The Candy L5 made from Dicember 1966 (the Christmas present of the year) until 1969 is the “little sister” of the Candy Stipomatic (see the video of it here on my channel) of which has many features such as the double doors and the 4 programs selection and the first Candy dishwasher having standard dimensions to fit undercounter. It was available in four versions, the classic white free standing and 3 different undercounter models: white classic, stainless steel (polished translucent finishing first then the satin version was added) and the very peculiar red version designed to match the coordinated elements of a very expensive all electric automatic custom made “kitchen of the future”… those were the space age dream days… along with these versions there was another called BLOCK 101 which was a white “uniblock” sink-dishwasher combination; in this video is shown the Inox Satin Undercounter version. The name Candy L5 means “Candy Dishwasher per 5” (Candy Lavastoviglie per 5… in Italian) and it refers to the fact that the machine had been designed to load exactly all of the tableware and kitchen utensils used by the typical Italian family of 5 (Parents and 3 Children) for either lunch or dinner… the machine was intended to be used twice a day considering that in those days parents were still able to come home for lunch at midday and then go back to work in the afternoon. The upper rack was then organized to fit the typical Italian meal table setting, which has never change since then so it would be perfect even for nowadays, and her it is: 5 deep dishes for the first course, 5 normal dishes for the second course, 5 smaller desert dishes, 5 water glasses (wine glasses are used in more important/formal occasions not for everyday family meals) 5 complete coffee sets (coffee dish + coffee cup) and of course silverware for 5. All this fit perfectly in the upper rack which, like in the Candy Stipomatic (see video here on my channel) has two handles that facilitate its extraction from the machine to be carried on the dining table bringing everything necessary to set the table. The lower rack was similarly organized to fit the typical kitchen utensils needed to cook a typical Italian meal for 5 and here is what in 99% of cases is used to accomplish the task: 1 deep pot for boiling pasta or ravioli or tortellini or gnocchi or… (ahah what a surprise…) or 1 less deep pot for making “risotto” (more in use here in northern Italy) 1 middle size saucepan for the pasta sauce, of course, one big pan for cooking the second course that could be either meat or fish or vegetables and a smaller pot or frying pan for the second course side dish, other things used are pot covers, serving dishes and kitchen utensils such as the “colapasta” which is the tool to drain the water from pasta… this to explain that the Candy L5 was specially designed for this kind of load so that it would have been perfect for the need of the average Italian family form North to South, the perfect dishwasher that comes true! About the more technical features it has 4 automatic programs: 1 Intensive (warm prewash, hot main wash, 3 rinses and drying), 2 Normal (Hot main wash, 3 rinses and drying) 3 delicate or light soiled load (warm main wash, 3 rinses and drying) 4 dish warmer cycle (it performs a single hot rinse followed by an active drying cycle). The new feature of the Candy L5 was the water softener which was mounted on every machine and not as an optional component on request so that the final washing results were far superior then most of the other makes though the machine didn’t have the automatic rinse aid dispenser yet. The L5 mounts a unique vertical main pump which is different from those commonly in use at the time, in the Candy L5 the hydraulic side of the pump is designed to be much less noisy and much more effective so that the 400watts pump generates water power jets like those of an ordinary 550watts dishwasher pump. This was another plus of the L5 being less noisy and using less electricity but still very powerful and effective in cleaning. Finally, at the time a must for Candy was the high standard aesthetic design made by famous designers, most of the Candy machines were mentioned in design magazines over the time or have been awarded with important design awards and many are still part of the permanent exhibition of design museums as an example of Italian design. The L5 took advantage of this tradition, the aesthetic differences from one version to another are a mixture of variations in the color of the main structure and the side dashboard to create contrasts so that the machine is never an anonymous element but a component to be shown which adds character to the aesthetic of the entire kitchen.
