A VIRAL tater time-saver hack could be mashing up the insides of one of your kitchen’s most expensive appliances.
An appliance pro advised people not to try a food prep trick that’s been hashed out on TikTok ahead of Thanksgiving.
Earlier this week, TikTok user @brunchwithbabs shared her time-saving hack for making Thanksgiving dinner.
She recommended not washing potatoes by hand but putting them all int he dishwasher on the rinse cycle to save time.
But fellow TikTok user Renae, who runs the account @Renduh, warned her followers against trying the viral Thanksgiving food prep hack.
Renae explained: “The chemicals in dishwasher detergent and rinse aid are designed specifically to rinse off your dishes, but those chemicals are not rated for food safety and direct contact with food.”
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While the hack involves using a rinse cycle without detergent, the TikToker informed her followers that machines often have lingering residue.
“Additionally, if you haven’t cleaned your dishwasher recently, the bacteria from food remnants can and will leach into that food,” she told viewers.
Foods are porous and can absorb bacteria, according to the appliance expert.
As rinse cycles don’t heat water enough to kill this bacteria, the hack can be extremely unsanitary.
“Even aside from the possibility of toxic substances leaching into your food, running large pieces of food through your dishwasher means that you run the risk of bits of that food coming off and clogging your drain pump,” Renae added.
TikTok users took to the comments section to share their thoughts on the advice.
“I feel like the downsides are WAY too high for any perceived benefit,” said one viewer.
Another follower wrote: “There was another one that said to wash them in the washing machine on gentle….. No thank you.”
“It also seems like a tremendous waste of water to use the dishwasher for that,” pointed out a third person.
