However, about a month ago, a friend of mine who was visiting
in St. Vincent dePaul Rectory and with whom I was having coffee
and bagels, observed me putting the silverware into the dishwasher
in the “handles up” position. My friend chided me and
said that it is more sanitary to put the silverware into the
dishwasher in the “handles down” position because that
will give the “business ends” of the knives, forks
and spoons more exposure to the hot water and detergent. This
perplexed me! Had I been doing it wrong all these years? Had
I been practicing poor sanitation? Will I get a bad mark on my
report card for “Health Habits”? (For the benefit of
those who are a lot younger than I, there was a category named
“Health Habits” that was part of the Archdiocese of
Philadelphia parochial school report card. I’m proud to
say that I always got an “A” in “Health Habits”.
My mother would have been humiliated if I had brought home a
“B” or a “C” in that category! It would have
reflected ill on her.)
So, I figured that my friend, because she is a full-time wife
and mother, must know what she is talking about. Therefore, I
started to make a conscious effort to mend my ways and put the
silverware into the dishwasher “handles down”. It is
hard to break old habits, but it can be done!
But, after a couple of weeks of doing it “the new way”,
I felt uncomfortable. In my gut, I felt that I was doing something
wrong, i.e. violating the aforementioned Natural Law.
So, I decided to go on-line for some serious research / consultation
on the matter. I googled something about “silverware and
automatic dishwashers” and came up with two sites.
You can look these up on your own, if you care to do so. However,
you can just let me give you the essential information I read
on the Net. Here it is:
Question
What is the correct way to place silverware in dishwasher? Facing
up or down?
Answer
If you place it so that the handles are up, you do not have to
touch the working end of the freshly sanitized silverware when
it's done. This position also puts the dirty end nearest the
high-pressure jets below during washing and rinsing. However,
the handles are usually thinner, so you can get a lot more silverware
into a rack if the handles are down.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_correct_way_to_place_silverware_in_dishwasher_facing_up_or_down |
So, there we are! I have gone
back to my old ways. It’s “handles down” if your
main interest is how many pieces of silverware you can fit into
the dishwasher for one wash, but it’s “handles up”
if your main interest is getting the silverware as clean and
sanitary as possible. It’s “handles up” for me!
Q - What the heck is this article doing in a church bulletin?
What’s this got to do with religion?
A – Cleanliness is next to godliness! |
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Saturday, 08 November