Do you have a dish drying rack? - Page 2

[emmaegbert]

Originally Posted by pear-shaped 

This is my dish rack, it's in the cabinet over the sink. The racks are removable so they can be cleaned, and there's a removable drip tray underneath. I chose cabinet doors that were perforated to help with air circulation, you can see that on the right. This type of rack is typical here (Italy); I've never seen a kitchen without one. Some people use it to store their cups and plates, so they wash them and just leave them. I prefer putting my dishes and cups in a proper cupboard and using the rack for drying everything, except cutlery and utensils, which dry in a perforated steel container on the drainboard of the sink. The only drawback for me is that having the dishes hidden away gives me a reason to be lazy about putting them away, but I've been working on that. These racks do take quite a bit of cabinet space, which is why people use them for storing too, but I'm lucky enough to have a fairly big kitchen with a good amount of cabinet space. I'm surprised that they're not popular elsewhere because they are really convenient. I think the typical north American kitchen is probably much bigger than the typical Italian one (actually I'm sure that it is!), so I imagine that a lot of people would have space for them.

huh- this is neat

where would you get these in America? this really appeals to me. I have a kitchen which is MUCH SMALLER than a standard american kitchen. We have no dishwasher. We're 4 people. I have one smallish cabinet right over the sink that I use for all our dishes and cups anyway... so it could really be useful for me!

Currently DH or I are handwashing after every meal and then just emptying the drying rack (which I didn't buy but was left behind by tenant, and I am just using it for now since we don't have extra $$ and why replace something that works just fine, ykwim?) before doing the next round. Pots and pans and lids all hang, and knives have a magnetic strip, so they all go straight there when clean and dry in place. I actually like the idea of just drying the things where they will stay... I'd love to reclaim the counter space that our rack takes up- its probably a quarter of the total counter space in the kitchen.

[pear-shaped]

Originally Posted by emmaegbert 

huh- this is neat

where would you get these in America? this really appeals to me. I have a kitchen which is MUCH SMALLER than a standard american kitchen. We have no dishwasher. We're 4 people. I have one smallish cabinet right over the sink that I use for all our dishes and cups anyway... so it could really be useful for me!

They make such a difference in tiny kitchens. I never saw them in the U.S., I think you might have to build your own. I found this on apartment therapy, and here is a wikipedia article about them.

[Shannie77]

When we lived in apartments and didn't have a dishwasher we had a nice umbra dish rack that I didn't mind looking at.  That way we could leave it out all the time.  Back then it was just DH and I and we didn't do a lot of messy cooking so there were never that many dishes.  Now we have a house and a dishwasher.  I just have a flat clear plastic dish tray.  I like it because it is easy to store.  Basically anything that is hand washed gets dried immediately, or within an hour or so and then the tray usually gets put away.

[beanma]

We used to have one of the folding wooden ones, but when we remodeled I got a new white-coated metal one to go in one side of the sink for drying things like plastic bags we've washed out and the odd plastic items that don't get all the way dry. We do have a dishwasher and we do use it. Love that thing.

[PatienceAndLove]

I saw a two level dish rack at ikea, but I cannot seem to find it on the website.  As soon as I find it, I will post a link.

If my new apt doesn't have a dishwasher, I am getting one of those dish racks.

ETA: Found it! Ordning disk dryer

[journeymom]

I also set pots and pans on the stove top to air dry. 

I use the dish rack only rarely, as we have a dishwasher.  I haul the dish rack out when we've had a big party with lots of dirty dishes.  We'll pack the dishwasher with one load and wash the rest by hand.  I fill the dish rack up with plates, glasses and silverware. Big bowls, casseroles etc, get layed out on clean towels.  I usually don't hand dry them, just air dry. 

When we didn't have a dishwasher I didn't mind seeing the counter dish rack full of clean dishes.

[ikesmom]

We just use a dish towel and I put the dishes away 2 or 3 times a day. I contemplate buying a rack , but haven't because I think the kids would just pile the dishes on it and leave them there..including dirty ones. They are finally catching on to washing their own dish most of the time now without a prompt or fuss. We have a lot of items that are not dishwasher safe and I am afraid that if I put them on the rack to dry that someone might run the wash cycle without noticing them. I hate to admit that I like hand washing and drying the dishes better anyway because they look cleaner. I bought a bunch of bright micro fiber towels for the kitchen and they help a lot.

[skreader]

We don't have a dishawasher, but we do have a double-sink. The dish rack to the left of our the double-sink.  I usually wash in the right-hand-tub & rinse in the left-hand one and then put things in the drying rack.

On weekdays I empty it when I get home from work (it has the breakfast dishes) and then after the dinner dishes are done.  On the weekends I empty it in the middle of the day too. I will use a dish towel to dry things if they are still damp in the rack when I want to clear it.  I dislike seeing it piled w/ dishes.

I am really lucky in my kitchen lay-out, it's a U-shape w/ the cabinets that hold the plates and cups and bowls and utensils on the right, within an arm's reach of the drying rack. So, putting things away involves almost no walking.

We never put dirty dishes in it, we leave them on the kitchen counter on the right side of the sink, or in the right-hand sink.

[Brees_Mama]

Originally Posted by bezark 

I just posted these in the kitchen counter thread. They're wonderful.

They're cute enough (IMO) that a few glasses or forks hanging out at the end of the night doesn't bother me. And the fact that they're not very large forces me to dry the pots and pans as soon as I wash them so there's no opportunity for them to sit out looking a mess.

Super cute!!!

I don't have a dishwasher and I have small counters, so I don't have a dish drying rack. I wash, dry and put away right away.

I wish I could dry my pots/pans on the stove but I'd end up clumbsily knocking them in the floor or the kids would run off with them, lol.

[CookAMH]

We have a metal drying rack in the left side of our sink. It's full at night and I usually put things away in the morning (often to get to something in there that I need for breakfast lol). It DOES look great being empty! It would be good to empty it at night.

[Kyamo]

Drying rack in one side of the sink, wash in the other sink. I just unload a few clean ones whenever I am waiting for something in the kitchen (waiting for the microwave, monitoring something that is cooking, waiting for the toaster to pop, etc). So there are clean ones in there a lot of the time, but it is usually empty by the time it is time to wash more. We don't have a dishwasher.

[NikonMama]

When I hand wash dishes (we use the dishwasher most of the time otherwise the dishes would never get done) I just lay a towel down to set the dishes on to dry.  It motivates me to put the dishes away sooner.  At our last house our dishwasher broke and we used one of the rack things and it was always full of dishes.  I'm sure the same would happen here.  With the towels, the dishes only sit until they are dry.