3 reasons why the Hotpoint Hydroforce could be the dishwasher of your dreams

I hate my dishwasher. No matter what programme I use, however fancy the tablets or how carefully I organise it, my dishes and glassware never come out as clean as I'd like; sometimes glassware gets gritty so I have to wash it again by hand. So I'm positively salivating at the new Hotpoint Hydroforce dishwasher, which takes dishwashing to a whole new level.

Hotpoint’s currently listing it for ￡549, which means it’s competitive with many of the best dishwashers we’ve tested, and it has some features that elevate it above the competition.

What’s so special about Hotpoint Hydroforce?

The first and, for me, most important new feature is the third rack. I’ve had that in dishwashers before – before I moved to my current rental, which has the dishwasher from hell, I had a fancy Bosch with a third rack and I really miss it – but this one is special, because it has integrated spray jets.

That means extra cleaning power at the top of the wash, so it’s as effective as the lower rack for mugs, bowls and utensils. As an enthusiastically messy cook who’ll often use every single pan and utensil in the kitchen just to make toast, that could have been designed specially for me.

The second feature is what Hotpoint calls the Maxi Space Tub. It’s a redesign of the main cavity that frees up an extra 10% of space, which doesn’t sound much but when you’re cooking for a larger family or a group of pals that’s the difference between getting everything washed at once and having to leave some errant pots and glasses until the next day.

And the third feature is ActiveDry, which automatically opens the dishwasher door when the internal temperature is around 40oC. That opening, which takes it out by about 10cm so the steam can get out but my dog can’t get in, promises to vastly improve drying performance.

Sadly I can’t have this dishwasher because I’m renting, but if I owned my home this would definitely be at the very top of my kitchen wish list: I know dishwashers are hardly the most exciting bits of hardware but the thought of not taking glassware out with gritty bits on it, of not having to wash the same things twice and of being able to do a whole dinner party’s worth of dishes in one sitting is enormously appealing to me.