Stainless Steel fridges with bottom pull out freezers

[dorriP]

We are still in the market for a fridge. I've read reviews that some people love their bottom freezers, yet all those I personally know who have one, do not recommend them, because of less space, not being able to put in a large pizza box, ice crystals falling from the basket to the floor below, having to take out all the stuff to get to the thing on the bottom and more. Also hear complaints about the exterior being hard to keep clean because of finger prints. If you own one, or know someone that does, how do you find it? I would like to hear your reviews?

[1bagger]

We have a Fisher Paykel for 3 years now . Love it . A simple inside design . Our kitchen is a bit tight from the fridge front to the counter top across is only 46" so having 2 doors works great . Yes we tend to open both doors almost every time but it still saves space . Prior to the Fisher Paykel we had a Kenmore single refridgerator door above and pull out freezer below . The overall size of the Kenmore was much larger but the same or less usable space inside .

[Mars2012]

We have a side x side that is faced with stainless steel panels. It is harder to keep fingerprints and marks/drips from marring the surface, but you learn to live with it. I do give it a pretty regular scrubbing with window cleaner and some elbow grease. The surface isn't magnetic, so we keep from cluttering it up that way anyway. My sister has the configuration of fridge (with freezer at the bottom) you are considering, and she loves it...but I think you need to get one with the appropriate cubic footage so that you aren't limited by space if your family is large.

[granto]

I've owned a bottom mount fridge for over 14 years. I just replaced it with a 28cuft Samsung that has a drawer (previous one had a swinging door) and it is much easier to use. I don't buy frozen pizzas but there is plenty of space in the freezer for my needs.

[goofball]

No problems here with ice or putting in pizza. I've put in plenty of the thin crust pizza's among other things. I do have a chest freezer for other items as I do cut my own meat from time to time so I need the space and with 2 kids, there is no freezer in a fridge setup that would ever be enough space.

[will888]

Yeah, the slide out takes up a lot of space. Getting stuff from the fridge is a lot easier. So, it is a compromise. Having an upright freezer as a backup is a must if you go with this format.

[dorriP]

Our kitchen isn't all that big, and the fridge would be sitting right next to a doorway so we can't have the fridge measurements extending too deep past the counter. We did see a samsung with French doors and bottom freezer that was counter depth or a little over, but unfortunately the inner fridge didn't have much room so we will pass on that one. We've looked at the odd upper freezer, although there are very few, and also the side by side which may work in our kitchen, but we need to pick something that does have space inside. Right now I have an old kenmore with upper freezer that has more more space overall on the inside than the new ones, and surprisingly it takes much less exterior space as well. Guess back then, they were more concerned about the use, than they had with looks. Unfortunately it uses a lot of energy to run.

Thanks for the input about bottom freezers, we may still consider one, but personally I would prefer one with a solid basket freezer and not the wired ones.

[mjl_toronto]

We have a french door bottom freezer currently. The only thing I'd be critical of is this design is harder for young children to open up and get stuff on their own. My 5 year old can't grab the milk without using a chair/stool because it's too high. Never had this problem with top mount freezers.

[ammaretto007]

we have a whirlpool, freezer in bottom. & like you said...it seems small. we need to buy a small freezer for the basement. i also hate the marks that stick to the stainless...what a pain. I wish i had bought white appliances.

[AudiDude]

We have a side x side that is faced with stainless steel panels. It is harder to keep fingerprints and marks/drips from marring the surface, but you learn to live with it. I do give it a pretty regular scrubbing with window cleaner and some elbow grease. The surface isn't magnetic, so we keep from cluttering it up that way anyway.

i also hate the marks that stick to the stainless...what a pain. I wish i had bought white appliances.

You're doing it wrong. Using cleaners to strip the oils off stainless is time consuming, futile and make your appliances look cheap. You should be covering them with an oily protectant. When you do that the stainless takes on a rich lustre and how can you leave an oily fingerprint on a surface that already has oil. If I see a smudge in the reflection (that is the only way you can spot one), I can just massage it with a bare hand and it disappears. You're working too hard to make your shiny appliances look dry and dull.

Here is a quote from an RFD member:

We recently did a complete kitchen reno and replaced all appliances with stainless steel ones. You pay a bit more, but it makes the kitchen look so much better. Once you move your stainless steel appliances in place immediately protect them with a good cleaner/protector. We use an oil-base product called GLEEMIT from Home Depot. Fingerprints do not show up because it is oil-based. Use sparingly, or you may get a buildup, but you can simply wipe it away. We have two small kids, and fingerprints/smudges are not a problem .

Here is an example:



Here is the solution to your problems:



In regards to the fridge question. I use a side by side and I have used a top freezer. The side by side allows me easier visual and physical access to everything and I can organize it and it doesn't open out into the room as much. The bottom freezer that i did use at a friends house was annoying because I had to take everything out to get what I wanted, except I was stooped over the whole time instead of standing up (like the top freezer), so I wouldn't recommend one.

My chest freezer holds about 3-4 bodies, so the pizzas could fit in there. I have another fridge/freezer in the other kitchen. I don't freeze pizzas, I make them and eat them. It's the Italian way (No judging on the bodies, it was just a comparative analysis. Nobody judged De Niro in Analyze That. No comments on the fact that I drive the same car from the movie either...)

[dorriP]

I hear you, we have already bought a stainless steel stove with a stainless steel rangehood which has been in use for a year, so we need to stick to a stainless steel fridge to match, unless we win the lottery, lol, then we can change what we want.

[dorriP]

Thanks Audidude, where do I purchase this product, is it available in stores or is it an online thing? Would a cloth with a bit of normal cooking oil do the same thing?

[canehdianman]

Our kitchen isn't all that big, and the fridge would be sitting right next to a doorway so we can't have the fridge measurements extending too deep past the counter. We did see a samsung with French doors and bottom freezer that was counter depth or a little over, but unfortunately the inner fridge didn't have much room so we will pass on that one. We've looked at the odd upper freezer, although there are very few, and also the side by side which may work in our kitchen, but we need to pick something that does have space inside. Right now I have an old kenmore with upper freezer that has more more space overall on the inside than the new ones, and surprisingly it takes much less exterior space as well. Guess back then, they were more concerned about the use, than they had with looks. Unfortunately it uses a lot of energy to run.

Thanks for the input about bottom freezers, we may still consider one, but personally I would prefer one with a solid basket freezer and not the wired ones.

I believe I have that Samsung fridge. I just bought it over boxing week at Sears.

Our reno is just getting started, so I don't have much to say about it, but so far it's been great. The fridge might not be big enough for a larger family, but it works fine for us.

[Winkle]

I currently have a fridge with a buttom-pullout freezer and I love it. I've had conventional top freezer fridge and another fridge with two side-opening doors with the freezer on one side and my current one with the buttom-pullout freezer is my favourite by far. It's way easier to access and it has a ton more usable space than my previous side-opener.

I can cram a ton of food in my freezer, I have four boxes of pizza in it right now in fact that was purchased this past weekend plus a large box of 60 frozen waffles from Costco, and multiple bags of frozen dumplings, meat plus ice cream and a couple of boxes of Melona bars and it's not even full. This is a 20 cu ft fridge by the way.

I also have all stainless steel appliances, fridge, stove and range hood. I was worried about them being easy to scratch and about the fingerprint issues I kept hearing about but after two years I don't get why people complain about fingerprints because I haven't noticed any. Everything has handles so it's not like I'm wiping my hands on the stainless steel surfaces just for fun...

[dchimera]

I've currently got a fridge with a bottom freezer. It uses a swinging door and has 2 full-sized drawers, 1 half-sized drawer, and an ice tray and bucket. I kind of miss the fridge at my old place. It was the style with two swinging doors with one side as the freezer. It felt easier to store and access everything since you get to it from the side/front. With the bottom freezer and drawers, you're accessing everything from above, like you would with a dresser. If you're trying to get anything stored at the bottom, you have to move everything out of the way from above. It's kind of a minor thing, but I find it kind of annoying. The plus side is you don't have to be as careful with your storage, because everything's in a drawer. With the side freezer, if you just cram things in too carelessly, they might fall out when you shift things around.

It's really a personal preference. Consider the kind of lower cabinets you prefer. Do you like them only with the doors, or do you like the big/deep drawer style? That might help you decide.