Legit kitchen appliances & accessories

[jimmyjazz 45609]

It is my solemn opinion that all big box grade appliances suck ass.  Spin the wheel, take what you get.

[Okie State 3789]

It is my solemn opinion that all big box grade appliances suck ass.  Spin the wheel, take what you get.

This is true.

[CooterBrown 17944]

Someone tell me what counterdepth fridge won’t suck. I am getting Samsung to buy a two year old model back from me becsue they can’t repair it/can’t exchange it. So I’m getting the whole purchase price refunded to me. So obviously no Samsung. 
 
The Fridge needs to be stainless to match our other appliances (we inherited GE profile appliances that were about 15 years old when we bought the house, have replaced the dishwasher (KitchenAid) and fridge since then), and I need a legit ice maker. Other than that, I’m open. 

Get an under the counter ice maker if you need more than 6 cups of ice at a time.

[SydneyCarton 47935]

12 hours ago, Okie State said:

We've had a counter depth KitchenAid for about 7 years that has been solid so far. Looks pretty nice and does what we need it to do. It'll probably die now that I say that.

My mom gave me her old KitchenAid mixer awhile back...the one she got at her wedding in the 60's. The thing probably weights 50 lbs and still runs like a fucking champ. It's amazing how well a) KitchenAids are made and b) how much better everything was made decades ago in terms of being built to last. 

[Chopper 17174]

13 hours ago, hornian said:

Someone tell me what counterdepth fridge won’t suck. I am getting Samsung to buy a two year old model back from me becsue they can’t repair it/can’t exchange it. So I’m getting the whole purchase price refunded to me. So obviously no Samsung.

We just renovated our kitchen and were stuck with a small footprint so I have a lot of thoughts about appliances. The 800 series Bosch gets a strong rec. from me. Get the no fingerprint option if available, or if you don't mind frequently wiping it off. Also the version with a separate exterior drawer for fruit and veg that really does keep things fresher, longer, has an interior cold water dispenser. I also like that the shelves attached to the french-style doors are nice and wide. It's been very functional despite the relatively small size.

[Texzilla58 4718]

I’m going with Kitchenaid fridges these days unless you’re spending for a SubZero type.

If you want to avoid reefer problems stay away from French doors. Especially with a door mounted ice maker. 34 degrees and ice don’t mix. Appliances used to be eternal. Cheap compressors killed that concept.

[NoName 16333]

13 minutes ago, Texzilla58 said:

If you want to avoid reefer problems stay away from French doors. Especially with a door mounted ice maker. 34 degrees and ice don’t mix. Appliances used to be eternal. Cheap compressors killed that concept.

forget where i read it (consumer reports?) but when we last purchased one it basically said one of the top issues with modern fridges these days has to do with door mounted ice makers. didn't care about external ice maker but did want a water dispenser...so found a fridge with one inside, a win-win.

[C-Man 27083]

We've been thinking about getting a new refrigerator for more than a year. We "inherited" a side-by-side when we bought the house six years ago. Well, it developed a leak in the line from the wall to the ice/water dispenser which slowly leaked over time. Finally pushed out past the cabinets and led to an insurance claim that is at $65K and climbing. We will finally pull the trigger on a new fridge -- wife and I want the French doors with the freezer below. Our contractor friend said KitchenAid or nothing (unless you're going big-time with SubZero or something -- we're not going Sub-Zero or something).

[jimmyjazz 45609]

18 minutes ago, C-Man said:

We've been thinking about getting a new refrigerator for more than a year. We "inherited" a side-by-side when we bought the house six years ago. Well, it developed a leak in the line from the wall to the ice/water dispenser which slowly leaked over time. Finally pushed out past the cabinets and led to an insurance claim that is at $65K and climbing.

Good god, what got damaged?

[C-Man 27083]

38 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Good god, what got damaged?

Wood floors underneath the cabinets and then the cabinets under the cooktop were ruined/buckled. About half the wood flooring in the kitchen had to be replaced. Our downstairs is one continuous section of hardwood floors so they're going to have to sand and stain the entire downstairs to make it match. The water also got under the common wall from kitchen to our master bedroom so that carpet had to be replaced. We're replacing carpet with wood in there, which we always planned on doing anyway. (We are paying the difference to move from replacement carpet to wood.)

Carrier is paying to paint the entire lower level to make everything match as well. We are having to have the entirety of our downstairs furniture/furnishings moved and stored (half has been gone for 3 weeks already, the other half goes next week so they can sand/stain the floors). We'll have to move into VRBO for week to 10 days at that point.

(Did I mention I've got good insurance?)

[baboso 6052]

Bought a KitchenAid french door cabinet depth six years ago.  Still working like a champ, no issues whatsoever.  Freezer below, no ice in the door (have to scoop it out of the bin) and water dispenser inside the fridge on a side wall.  Replaced a piece of shit Samsung that the ice maker went out on twice.  First time, 14 days after the warranty expired; $600 to replace.  Second time, I said fuck it and had a plumber run a water line to the old Whirlpool side by side in the garage (beer fridge) and used that to make ice.

[jimmyjazz 45609]

2 minutes ago, C-Man said:

(Did I mention I've got good insurance?)

I'm just hoping you sold me the same policy!

[C-Man 27083]

Just now, jimmyjazz said:

I'm just hoping you sold me the same policy!

LOL. If not the same one, pretty close to it I'm sure! (Who do we have you with now?)

It's wild -- this is the first homeowner claim I've ever experienced personally. I've had clients go through dozens and dozens. Getting the actual payment in hand took a little longer than I would've hoped but Vault has been extremely generous with the amount paid to this point. It's been somewhat satisfying to have my wife now realize why we've been paying a little more for our insurance than if we'd gone the cheapest option route as our mortgage broker suggested.

[Chopper 17174]

A 7 year old Kitchen Aid is what we use for our garage fridge after taking it out of the kitchen because its temperature was totally unreliable and would freeze things even on the top shelf as we moved the temp setting up a click or two at a time. The shelving configuration/interior also sucked for our purposes. The idea that KA is some high quality brand isn't backed up by the facts afaik. If you eat a lot of fruit and veg the dedicated drawer in the split door style has been working great for us.

edit Wirecutter has a guide comparing the major brands but they don't offer a top pick because what people want in a fridge is very subjective. As mentioned above they do steer away from in-door ice dispensers. If you can't get past the pw I'm happy to gift a link if you want.

Edited September 6, 2022 by Chopper

[Chopper 17174]

this bit about reliability is from a longer blog article by a New England based retailer who also services the appliances they sell https://blog.yaleappliance.com/most-reliable-counter-depth-french-door-refrigerators

edit - the author cautions against Samsung in case you don't read the entire article

 

Edited September 6, 2022 by Chopper

[C-Man 27083]

4 hours ago, Chopper said:

this bit about reliability is from a longer blog article by a New England based retailer who also services the appliances they sell https://blog.yaleappliance.com/most-reliable-counter-depth-french-door-refrigerators

edit - the author cautions against Samsung in case you don't read the entire article

 

Interesting -- I've heard complaint after complaint WRT to Samsung. Seems LG has a pretty good following.

Also, as it comes to the in-door ice makers/water dispensers are the issues with them just no longer working? The ice hasn't worked in our Frigidaire at this house since we moved in. We stayed with my brother and SIL in SA this weekend and their ice maker didn't work either. Or are we talking about fucking up other shit?

[dcbc 14442]

22 minutes ago, C-Man said:

Interesting -- I've heard complaint after complaint WRT to Samsung. Seems LG has a pretty good following.

Also, as it comes to the in-door ice makers/water dispensers are the issues with them just no longer working? The ice hasn't worked in our Frigidaire at this house since we moved in. We stayed with my brother and SIL in SA this weekend and their ice maker didn't work either. Or are we talking about fucking up other shit?

I think LG has stepped up its game in recent years.  We bought an LG in wall oven combo last year out of necessity (as in you had to take what you could get because everything was on container ships).  I hope we have better luck with it than we did with our front loader washer.  Second iteration of that washer seems to be doing better and supposedly is easier to service at whatever point it goes belly up. 

 

Current fridge is a Whirlpool side by side counter depth.  After that POS GE French door, I'll never own another French Door fridge. 

Edited September 6, 2022 by dcbc

[tigol 2383]

2 hours ago, dcbc said:

I think LG has stepped up its game in recent years.  We bought an LG in wall oven combo last year out of necessity (as in you had to take what you could get because everything was on container ships).  I hope we have better luck with it than we did with our front loader washer.  Second iteration of that washer seems to be doing better and supposedly is easier to service at whatever point it goes belly up. 

 

Current fridge is a Whirlpool side by side counter depth.  After that POS GE French door, I'll never own another French Door fridge. 

I'll second the Whirlpool side by side.  We also have Maytag washer (top loader with agitator)/dryer combo.  I think Whirlpool owns Kitchen Aid and Maytag, but I could be mistaken.  Kitchen Aid Induction range has been fun.  There are some drawbacks compared to gas that have already been mentioned, but it's been fun to learn and I do like that I have to be a bit careful with it.  It saves some cleaning up and I like having a clean kitchen/range before I go to bed at night.  

We also have a GE dishwasher that's probably around 4 years old at this point.  Love it, but a friend of mine has a Miele.  I love the LED light features in the tub.  They are both quiet to operate.  

If you're patient and/or not in a hurry, I used this vendor.  Reading the reviews I understood the risks.  Saved at least $1500, all told.  

https://www.appliancesconnection.com/

[dcbc 14442]

40 minutes ago, tigol said:

Kitchen Aid Induction range has been fun.  There are some drawbacks compared to gas that have already been mentioned, but it's been fun to learn and I do like that I have to be a bit careful with it.  It saves some cleaning up and I like having a clean kitchen/range before I go to bed at night.  

We use silpats (thin silicone round baking pads) under our pans and it saves it from scratches and makes cleanup even easier.  One caveat, running high heat on cast iron did ruin one of the silpats, but the pan and cooktop were fine.  For most things, they're great.

Edited September 7, 2022 by dcbc

[tigol 2383]

3 minutes ago, dcbc said:

We use silpats (thin silicone round baking pads) under our pans and it saves it from scratches and makes cleanup even easier.  One caveat, running high heat on cast iron did ruin one of the silpats, but the pan and cooktop were fine.  For most things, they're great.

I bought some on Amazon based on your recommendation, but I didn't buy the specific brand you linked.  The ones that I bought left a bit of a haze, but it seems to be fading now.  Lesson learned.  Listen to dcbc with the links.

[dcbc 14442]

2 minutes ago, tigol said:

I bought some on Amazon based on your recommendation, but I didn't buy the specific brand you linked.  The ones that I bought left a bit of a haze, but it seems to be fading now.  Lesson learned.  Listen to dcbc with the links.

I'm not particular with the brand necessarily.  Some have a little looser mesh and you might get a little grid pattern.  But when it happens, it wipes off pretty easily.  They're usually good for a couple of years.  Other thing with ours is that whenever I hear the fan kick on or know I'm going to be doing a long simmer or stir fry (or roux), I pull the little tip out tray hinged pieces under our cook top to vent.  Seems to help.  Anything to get all the longevity I can out of this thing.

 

[Texzilla58 4718]

Nothing wrong with door mounted ice dispensers on side by sides. It’s in the fucking freezer.

French door ice makers in the door don’t work because it’s in the fridge. Also french doors are an issue if you are a fridge starer. Be honest. If you’re one that will open both doors and stare at the great expanse figuring out what to make or eat, you’re killing that compressor. Especially if it’s the cheap shit compressors Samsung uses.

[Okie State 3789]

Why would opening both doors on a French door be more of an issue than opening the single door on a side by side or column?

I like the French door setup better than a side by side, but would prefer a column over both if I had the room.

[dcbc 14442]

My issue with the French Door fridge/freezer combo is that I hate the drawer.  Shit gets thrown in there, stacked, smashed, and lost.  I'll take shelves and not having to bend over for frozables and ice.

[NoName 16333]

13 hours ago, dcbc said:

I think LG has stepped up its game in recent years.  We bought an LG in wall oven combo last year out of necessity (as in you had to take what you could get because everything was on container ships).  I hope we have better luck with it than we did with our front loader washer.  Second iteration of that washer seems to be doing better and supposedly is easier to service at whatever point it goes belly up. 

 

Current fridge is a Whirlpool side by side counter depth.  After that POS GE French door, I'll never own another French Door fridge. 

this was our experience too. LG was all we could get of the options i liked.

@C-Man want me to send you the consumer reports rankings for fridges? how big of one are you looking for width wise

[Chopper 17174]

13 hours ago, tigol said:

If you're patient and/or not in a hurry, I used this vendor.  Reading the reviews I understood the risks.  Saved at least $1500, all told.  

https://www.appliancesconnection.com/

That was where I found a w&d at the height of the pandemic inventory shortage for those appliances. It's a long and boring story about me having to dispute the full transaction price (w&d plus pedestals) because they delivered and re-delivered highly damaged pedestals, Amex agreeing with me and crediting me back the full amount of the purchase, and Appliances Connection then either missing a 1 year deadline to tell their side, or successfully explain why at least some of the charges were legit (like for the actual w&d). So I got the w&d for free and then had to buy the pedestals elsewhere. "Saved" at least $5k but paid for that with a few months of frustrating phone calls and messages with their customer service.

Edited September 7, 2022 by Chopper

[gsoda3 3238]

21 hours ago, C-Man said:

We've been thinking about getting a new refrigerator for more than a year. We "inherited" a side-by-side when we bought the house six years ago. Well, it developed a leak in the line from the wall to the ice/water dispenser which slowly leaked over time. Finally pushed out past the cabinets and led to an insurance claim that is at $65K and climbing. We will finally pull the trigger on a new fridge -- wife and I want the French doors with the freezer below. Our contractor friend said KitchenAid or nothing (unless you're going big-time with SubZero or something -- we're not going Sub-Zero or something).

exact same thing happened to us in 2015 except our fridge was already a french door with the freezer on bottom.  ended up costing a little over $50 in damage after everything was paid out (entire kitchen and adjacent dining rooms were redone).  we kept the refrigerator but kept the water line unplugged and got a counter top ice maker.  

[C-Man 27083]

3 hours ago, NoName said:

this was our experience too. LG was all we could get of the options i liked.

@C-Man want me to send you the consumer reports rankings for fridges? how big of one are you looking for width wise

Sure, I'd love to see it.

I think the width of the space there is large enough to accommodate 36" or so, which I think is pretty standard.

(And I lied -- our current refrigerator is a GE side-by-side. Works fine once you replace the nylon cord from the wall with braided stainless steel. And the ice maker has never worked.

Edited September 7, 2022 by C-Man

[harold 81]

On 9/5/2022 at 7:51 PM, hornian said:

Someone tell me what counterdepth fridge won’t suck. I am getting Samsung to buy a two year old model back from me becsue they can’t repair it/can’t exchange it. So I’m getting the whole purchase price refunded to me. So obviously no Samsung. 
 

The Fridge needs to be stainless to match our other appliances (we inherited GE profile appliances that were about 15 years old when we bought the house, have replaced the dishwasher (KitchenAid) and fridge since then), and I need a legit ice maker. Other than that, I’m open. 

Our counter depth KitchenAid is surprisingly roomy and had no issues for 3 years now.

[dcbc 14442]

2 hours ago, C-Man said:

And the ice maker has never worked.

Just a dumb question.  But if you remove the ice tray/container, is there an on/off rocker switch back there?

[C-Man 27083]

4 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Just a dumb question.  But if you remove the ice tray/container, is there an on/off rocker switch back there?

Yeah, we tried that a long time ago.

[dcbc 14442]

20 minutes ago, C-Man said:

Yeah, we tried that a long time ago.

Just checking. 

[Texzilla58 4718]

Regardless of fridge type, make sure your water valve is up to speed and use a stainless steel braided hose.

My mother bought a new reefer from Conn’s by phone some years back. I told her to upgrade the hose; she must have forgot. I don’t have the receipt. Anyway when Covid started I moved her in with her boyfriend. Went to pick up her mail in August of 20 while she was in the hospital. Heard a noise, went to side of house and water was pouring out. Went inside to over a foot of water, with mold up the walls, and big dead rats floating around. She passed soon after and thank his she had great insurance. The house was flooded for months, bottom floor had to go to the studs, most furnishings destroyed. Cause: pinhole leak in nylon ice maker hose.

[C-Man 27083]

50 minutes ago, Texzilla58 said:

Regardless of fridge type, make sure your water valve is up to speed and use a stainless steel braided hose.

My mother bought a new reefer from Conn’s by phone some years back. I told her to upgrade the hose; she must have forgot. I don’t have the receipt. Anyway when Covid started I moved her in with her boyfriend. Went to pick up her mail in August of 20 while she was in the hospital. Heard a noise, went to side of house and water was pouring out. Went inside to over a foot of water, with mold up the walls, and big dead rats floating around. She passed soon after and thank his she had great insurance. The house was flooded for months, bottom floor had to go to the studs, most furnishings destroyed. Cause: pinhole leak in nylon ice maker hose.

That's what caused our current water loss. In every inspection that our high net worth carriers do, one recommendation that is always on there is change all hoses from the wall to the toilet to braided steel. Add in all hoses in your house that carry water that can have braided steel -- and change those. It's a $20 part for your refrigerator.

[dcbc 14442]

1 hour ago, C-Man said:

That's what caused our current water loss. In every inspection that our high net worth carriers do, one recommendation that is always on there is change all hoses from the wall to the toilet to braided steel. Add in all hoses in your house that carry water that can have braided steel -- and change those. It's a $20 part for your refrigerator.

On our old GE, the nylon water line on the fridge side of things broke/cracked several times.  Fortunately, the spillage ended up in the pan and we noticed quickly.  I made a few quick push on connector repairs during its short life before the motherboard crapped out and we scrapped it.  Line to the fridge is copper.

 

If you want a fridge that is bullet proof, look for a 2001 GE mid range side by side model.  Ours is still going strong in the garage (knocks wood). 

[Okie State 3789]

So what I'm reading is to replace my fridge water line before reinstalling it into brand new cabinets.

[tigol 2383]

We have braided steel hoses on everything (hopefully) and we still turn the water off at the street if we're going to be gone more than a couple of days.  I used to think it was overkill, but I've read too many of these stories.  

[C-Man 27083]

21 minutes ago, tigol said:

We have braided steel hoses on everything (hopefully) and we still turn the water off at the street if we're going to be gone more than a couple of days.  I used to think it was overkill, but I've read too many of these stories.  

LOL -- we did that this past weekend when we went to SA for one of REK's final shows at Floore's. My wife read something that said if you're going to be gone longer than 24 hours, not a bad idea to turn the water off at the street. Our contractor/buddy said it's not a bad idea at all!

[conVINCEd 21468]

38 minutes ago, C-Man said:

LOL -- we did that this past weekend when we went to SA for one of REK's final shows at Floore's. My wife read something that said if you're going to be gone longer than 24 hours, not a bad idea to turn the water off at the street. Our contractor/buddy said it's not a bad idea at all!

Can you do that yourself?  I feel like the last time I needed to do it you needed a special key that I couldn’t locate so I called a plumber.  

[dcbc 14442]

A legit kitchen appliance.

 

 

Water Shutoff Key

[conVINCEd 21468]

I couldn’t find one on short notice.  Xmas eve.  MIL to be in town.  Fun times.

[Okie State 3789]

You can use pliars or a wrench, but get a key if you plan to do it semi-regularly

[tigol 2383]

We also turned it off during the freeze and drained the lines (collected water in buckets) when we knew it was going to be nasty.  Saved our pipes.

Edited September 8, 2022 by tigol

[Anastasis 23403]

Most house will have a valve they can be turned by hand on the house side of the meter. But having a key is always a good thing too. 

[shnsajax 3590]

3 hours ago, dcbc said:

A legit kitchen appliance.

 

 

Water Shutoff Key

Another one that my wife has no clue as to what its for. 

[shnsajax 3590]

16 hours ago, NoName said:

this was our experience too. LG was all we could get of the options i liked.

@C-Man want me to send you the consumer reports rankings for fridges? how big of one are you looking for width wise

Feel like every major applicance we have bought (tv's included) have been LG the past 10-12 years.

[C-Man 27083]

11 hours ago, conVINCEd said:

Can you do that yourself?  I feel like the last time I needed to do it you needed a special key that I couldn’t locate so I called a plumber.  

To get the "manhole" cover off in Dallas you need a special "key" to lift it off. Once you do that, you can use whatever to turn the water off.

We bought the wrong key off Amazon after 2021's Snowmaggedon but had a plumber out for something else and he basically broke ours. If the city fixes it, we'll need a key again but for now, we're good.

[dcbc 14442]

35 minutes ago, C-Man said:

To get the "manhole" cover off in Dallas you need a special "key" to lift it off. Once you do that, you can use whatever to turn the water off.

We bought the wrong key off Amazon after 2021's Snowmaggedon but had a plumber out for something else and he basically broke ours. If the city fixes it, we'll need a key again but for now, we're good.

So you guys are turning it off at the street?  Our shutoff to the house is in our flower bed. 

[Jerry Callo 8670]

We have the City shutoff near the sidewalk and then the homeowner shut off a foot closer to the house.  I didn't even know the homeowner one existed as it was buried under grass and dirt.

 

[C-Man 27083]

2 hours ago, dcbc said:

So you guys are turning it off at the street?  Our shutoff to the house is in our flower bed. 

We shut ours off at the street (well several yards in off the street in the front yard). If there's one closer to the house, I'm not sure where it is.

We are going to consider installing an auto water shutoff device (such as FLO by Moen) as well.

Edited September 8, 2022 by C-Man