Best Dishwasher with a Third Rack 2026: Extra Room for Utensils and Lids

A third rack is a shallow tray at the very top of the tub, above the upper rack, sized for flatware, cooking utensils, lids, straws and small parts. Its value is not extra volume so much as reallocation: flatware and long tools move up, the cutlery basket comes out of the lower rack, and the two main racks are left for plates, bowls, glasses and pots.

The gain is in usable loading area and in organization, not in a bigger tub. The cabinet cutout is the same as a two-rack machine of the same width, so the third rack does not make the dishwasher larger on the outside. What changes is how the space inside is divided.

There is an ergonomic side too. Loading and unloading flatware happens at chest height instead of at the bottom of the machine, which saves a lot of bending over the door. For anyone with back or knee trouble, that alone can justify the feature.

Third racks come in three physical designs, and each one takes a different amount of height from the rack below.

Flat tray

A flat tray is shallow, slotted or open, sometimes with a removable caddy. It takes the least height from the upper rack and holds flatware, long tools and lids laid flat. Small bowls and mugs generally will not sit in it, because there is no depth to hold them upright.

Deep or multi-purpose tray

A deep tray has a sunken center channel, angled sides or fold-down wings. It holds ramekins, ladles, small bowls and mugs upright, but the deeper the tray, the more vertical inches it takes from the upper rack. That is the trade-off you feel when a tall glass no longer fits on the middle rack.

Cutlery-tray-only design

In a cutlery-tray-only design, the tray replaces the basket entirely, so every utensil must be slotted. It gives the best separation and cleaning, but it is the slowest to load, and there is no basket to carry to the drawer.

The third rack sits in the same tub, so whatever depth it has comes out of the clearance above the upper rack. A height-adjustable upper rack can move through two or three positions, dropping the middle rack when tall items need room. Fold-down, sliding or removable third-rack sections let you clear a channel for a tall bottle or a stockpot. And most third racks lift out entirely when you need the height back. On a third-rack model, an adjustable upper rack is what keeps tall glasses and bottles usable.

The tray is shallow, so it rewards small, flat items and punishes anything tall or heavy.

Belongs up top

• Forks, spoons and knives laid flat and separated.
• Long tools: spatulas, tongs, ladles, whisks, serving spoons.
• Plastic lids and container tops.
• Straws, chopsticks, skewers.
• Small bowls, ramekins and measuring spoons where the tray is deep enough.
• Baby-bottle parts and sippy-cup valves.
• Knives, which are safer lying flat up there than loose in a basket.

What does not belong up top?

• Tall glasses, travel mugs, water bottles and stemware, which need the upper or lower rack.
• Dinner plates and sheet pans.
• Heavy pots and pans.
• Anything with baked-on food if the tray has no dedicated wash jets.
• Stacked or nested items, which block water from reaching the surfaces.

Third-rack models typically carry 12 to 16 place settings, and the third rack is what lets a 12-setting machine keep its plate space while the flatware moves out of the lower rack.

The third rack sits above the upper spray arm, so most of what reaches it is water thrown upward through the upper rack, plus, on models that have one, a dedicated third-level spray arm or wash zone. That single fact drives every loading rule.

• Lay flatware flat and separated, handles alternating, so water passes between pieces instead of around a bundle.
• Keep long utensils in a single layer, laid horizontally, not crossed.
• Put small bowls and mugs in the deep or angled sections, open side down or tilted, never stacked.
• Leave the slots and tines partly empty; an overloaded tray shields the rack below as well as itself.
• Point knives and sharp tools down or lay them flat.
• On a tray without dedicated jets, send only lightly soiled items up top and let the main racks take the crusty dishes.
• Tip flat lids and upturned cups so water runs off rather than pooling on the flat surface.

Measure the interior height of the tub and the clearance between the upper rack and the third rack with the third rack installed. That gap, not the tub height, decides whether your tallest glasses fit.

Measure your tallest glass, travel mug and water bottle, and your largest dinner plate and sheet pan, then compare them against the rack spacing rather than the external dimensions. Check the upper rack's adjustment range and whether the third rack folds, slides or lifts out.

Check the cabinet cutout against the model's width, depth and height, and confirm the door opens without hitting the counter or an adjacent cabinet. Note the depth figure: a third rack does not change the cabinet opening, but a deeper tub can change how far the door and racks travel into the room. For a slim 18-inch model, the same checks apply at a smaller scale: fewer place settings, less rack width, and the third rack is often removable rather than adjustable.