I spent years testing kitchen gear at Bon Appétit, from enameled Dutch ovens to nonstick pans. Nearly every piece of top-performing cookware I reviewed got the same bullet point in the “cons” section: not dishwasher-safe.
Objectively speaking, hand-washing high-end cookware is more of a given than a con. Almost without exception and no matter the material, the best pots and pans should be washed by hand—at least if you want them to last a long time.
But I'm a single mom with two school-age kids, and life is so much easier when I can toss everything in the dishwasher after dinner. So I did, for years, including the stainless-steel All-Clad pans that were sold to me as dishwasher-safe.
Then, a few years ago, they started cutting me when I grabbed the pans off the bottom rack. It turns out that the aluminum core inside those pans can erode under harsh detergents, leaving a razor-sharp steel rim behind. That erosion was the subject of a 2022 class-action lawsuit filed against the brand over its dishwasher-safe claims, and it's why All-Clad's stainless lines aren't billed as dishwasher-safe anymore.
Instead of replacing my injury-inducing pots and pans with another full set that would need to be washed by hand, I rebuilt my cookware collection piece by piece—starting with truly dishwasher-safe saucepans (actually, they’re sauciers) from Misen.
While you should keep most stainless steel pans out of the dishwasher, Misen's are dishwasher-safe.
Why stainless steel pans don't belong in the dishwasher
It’s stainless! It’s steel! It should be able to withstand anything! And while it is more durable overall than cast iron, carbon steel, or nonstick, the best stainless steel cookware is actually more complicated than it looks.
For starters, stainless steel is an alloy containing varying percentages of iron, chromium, and carbon, and not all stainless steel is created equal. The dishwasher can cause dulling and discoloration, but those are cosmetic problems that won't affect the pan's performance.
The bigger issue is that steel isn't a great heat conductor. The only reason high-end stainless steel heats so beautifully is that it has a core of other metals that conduct heat far more evenly and efficiently. For example, BA’s favorite stainless steel frying pan, the All-Clad D3, has an aluminum core, but copper and graphite are other common materials.
You can think of the stainless steel on your pots and pans like a shiny, non-reactive veneer. When the heat-conductive core is sandwiched between layers of that veneer and left exposed along the rim, as it is on pans from many top brands, including the D3, harsh dishwasher detergents will degrade it over time. The erosion is slow, and it may not affect your cooking for years or even decades. But as the core wears away, the exposed sharp edges of the steel layers can become a hazard.
Why Misen's sauciers are the exception
Misen’s stainless-steel cookware has one small feature that makes a big difference in the dishwasher. The heat-conductive aluminum core is fully enclosed in a thick layer of stainless steel, so there’s no risk of minerals and detergents degrading the core. The stainless steel is also durable enough to withstand the dishwasher daily, and that’s not just a marketing claim—though it is the very first bullet point on the product page.
Feeding two kids (and maintaining my own late-night ramen habit) means I use my 2- and 3-quart Misen sauciers almost every day. And every night they go into the dishwasher. They’ve probably survived at least a thousand cycles, and they still look great. There’s no discoloration or warping—just the normal wear and tear you’d expect to see on pans that get as much use as mine.
Misen’s pans often get runner-up status in BA’s rigorous testing (sometimes it's only because the long handle is polarizing), but they’re absolutely the best pans for anyone who’s going to put their cookware in the dishwasher, whether they’re supposed to or not.