0

My favorite pots come with the most-hated lids. They're supposed to be dishwasher safe, but any time I try, they come out of there looking much like this the image below. The problem seems to be the three areas I've circled in red: these let in dirty water + gunk, which then doesn't get rinsed out all the way. So far, I've tried a few times to see if changing the position of these 'channels' relative to the direction of gravity makes any difference, but it doesn't seem so. So each time, I end up unscrewing the knob, cleaning the class, and screwing the knob on (as tightly as possible) again.

lid

My question is: Is there any way (besides hand-washing/washing them separately from anything else in the dishwasher) to prevent this kind of mess from happening? Is there a product I can 'plug' the holes with? Or is this 'normal' and I'm only noticing it on this lid because it's entirely of glass?

Tinkeringbell
  • 3,171
  • 3
  • 19
  • 34

2 Answers2

2

Even hand washing can leave gunk in there but it doesn't build up as fast. Overall getting some build-up in there is pretty normal (and it does happen on metal lids with similar knob attachments, but the only way to spot it then is to remove the knob - something I've only done to replace a damaged one.

Washing the lid in the plate rack with one of those holes downwards is some, but some of my lids are too deep for the plate rack.

You don't want to block the holes because water will still get in, but then it won't be able to get out.

A simple partial fix if it comes out with dirty water in there is to shake it so the water comes out of the hole, then rinse the dirty water off. If it's dried in there that won't help.

One solution would be to unscrew the knob before washing, putting the lid and knob in separately. That would be extra effort and wear & tear if you did it every time, but as an occasional fix when it got particularly bad, you might consider it. These screws into plastic knobs are often fairly stiff. In that case you could loosen before washing it so it drains out better. But if the screw turns easily, don't do that as it will loosen further with the vibrations in the machine. Don't overtighten when doing it back up - that's the way to break things.

Generally speaking there's a seal around the screw, which also stops it damaging the glass. That will keep steam out of the knob, so it can't condense in there and wash gunk into the pan - the same seal blocks any trapped dirty water dripping.

Chris H
  • 46,065
  • 2
  • 97
  • 164
1

I once spread silicone construction adhesive on the bottom of a similar knob. It seemed to work fairly well, but after a while I noticed subtle discoloration between the (white) silicone and the glass, indicating that it had lifted from the glass at some point (presumably due to uneven thermal expansion). A more careful application may have prevented that.

The thing is, though… this is not really a problem. It’s entirely normal. It is not going to affect your food. And incidentally, the self-tapping screw used there is not intended for repeated unscrewing and re-screwing. Each time, the outer thread is going to be damaged a bit, and it will eventually strip entirely.

Just leave it alone.

Sneftel
  • 33,707
  • 3
  • 86
  • 117