Our newer Bosch unit is the best-performing unit we've ever owned. We do follow their instructions to always use rinse aid (it has an automatic dispenser that n

Our newer Bosch unit is the best-performing unit we've ever owned. We do follow their instructions to always use rinse aid (it has an automatic dispenser that needs to be refilled every couple dozen cycles), as well as the recommended detergent (Finish Powerball tablets, which we happened to be using already). We scrape off as much food as we can into the compost, but we only rinse things when we know they'll be problematic if they dry out before we run it (such as bread dough, eggs. etc.). Yeah, it takes a few hours to run, but it's so quiet for most of the cycle we need to rely on the status LED to know it's running. We usually start it right before we go to bed (or better yet, set the timer after dinner so that we don't forget but can still load in dishes from a late snack or whatever).