Professional Refrigerators

SubZero manufactured the first professional refrigerator back in the 50s. With the building boom in the last 20 years (deduct the last 2.5), every manufacturer produced these ultra high end refrigerators.

I have always defined a professional refrigerator simply as products with compressors on the top like a commercial refrigerator.

Here is what they look like and what to look for...

SubZero

Viking

Thermador (Bosch, Gaggenau, Miele have the same box with different interior)

Monogram

KitchenAid

Liebherr

The best of the bunch is still SubZero with 2 compressors, the best seal and temperature control. In 2009, they added an air scrubber to keep food fresher and an advanced water purifier as well. However, there are less expensive alternatives...Here are the best of the rest.

Bosch, Thermador, Miele, Gaggenau: This is an integrated refrigerator, which is really great looking with panels as it blends perfectly.

Liebherr: This German company is also the greenest and has some interesting configurations of products.

Viking: Bought Amana's tooling 10 years ago, and has finally righted the ship

Buying Tip:

1. Rebates: Even the venerable SubZero company has one when combined with their sister company Wolf...There is not a huge price spread between all of them and features have been replicated.

2. Panel Vs Stainless: Look at the product with both.

3. Repair: Insure there is service available....it is different than fixing a regular fridge.

4. Price shock? Consider a regular shallow (non top compressor) refrigerator and save $5,000 plus.

New Stuff

Hard to believe another new products show is over. The highlight of the appliance year has passed...

Here are the showstoppers:

Heartland...I like the look unsure about the niche.

New Bertazzoni wall oven with an iPod-type panel.

New Weber grills with wok burners and islands...very like-able. (Does this company dominate or what?)

Maytag 4 door refrigerator...reasonably priced.

Samsung.

Capital Range 5 burner commercial 30 inch top.

Liebherr through the wall wine coolers....nice but expensive.

Kind of disappointing......

Cigars And 3 Wine Cooler Considerations

Walked around the showroom and saw this little novelty...

Its a humidor from Liehberr. Cigars need to be kept in a moist environment or they dry out, which is not optimum...This is a cool unit assuming, of course, you like cigars.

Once upon a time, a wine storage company stuck a humidor in their unit, which is not a good idea. Unless you want your wine to taste like your stogie.

Since wine is living grapes, it is sensitive to everything. In order to buy the right wine cooler for long term storage, it must do the following:

1. Protect against light. Some wine coolers have a low E door, which will block UV and other harmful rays.

2. Vibration will alter the wines composition (a nice way of saying "ruining it"). SubZero insulates their compressor on grommets, so the unit will not shake when cycling. For those who have less than 3,000 to spend, just insure the racks glide out to minimize vibration.

3. Temperature/Humidity control: Heat and humidity will, once again, kill wine. Humidity is a double edged sword. Too much and the labels peel. Too little and the cork will dry and allow air into the wine. Only a few companies actually have accurate temperature controls...You want 2, one for white and red.

Shallow Depth Refrigeration

This site is tied in with Google Analytics. Yesterday, I was looking at keyword search details, and 7 out of the 10 reasons people look at our blog in the last 30 days is for shallow depth refrigeration, which may be a good reason for a post.

Quite honestly, shallow depth looks aesthetically cleaner in a kitchen, as the black or gray sides are not shown. The refrigerator is 24 inches deep, so it is also dimensionally similar to standard cabinets.

There are two types of shallow depth products: Regular (there is no official name for this) and integrated.

Regular shallow depth products are 24 inches deep plus the door. This is the largest segment of the shallow depth category. It includes SubZero, KitchenAid, GE among others...



Integrated fits within a 24 inch panel and is best for paneled applications. Best brands include: Thermador, Liebherr, Miele, Gaggenau and SubZero...

Even More New Stuff

Go away for a couple of weeks and see the store change. Maybe they are telling me something. Anyway have a look at a brand new line for Yale called Liebherr:



I actually really like this line. First, Liebherr is the Greenest appliance company in the world. They were the first company to eliminate CFCs in 1993, and have virtually eliminated hazardous substances out of their manufacturing process.

Liebherr also fills a niche of people who want a little better piece than a built in without having to pay for a SubZero. Look at their french door bottom mount and 48 inch combination side by side.