Thermodynamic experts chime in-- odd hot/cold event in residential dishwasher

Never thought I'd have anything new to add to this subforum. Experiences that I would label "paranormal" have been few and far between in my life. I have shared at least one of them on ATS before.

A couple of days ago, something happened that was very odd and defies all explanation, so my family and I discussed it and chose to label it as paranormal. Perhaps there is a scientific explanation that someone can think of-- I'd love to know!

We ran our dishwasher and I went to empty it out. As usual, when I opened the dishwasher door, hot steam came out as the machine had just stopped running and doing its heated dry cycle. I began removing items, giving them a final towel dry, and putting them away in the kitchen. I noticed a plate that was unfamiliar and which had food on it. Not just food-colored stains or small amounts of food remnants stuck on which were perhaps missed by the machine, but actual pieces of intact food. I picked up the plate and it was absolutely freezing cold to the point where I nearly dropped it. Mind you, almost all of the other contents of the machine were nearly burning hot as the machine had recently stopped. The food on the plate was room temperature and was from dinner about three days ago. My family is large and we run the dishwasher at least once a day, so the likelihood of a plate sitting around with food on it is nearly none. The food on the plate did not appear or smell rotten nor in any manner that made me think it had been sitting out for three days. The plate was one that would have been on the bottom of a pile of spare plates we would use when lots of guests come over, which means it is rarely used and nobody could remember removing it from the cabinet where it normally sits.

Thus, I have no other way to explain it besides that I removed an extremely cold plate from a steaming-hot dishwasher, and said plate contained food from a meal served several days before, and the food did not appear to have gone through a dishwasher, nor did it feel or smell like it was sitting out for three days.

My family discussed this for a while and then I went back to emptying the dishwasher. Soon I came upon a teaspoon, the "bowl" portion of which (for lack of a better term) was so cold that it was white with frost. I showed my family and we were shocked. The handle of the spoon was hot as if it had just been in the hot dishwasher. I do not know how it's possible that a piece of metal, which conducts heat, could be nearly ice cold and then less than half an inch away feel very hot. It was at that point that we talked further and decided that something very odd was going on, for which we could think of no explanation. Nothing else inside the dishwasher was noteworthy. The machine appeared to have completed its wash cycle normally and I could find no leaks or any place that could air could get in.

Does anyone have any ideas what happened?

a reply to: therainmaker

Have any other unusual things happened in your home?

Actually yes, ramping up slightly over the past year or so. Very simple things like the occasional odd sound such as a crash of something falling with nothing having fallen, or a cabinet door closing, things have fallen off shelves a few times when my wife was alone and nearby, glimpse of a shadow out of the corner of one's eye (more than one family member has experienced that), etc. Nothing frightening, just surprising.

EDIT TO ADD: Just to clarify, lately there's been no deaths nor any other events that would make us think that we should expect to be visited by anyone from the other side. We had someone pass in early 2018, but the small events I mentioned above began more recently than that and seem more of a mischievous nature and not like someone is trying to pass on a message. Then again I am not well-versed in the paranormal, certainly not as knowledgeable as many on ATS.

There is no dishwash only Zuul.



(Any 10 year old boys? Can imagine one might have hidden a plate under a bed and then stuffed it in when he thought he had a chance, but saw it was being emptied, but didn't want to get yelled at for bringing in a 3 day old plate?
And the spoon thing is easy, a hot spoon goes through ice-cream the best... Maybe there's a phantom ghost that grabs ice-cream.... hang on a minute! Now I'm arguing for a ghostie! :-P )

Kill that dishwasher.

Kill it with fire.

Was the dishwasher left unattended ? There has been a few cases where people have had extra' lodgers' without even knowing it , hiding from unsuspecting normal residents and using spaces they do not normally use or sometimes even know about , within the same home . They need food fridge freezer dishwasher just the same . Might seem far fetched but it's known to happen .

A couple weeks ago, I heated up a hot pocket in a microwave, but when I bit into it, part of it was still frozen...

a reply to: therainmaker

Is it possible the plate was wrapped up in the fridge with left overs?
Perhaps who ever loaded the dishwasher, absent mindedy placed the plate and it’s contents into the dishwasher, rather than scraping it off first?

Suspect number one would be either the youngest or perhaps even the oldest, person in the household.

Someone put a dirty dish in the clean load. No, that's impossible. Unless it was a ghost.

Reminds me of one old wives tale I heard many moons ago.

An elderly woman, whom some claimed was a witch,
placed 2 sugar pies on her window sill to cool off in the evening breeze.
But when she went to retrieve her freshly backed desserts,
Those very same pies mysteriously went missing.

The towns population was of 500 residents.
Within one full year from those pies first disappearing, the entire town got diabetes.

Some say she cursed the entire townsfolk, condemning them all to suffer the disease.
Others say...
everyone in the town was stealing her pies and did it to themselves.

Either way, we will never know.

Any angst-laden teenagers in the house?

Ever heard of making ice with a solar oven?
You heat water in it throughout the day and by morning time you have ice. Has something to do with the heat dispersing into the cooler air after the sun goes down. The transfer of heat cools the water so much that it freezes.

I'm not certain this is what you experienced but it's very possible and probably the most logical explanation.

originally posted by: schuyler
Any angst-laden teenagers in the house?

Oh yeah, angst-laden teenager-induced poltergeist activity, for ONE MILLION dollars.

@OP: Hey, at least it was a few dishes...I had a roommate in college coat the ENTIRE sink in peanut butter because we left for the beach, house filled with dirty dishes. Why in the hell he did it after washing the dishes (he also took out like 8 bags of trash), is beyond paranormal. I still can’t wrap my head around why a 23-year old would wash all those dishes and then ‘teach us a lesson’ by smearing PB all over a double basin sink.

Interesting story and I believe sh$t like this happens but at least Atwater owned up to it as opposed to some poltergeist.

Best of luck coming up with a satisfactory explanation

a reply to: therainmaker

Clearly Maxwell's Demon.

This may sound wonky but I would suggest something that can't hurt and may not help but I like to do it anyway.

Pray over the dishwasher. The worst thing that can happen is someone will laugh at you if they see you.

a reply to: Justoneman

Dear Lord, bless this mechanical device which makes our lives easier. Cast out the demons which place unclean dishes and utensils within it after the cycle has completed.

Dirty dish demons, git!

Could have been me..

"Dear, did you put a DIRTY plate besides the CLEANED plates in the dishwasher? Again?"

"nnn..oooo?"

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: Justoneman

Dear Lord, bless this mechanical device which makes our lives easier. Cast out the demons which place unclean dishes and utensils within it after the cycle has completed.

Dirty dish demons, git!

OK, well with some sincerity. I know you can handle it though.

The POWER of the Cascade COMPELS you!

The POWER of the Cascade COMPELS you!

The POWER of the Cascade COMPELS you!

Thanks for all of the replies. Secretrooster, thank you especially, as that's something to look into.

This happened at 0230 and there were no children awake or near the kitchen for hours. I was in the kitchen and adjoining room alone doing cleaning and reorganizing for about five hours before the dishwasher finished its cycle. I loaded the dishwasher and I'm the first one who opened it after it finished. I was standing just a couple feet away during the last 45 minutes or so of the dishwasher's wash cycle until it was done, then I immediately popped it open to begin unloading it. Nobody else was nearby.