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Mar 20, 2024

Farberware Countertop Dishwasher Review

By Sam Stone All products featured on Bon Appétit are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission. If I were

By Sam Stone

All products featured on Bon Appétit are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

If I were being generous, I would describe my kitchen as small. If I were being realistic, I’d describe it as anxiety-inducing, criminally tight, and claustrophobically tiny. Counter space? Don’t know her. Storage? We’ve never met. Room for big projects like making pasta from scratch? I’m sorry to that man. My minuscule cooking space has a lot of drawbacks—and, yes, some kind-of-charming aspects too, don’t worry—but perhaps my least favorite part is washing dishes by hand with limited space.

I’ve spent years cramped over my sink, splashing myself with filthy water, knocking over glasses on the overcrowded drying rack, and muttering angrily as I clear yet another clogged drain. Surely, I’d think to myself, there has to be a better way. If we can put a man on the moon, we, as a society, can invent a way for me to wash dishes without splattering dirty dish water onto my socks every. Single. Time. This is where a countertop dishwasher comes into play—and specifically, for the purpose of this review, the Farberware countertop dishwasher.

As I unpacked the portable dishwasher for testing, I worried that because it was smaller (roughly the size of two stand mixers side by side, for reference), it wouldn’t have the heavy-duty, deep-cleaning power of a full-size dishwasher. I thought that it wouldn’t be able to get through the gunk on my plates or that my cutlery might come out with some remaining schmutz. I was pleased to be proved wrong. The Farberware dishwasher passed all of my tests with flying colors, and all of my dishes came out completely grime-less.

Farberware is most well known for its cookware—though we love them for cake testers too—but its portable dishwasher is a countertop powerhouse. It washes away stuck-on food, no rinsing needed, in one beautiful two-hour wash cycle. It leaves dishes squeaky clean in a way that hand washing just can’t accomplish. And since the Farberware dishwasher requires just 1.3 gallons of water per cycle, each wash uses significantly less water than both a traditional dishwasher and the average amount of water used to hand wash dishes.

Using a countertop dishwasher changed the way I experienced cooking. Instead of spending the entire cooking process quietly resenting all the time I’d spend washing the pots and dishes afterwards, I discovered a sense of calm. Read on for my full Farberware countertop dishwasher review.

Rating: 9.3/10

Pros:

Cons:

The setup: This dishwasher needs a power source as well as an outlet for the drainage hose. That means it has to be near an outlet as well as a sink, or a bucket, or, if you live on the first floor, I suppose you could throw that hose out your window and hope for the best. Whatever you choose, you’ll want to make sure that wily hose stays where it’s supposed to so that you can avoid unwanted dishwater dripping.

In terms of water sources, you have two options. You can either hook up a hose from your kitchen faucet into the back of the dishwasher or use the included pitcher to fill the built-in water tank for each wash. Personally, I found it easier to fill the tank instead of installing and uninstalling a hose for each wash, but beware: If the dishwasher’s water tank is not adequately filled, it will beep very loudly and aggressively until it is, at which point it will give you a few more aggressive beeps before starting the wash cycle.

The cycle options: The Farberware countertop dishwasher has several different wash cycles options for different purposes, which you can select via the digital control panel on the front. “Normal” is the cycle that you’ll want to use for dirtier dishes as it runs for just over two hours, while “Rapid” is a quick 40 minutes for less intense messes. “Glass” is meant to leave your glassware spotless, and the “Baby Care” wash program steams to sanitize bottles. There’s also a “Fruit Wash” setting specifically for, yep, washing fruit—which, to me, seems extra, but if you’d like to put your apples in a 20-minute wash cycle, I’m confident they would come out sparkling.

The Farberware mini dishwasher can compete with its full-size counterparts in terms of dishwashing power because it uses what is essentially the same techniques and technology on a much smaller scale. It has two sprayer arms—a rotating one below and a static above—to ensure dishes are cleaned from every angle. Just like a full-size dishwasher, water gets heated up to around 136 degrees in the normal cleaning cycle to get rid of those tough, stuck-on foods. Despite its impressive power, this dishwasher is whisper silent. The only sound is a slight hum and, if you really listen, a little splashing. I have to say, its low purring combined with the fact that my dishes were getting cleaned while I scrolled through TikToks read Tolstoy on my couch was incredibly relaxing for some reason. When the cycle has finished, the hot water evaporates off the clean dishes with the help of a fan-led air-dry cycle, which leaves dishes spotless.

The limitations: At just over 17 inches wide, Farberware’s countertop dishwasher is among the smallest on the market—which is great! A small dishwasher means even more counter space is left for cooking. It does, however, also mean that the dishwasher’s capacity is slightly more limited than some competitors. I didn’t have trouble fitting in the place settings—flatware, silverware, cups—and cooking utensils I used for a meal for two, but, aside from a smallish saucepan, pots and pans will have to be done by hand.

It sets up fast. This countertop dishwasher can essentially be used right out of the box. It’s intuitive, and once the hoses are connected and the water tank is full (and the beeping has stopped), you’re ready to wash your first load of dishes.

It really does work just like a full-sized dishwasher. See above!

It fits a surprising amount of stuff. Hear me out: Yes, some competitors are larger and can therefore hold more dishes, but I was happily surprised to find that even my abnormally large dinner plates fit comfortably inside the Farberware dishwasher. With some creative angling, it really is impressive how much you can fit in there. Plates up to 12 inches in diameter, wine glasses, mixing bowls—the only limiting factor is your aptitude for dish Tetris.

Weighing in at a little over 36 pounds, the Farberware dishwasher isn’t too difficult to lug around. It’s smaller than most other compact countertop dishwashers on the market but still a bit unwieldy and on the bulkier side. Its countertop footprint is large enough that, for very small space, it may make more sense to find a way to stow it in a lower cabinet, but because it doesn’t have to be hooked up to a sink, it can go nearly anywhere in your kitchen. Picking it up to put it away in a cabinet is akin to moving something between a prodigious toaster oven and a light mini fridge. And this metric is important, because a big selling point of this dishwasher’s compact design is its portability. This washer can go essentially anywhere there’s a power source and a few liters of water; that means it works for car camping and RVs as well as it does for tiny apartments and dorms.

The Farberware countertop dishwasher is incredible at what it does: namely, thoroughly and consistently washing and drying a surprisingly large load of dishes, considering its size, without any complicated installation process. At $380 it is slightly pricier than similar countertop dishwashers on the market, which range from $200 to just over $300. Its price tag is nothing to sneeze at, but if you’re sick of doing all your dishes by hand, this is a long-term investment that will significantly improve your life. Overall, the Farberware dishwasher is significantly less expensive than a full-size built-in dishwasher, but it packs the same power and affords the same convenience in a kitchen of any size.