Hints from Heloise

Dear Heloise: My mother and I are having a discussion about the need (or not) to rinse dishes off before putting them in the dishwasher. Do you have a comment on this? I swear my mom “washes” the dishes and then puts them in the dishwasher. I think it is a waste of time. – Anita in Colorado

Ahhh! The “rinse or not to rinse” question! In general, if you are going to run the dishwasher soon, it’s only necessary to scrape off big chunks of food. It is not necessary to “wash” dishes before putting them in, especially if you have a newer machine. However, if the dishes are going to sit for a while, you might want to give them a quick rinse (or run the rinse-and-hold cycle, if the machine has one), especially if the plates have egg or sticky stuff on them. – Heloise