OXO Tot Dishwasher Basket

I don't have any tots running around, but that doesn't mean I don't have any small, but dishwasher-safe, items.

When I first saw the OXO Tot Dishwasher Basket ($7.99) my first thought was not about baby bottles. It was about tips for pastry bags. And lids for small containers. And tiny measuring cups.

Well, actually, I was thinking that something like this should exist before I even knew that it did exist.

I even thought about cobbling together a dishwasher basked from plastic berry baskets, but that seemed like more trouble than it would have been worth.

Then I saw the OXO Tot dishwasher basket in a store, and I thought it was genius.

My theory of dish washing is that anything that's dishwasher safe should be dishwasher-washed. I have to do plenty of hand-washing of things that are too large to fit in the dishwasher or that can't be safely washed in there. The idea of hand-washing things just because they're small ... well, that just doesn't make me happy.

But small items tend to fall through the racks or flip and fly around, or otherwise become a nuisance. So I hand wash them and grumble. Or I used to hand wash and grumble. Now, I shove them into the OXO Tot basket and toss that into the dishwasher.

The basket has some odd little racks that I'm guessing are supposed to be for baby bottle parts, but after re-positioning the racks, they're perfect for holding pastry tips in place. There's plenty of space for other small items, like the lids for small storage containers that tend to wind up at the bottom of the dishwasher, no matter where I wedge them before washing.

The other great thing about using this basket is that all the small items can be removed from the dishwasher in one fell swoop rather than picking up that multitude of small pieces that are scattered all over.

And the other great thing is that if those little parts are a little too goopy to go right into the dishwasher, you can put them into the basket and rinse the whole thing rather than rising each individual item. Much faster and easier.

The only issue I had with the basket was that I had a little difficulty finding a good spot to perch it in my dishwasher. The racks in my washer didn't want to accommodate it at first, but with a little encouragement, I found a suitable location.

I don't use this basket every day, but the washing of small items tends to come in batches, and every time I use it I grin a little bit because I know I won't be hand-washing and rinsing all those fiddly little items or losing them in the dishwasher or down the garbage disposal. Because, yes, that has happened, too.

The OXO Tot dishwasher basket is ... (wait for it ...) dishwasher safe. Yeah, I had to say it.

Who's it for: Anyone who washes small items in the dishwasher.

Pros: Keeps all those little pieces in one place - and not in the bottom of the dishwasher. I found it very useful for pastry tips, among other things.

Cons: Depending on your dishwasher configuration, you might need to be creative in finding a place for it to fit neatly. I think it would be great if this had a few more configurable racks or dividers, but that's a wish rather than a complaint.

Source: I received this from OXO for review at no cost to me.