How to Find the Best French Fridge Freezer
If you're looking to add panache to your kitchen or you have a love for fresh food, the French door refrigerator can kick your culinary skills up a notch. To find the best one, take a look at your space and decide on your preferences and priorities.
Standout features include a door-mounted dispenser that delivers filtered water and ice at the push of a button, TwinChill evaporators that create customized climate zones, and a temperature-controlled drawer that doubles as additional fridge space.
Energy STAR (r)
Energy Star-certified refrigerators can help you save money on your energy bills and also reduce the environmental impact. This certification is a reliable indication of a refrigerator that has ENERGY STAR qualified insulation. This prevents leakage of cold air. This allows for the fridge's food to stay fresher longer.
The best French refrigerator freezers also have adjustable shelves and temperature-controlled drawers that let you customize the storage space. These options allow you to store items that require different temperatures, like meats and vegetables. You can also find refrigerators with built-in water dispensers, and drawers for storing deli meats and cheeses.
Refrigerators that have doors-in-door designs allow you to access items you frequently use without opening the whole fridge. This reduces cold air loss and keeps your food at a constant temperature and allows you to consume less energy. The ability to alter the temperature of the interior by pressing a button is another handy feature. This allows you to quickly grab snacks or drinks from the freezer.
Good Housekeeping's experts analyzed 12 of the most sought-after refrigerators for performance and functionality, including a variety of French-door models. They examined capacities as well as layout, energy efficiency, features and design to ensure they were of high-quality and worth the investment.
If you're in the market for a new refrigerator make sure you choose the one that will fit your kitchen and your lifestyle. It's important to measure the width and height of your space before you buy, says Jessica Petrino Ball, who runs the education program for appliance retailer AJ Madison. This will ensure that the refrigerator will fit in your space and also through your doors and hallways.
The GE Cafe French Door Bottom-Freezer Fridge will elevate your kitchen with its sleek design. This counter-depth fridge comes with an elegant stainless steel finish with adjustable bar handles to complement your cabinets. Its dual cooling system allows it to be more flexible and manage temperature better than many freestanding refrigerators. The fridge utilizes two cooling elements to circulate cold air between the freezer and fridge which prevents odor transfer and keeps your food and beverages at a perfect temperature.
Sleek Design
A French-door refrigerator is sleeker than other refrigerators and often integrated into kitchen cabinets for a seamless appearance. Some models feature an exterior of stainless steel which is clean to reduce fingerprint marks. Some models also have doors that can be used to store water and ice, which reduces the loss of cold air to ensure energy savings and better temperature control.
These refrigerators tend to be more expensive, but are worth the price because of their ease of use and sleek appearance. The GE PVD28BYNFS, as an instance, has a large interior with an entire width deli drawer for storing cured foods and a PureAir Ultra II filter to eliminate odors. This is especially beneficial for those with allergies that are sensitive. The fridge features a digital temperature display to ensure precision and a door-in-door design that reduces energy consumption, helping to save money over the course of time.
The Bosch counter depth French-door refrigerator is another option that has the best of both. It is designed to sit perfectly against counters to give an elegant and sleek appearance. It comes with a matte finish that doesn't let fingerprints or smudges show. The fridge is spacious enough to store all your food items and tall bottles of drinks. This model doesn't have an open-door dispenser, however it does have an internal filtered water dispenser for easy access and TwinChill evaporators that can be customized to suit your climate zones.
If you're looking to buy a luxury refrigerator that's also a stylish addition to your home, look into the Cafe models from GE Appliances. These refrigerators come with extras like a wide range of handle finishes to match your kitchen and your personal style. These fridges also performed well in our lab tests and have the storage features that you require to keep your groceries fresh and organized.
This LG model might not be as costly as other options, but still offers plenty of storage and gorgeous exterior. The interior is spacious, with shelves that can be adjusted and bins that enable flexible configurations. The freezer features a full-width drawer that can be used for short-term storage of groceries and plenty of room in the door shelves to hold large items like wine bottles.
Convenient Organization
A refrigerator that is organized well lets you store and retrieve food items and beverages more efficiently, which can reduce waste and improve the functionality of your kitchen. By reviewing and adjusting regularly your refrigerator's organization strategy to maximize space and create a user-friendly, efficient environment.
With their convenient door-in-door design and temperature-controlled drawers, French door fridge freezers are ideal for storing a variety of foods and ingredients. To get the most value out of your fridge, you should organize your items into zones. This makes them easier to find and prevent food from getting hidden or lost. The upper shelves should be reserved for drinks, ready-to eat food items like deli-meats, milk and leftovers. Lower shelves are great for raw foods that are going to be cooked, like meats or poultry. They should be stored in the coldest area to avoid cross contamination. Crisper drawers are great to store fruits and vegetables with adjustable humidity settings to accommodate varying produce types.
Adjustable shelving and door bins are also useful to store food items or beverage containers. Dividers can be used to keep different kinds of ingredients in the same space. Label each bin or container so that it's easy to recognize. This makes it easy to find a particular recipe or drink you like when you're low on ingredients and reducing the need to visit the grocery store.
A well-organized fridge not just looks great but can enhance the functionality of your kitchen. It can also increase the lifespan of your food. By regularly assessing and adjusting the arrangement of your fridge, you can keep the temperature at a suitable level and avoid freezing and defrosting too much food items, and also avoid contamination by other items in the freezer. To have a more efficient fridge experience, consider choosing one that has an integrated ice maker and water dispenser that eliminates the need for an external ice machine. This eliminates the need to keep a jug of filter water bottles on the counter and replenish it when it is empty. These features can help reduce energy consumption as they let you use less water and ice when filling your glass.
Flexibility
French-door fridges are designed with sleek design that enhances kitchens and boosts the resale value. These fridges are also equipped with cutting-edge technology and features to help save food which make them ideal for households of all sizes. These top-rated refrigerators scored well in the Good Housekeeping Institute's latest refrigerator test for temperature control, uniformity freshness of food, and the ease of use.
If french door fridge freezer love the look of a traditional French refrigerator, you should consider this high-end model from Viking that offers plenty of storage space in an ultra-compact design that fits perfectly in tight spaces. The door-indoor feature lets you grab drinks and snacks with just one pull. The shelves that can be adjusted accommodate various types of food. The crisper drawers of this fridge have a humidity-control system to keep food fresher for longer.
The GE Cafe refrigerator line is an absolute standout due to its sleek design and flexible options. You can pick the matte white or black exterior, and then change the color of handles to match your cabinet hardware. The doors open with an easy-close mechanism that ensures smooth operation, and the handles can be replaced with copper, brushed bronze, black or stainless steel to blend seamlessly into your kitchen design. This counter-depth refrigerator is Wi-Fi-connected which allows you to control various functions with your smartphone app.
Another GE option, the four-door Cafe CVE28DP4NW2 has an innovative temperature-controlled drawer in between the fridge and freezer for items that need to be kept at a specific temperature (like kids' snacks and wine). The EvenTemp cooling system reduces freezer burn through a continuous circulation of cool air. Its PureAir Ultra II odor filters eliminate unwanted smells.
Aside from its modern, sleek design, this refrigerator from LG is extremely adaptable and has tons of clever features. The LED lighting is strategically placed throughout the interior, and the shelves can be moved around to accommodate various types of foods. The edges of the shelves are spill-proof to stop drips and reduce mess. The refrigerator is ENERGY STAR certified which means you'll be able to save money on electricity, and is better for the environment.