Hmm, I've just been spraying them with "flat" or "jet" streams from a hose sprayer, and scrubbing with a green nylon scrubber wrapped around a finger. Your idea sounds better.
Often, after I get all the visible soil and salts off a lot of pots and trays, I'll do one dishwasher run for all of them.
With the racks stuffed full and plenty of dishwasher detergent, , I'll let it run for 2-3 minutes. Then I take out the soapy ones and stuff the racks again with the next batch of hose-cleaned pots and trays. Run that for 2-3 minutes. Repeat.
My dishwasher has three stages (pre-wash, wash and rinse). I make sure there is detergent in it for each phase, including rinse. I can get at least 5 batches washed that way with one dishwasher"run". I think the caustic soap is good for knocking out soil diseases and whatever.
Meanwhile I let the ones I took out "soak" in the detergent, like in a big plastic bag.
When they've ALL been through the dishwasher, I take the bag outside and rinse them with the hose sprayer on "Flat" and "Mist". Someone suggested making a chicken-wire "corral" so I could blast them all at once without them getting away. That sounds smart, but I haven't had a chance to test it yet. \
