6 Best Dish Drying Racks, Tested by Food Network Kitchen
We drained hundreds of dishes to find to the best dish drying racks for every kitchen.
Our Top Dish Drying Rack Picks
- Best Overall: KitchenAid Full-Size Dish Rack
- Best for Entertaining: Simple Houseware 2-Tier Dish Rack with Drainboard
- Best for Small Households: OXO Good Grips Foldaway Dish Rack
- Best Splurge: simplehuman Kitchen Dish Drying Rack
- Best Budget: Sweet Home Collection Dish Drainer
- Best Over-the-Sink: Surpahs Over-the-Sink Dish Drying Rack
Tested by Regina Ragone for Food Network Kitchen
No matter what you do in the kitchen you will always need a place to dry your dishes, even if you have a dishwasher. This may sound like a simple task for any dish rack, but between glasses that fall off and shatter, water pooling in the tray and just not enough space, it’s not. We tested top drying racks on the market to find the best dish drying racks for any kitchen.
Regina Ragone
What to Know About Dish Racks
Material: It’s important to choose materials that won’t rust when picking a dish drying rack. Materials like stainless steel, plastic or silicone and coated metal tend can stand up to the water without rusting over.
Size: Your household size and dishwashing habits will affect what kind of dish drying rack works best for you. If you hand-wash all your cookware or don’t have a dishwasher in your kitchen, a larger size or tiered option would work best. If you just have a few dishes a week, opt for an over-the-sink style or a budget-friendly model.
Cleaning: This may seem like a strange thing to consider about a product designed to hold clean dishes, but because these drying racks are designed to get wet, you’ll find they’re prone to buildup. Consider how easily the pieces of the drying rack come apart and if any are dishwasher safe. It’s important to keep your dish drying rack clean to ensure your hard work handwashing isn’t done in vain.
Regina Ragone
How We Tested
We tested 11 dish drying racks of all different materials, sizes, and styles to come up with our favorites. We tested the quantity of dishes, glassware, mugs, and utensils it could hold, how well it drained, how much space it took up and of course how easy the dish rack was to clean. Our favorite models had high capacities, solid design and were easy to clean. We also made sure that all of our favorite dish racks drained well without leaking onto the countertop.
You can always depend on KitchenAid for a solid piece of equipment that does what you expect it to, and their Full-Size Dish Rack is no exception. What makes this rack our top pick is its sturdiness. We piled it with dishes, pots and pans, and, because of satin wired construction, everything dried quickly. The drain board is designed to release any excess water pooling in the rack instantly and can be easily removed for cleaning. The side panel, which acts as a guard rail to keep glasses from falling off, is the bonus that sealed the deal for us.
We were pleasantly surprised by the amount of space this Simple Houseware’s two-tiered rack provided for such a modest price. With 19 slots on each level and hooks around the side for mugs, this rack was a hit at a recent dinner party. While it’s probably not strong enough for a lot of heavy dishes, we were able to add quite a bit to both levels. Draining wasn’t perfect but totally adequate with a little moisture left around the sides. Our favorite feature was the additional rack, which could be used to dry cutting boards.
The OXO Good Grips Foldaway Dish Rack is so clever it provides everything a big rack does but on a smaller scale. Not only do the legs fold out to elevate the dish rack and spout to drain directly into the sink, but the plate rack also folds down to make room for large bowls and cookware. We love the fact that the tines are sturdy enough to hold wine glasses in addition to mugs and other glassware. What really impressed us was the fact that the side walls, legs, and spout fold for compact, standing storage in a cabinet.
Simplehuman Kitchen Dish Drying Rack is the dishrack for the person whose large kitchen accessories need to be sleek and refined. Not only does this rack fill that need, but it also has all the extras you could want, including a wine glass rack. The hydrophilic coating on the plastic tray enabled water to spread so that it dried very quickly preventing residue buildup. The integrated drip tray with a swivel spout pivots to keep water flowing directly into the sink, not on to the countertop. This all comes at a higher price tag, but if you spend a lot of time in the kitchen it’s worth it.
If bells and whistles don’t matter to you and you just want a plain and simple dish rack, the Sweet Home Collection Dish Drainer Drain Board and Utensil Holder is a solid pick. Owners appreciated how many dishes the rack was able to fit as well as how easy it was it was to clean. The lip at the edge of the drain board was also fairly effective at removing water.
If most of your meals are away from home or take-out suppers Surpahs over the sink, roll-up dish drying rack is a great option. It will hold a few glasses or mugs and a plate or two for no-fuss, quick drying. It also comes in three sizes so you can get up to 20.5" x 15.5" worth of rack, and it’s easy to roll up and store when not in use. Make sure to measure your sink to see if it fits and how much space you will be devoting to it. An added bonus: It’s heat resistant up to 400 F so it can also be used as a trivet mat on the countertop.
