Forty decibels of clean

Kitchens are noisy places. Meal preparation being what it is, the sounds of pots and pans clanging together mixed with the sear and sizzle of cooking foods are comfortable noises. It means real, hopefully delicious, food is on the way. Given the anticipation of a meal, a few noises can be easily viewed as a good thing. However, there is a flip side to the process where some might not find the associated clatter all that appetizing: the cleaning.

The KitchenAid KUDE70FXSS Superba Series EQ Dishwasher--part of an upgraded line--operates at forty decibels. According to KitchenAid, the noise level is "equivalent to the hushed sound of a library." One might not normally associate reading and cleaning as two activities that go well together, but with the peace-of-mind that comes with an automatic cleaning cycle, the two seemingly opposed actions might go through an increase in popularity.

Featuring multiple options and cycles, the dishwasher allows for custom cleaning no matter the mess. The appliance has 36 spray jets and the ability to choose from just a light wash to a high temperature scrub option, and is designed for everyday use. Considering the amount of traffic that the most-used room in the house gets, the ability to quiet down every once in a while is a good thing--and makes it easy to hit the (cook) books.