I didn’t know third rack dishwashers existed until I visited the HomeGoods Hideout in 2021 – and I wanted one ever since.
My KitchenAid dishwasher did not have a third rack, and it was incredibly unreliable. In November 2021, I tweeted about the difference in reliability between KitchenAid mixers and their dishwashers:
How are Kitchenaid mixers so insanely capable, while Kitchenaid dishwashers are horrible in an inversely proportional way and manage to break in novel ways daily? Every time I use it I need a drill, zip ties, and an hour of meditation minimum.
— Kim LaCapria (@KimLaCapria) November 30, 2021
It would be difficult to remember all of the (so many) issues it had. The top rack was constantly falling and had to be loaded with extreme care. If I wanted to clean the filter, I had to take out the entire interior assembly. The plastic was brittle and melted often. It was the worst appliance I’ve ever had to use.
And then in December 2021, it just quit working after a very cold night. I called the appliance repairman, and he said he doesn’t service them.
Long story short, it was cheaper to replace and I hated it anyway. I wanted a third rack dishwasher badly, but the HomeGoods Hideout had a pricey Bosch model — and generally, third rack dishwashers seem to start around $1000.
In my search, I sorted by price and selected only third rack dishwashers across sites. On Best Buy’s website, I finally found the least expensive third rack dishwasher at $550.
In fact, it seems Best Buy’s in-house brand Insignia only has one dishwasher, the one with a third rack. I bought it in late 2021 or early 2022, and it came within 2-3 days.
Best Buy also hauled away my KitchenAid dishwasher, and installed the new one in minutes. Although it has a top panel, it’s not panel-ready — not a dealbreaker for me, but something of which to be aware.
I’ve been using my Insignia third rack dishwasher for about five months now. I use it very frequently, with Finish tablets and rinse aid.
It is AWESOME – I’m not an appliance expert, but it seems well-designed. The filter is an easy to remove and rinse cup, front and center at the bottom. Nothing falls down and melts, dishes come out clean and dry* all of the time, and it’s a zillion times more thorough then my more expensive KitchenAid dishwasher was.
* I’ve seen some complaints about it not drying dishes in the dry cycle, which happened one of the first few times I used it. All I had to do was leave it shut for a while, and I never had that problem again.
To me, it looks more expensive than it is, not that I care. The third rack is everything I dreamed it would be and more. I can put silverware there if I’m lazy, and it cleans all the cooking utensils that didn’t wash well in the top rack or silverware holder before (in my KitchenAid).
It also doesn’t attract fingerprints, unlike its predecessor — I rarely have to wipe it down. Mainly I’m writing about this dishwasher because I suspect it’s highly underrated, and the Insignia brand seems pretty solid. (The only downside I noticed is that my plates are a bit too wide for the bottom rack, but I haven’t figured out how to adjust it.)
If you’re looking for a third rack dishwasher under $1000 – or a little over half of $1000, Insignia’s dishwasher is awesome. Even if you just want a solid dishwasher that’s under $600, the third rack is just a bonus.
