Dishwasher-Poached Salmon - A Recipe for Energy Efficiency
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA 
on 01. 7.09
Image credit: Terrapass
Dishwasher Cooking Puts Waste Heat to Work
It’s been a long time since Treehugger covered the rather obscure art of dishwasher cooking, but just like cooking with your car engine, there is some logic to using up heat that would otherwise go to waste. Personally I’ve always been a little too nervous of soap-sud encrusted salmon to give it any serious thought – but Adam Stern over at Terrapass is a braver soul, poaching salmon in olive oil and lemon juice in his dishwasher. For a video and more info on Adam’s thrifty culinary expertise, click below the fold - and why not leave your own suggestions for cooking with waste heat in the comments box?
Not only was the salmon delicious, but the cooking technique prevented carbon emissions that would have occurred had we used our gas stove. The dishwasher already needed to be run and the fish could be poached at the same time.Our experiment has made us wonder if there are other ways to double-up when we use appliances. For example, what else could we put in the toaster oven while we’re making toast for breakfast? Or could we steam something while we’re boiling water for tea? The carbon savings won’t be huge, but as we have shown, sensitivity to energy inputs and outputs in the kitchen can lead to some tasty meals.
Want to try it yourself? Check out Adam's own post for the full dishwasher salmon recipe. Of course, as one commenter points out, for this to work there has to be waste heat in the first place – if a dishwasher were truly 100% efficient, this would only add to the workload of the appliance – but we suspect even the best Energy Star appliance is still churning out some excess heat. (It should be noted that Adam did use the heat dry cycle with this experiment – tsk, tsk – but is intending on an air dry next time!) Another commenter also suggests using dishwasher-safe reusable containers, instead of foil - but presumably they'd need to have pretty low thermal mass.
And for those who want to explore other green cooking techniques, how about this roundup of our favorite solar cookers, or the DIY solar oven death match?
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I should think it would be excellent for custards!
My mom did this forty years ago when she first got a dishwasher. She didn't use soap because she was afraid that it might taint the taste of the fish, and consequently had to re-wash the dishes after. No energy savings there!
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AUTHOR's COMMENT:
Is everyone in the Alter family an early adopter?
There's being sensibly green, and then there's this sort of thing. No sale. Too much eww for me.
You shouldn't cook with acids such as lemon juice or tomato juice in aluminum foil. The acid breaks down the aluminum and along with the tasty salmon you will be ingesting aluminum. A friend suggested using parchment paper between the aluminum foil and the salmon.
Dubious as to whether this is actually energy-efficient.
If the dishwasher uses a thermostat to regulate the wash temperature then the heating elements will have been run a little longer to heat up the water and the salmon to the target temperature than would have been the case if the salmon was not there.
Rgds
Damon
Or you could use no heat at all by making ceviche, and then using the dw for its intended purpose.
This application is not actually waste heat. Waste heat would be if you put the Salmon on top of the dw, not in it.
My mom did this about 35 years ago...with a roomful of people waiting for poached salmon on Christmas Eve. I guess the salmon was too big because after 3 washings (salmon only), the dishwasher heating element burned out, leaving the assembled masses still hungry. I think my dad ended up grilling it.