I have friends who are very happy with their Bosch refrigerators (three in fact- quite popular.)

I’ve been very pleased with my refrigerator purchase last month, Jenn-air French door counter depth, 36” and 72” high, mine is the black floating glass but also comes in stainless. The floating glass is awesome, looks great with minimal effort. https://m.jennair.com/products/details.php?category=MC_Kitchen_Refrigeration&productID=JFC2290REY

It has three drawers in freezer, the shallow middle drawer is very useful.

Interesting refrigerator. I am wondering if 72” makes a difference in terms of whether it would fit under a standard refrigerator top cabinet.

• It’s frustrating because I really want to evaluate a refrigerator in person and the appliance stores around me don’t seem to stock many models

On counterdepth models, I like the ones with the water dispenser inside the fridge and the ice maker in the freezer compartment, rather than having ice/water dispenser on the door. The models with them on the door end up sacrificing a noticeable amount of interior space in the fridge compartment to make room for the ice bin — I’d rather have more space in fridge for food.

Totally agree with Matt. The in-door water dispensers use up far too much valuable fridge space, especially in counter depth size, and it was a deal breaker for me. My Jenn-air has what he is describing, water dispenser inside fridge where it takes up virtually no space. There aren’t a lot of choices of decent mid-range fridges with this feature.

Helen, yes it is frustrating, I’m in a rural area and basically had to make a day trip to the “big city” 2 1/2 hours away to get to a large appliance showroom. Tried to narrow the field by internet researching before I went, but there’s no substitute for trying out in person, I was sure I wanted the Kitchenaid counter depth equivalent model (without in door dispenser). Until I saw it in person. The wire rack freezer drawers felt very flimsy and cheap and it went off the list.

I'm IN a big city and the appliance stores don't seem to carry a lot of choices. I've tried calling around to see what they actually have in stock but seems to be limited.

• Some things I am comfortable with not experiencing hands on like the Bosch side opening wall oven because I know the side opening feature overrides everything else in terms of its function for me as a relatively short person but a refrigerator has so many variables in terms of how it feels and configures.
• And I am in total agreement regarding the inordinate amount of real estate ice makers and the like take up. I actually took out the ice maker in my current refrigerator. I'm not a huge ice user and I am not particularly thrilled with drinking water from the pipes in my building - filtered or not. If I am drinking bottled water, I can't see why I would want a water dispenser using water I don't drink for ice or for drinking.

I love my samsung counter depth french door fridge. It has 4 doors, top 2 fridge, bottom 2 freezer, but the bottom right door is “flex zone” which means it can be used as either freezer or fridge. The freezer sections each have 2 drawers and a shelf. I have more room now than I had with my previous full depth side by side. I doo have ice and water conveniently located on the door, but it doesn’t take up too much space on the inside

timely topic, I am shopping for the same item. I also want the same layout, and NO ice / water in the door. I am fine with just the water on the inside. I really like the look of the kitchenaid 300ESS and 302ESS. I currently own a bottom freezer single door kitchenaid that is about 12 years old. It has worked well but of the ice maker going out. The 300ESS has the same bottom drawer set up, one I would like to upgrade, as the ice tray sits in the upper shelf and you have to pull the whole shelf out to get to the ice. The 302ESS has the ice tray on it's own drawer which looks like it would be really nice, but for that and an extra 2 cubic ft, they want another $1,000!

The bosch is great looking as well. I tend to like straight bar handles vs curved, but i will probably buy the one that is has the best sale price this season!

The water in my building is pretty bad and almost everyone uses bottled water and doesn't use filtered water. Given that, I am not sure that I would even want to use ice from that source - let alone use water. Therefore any ice and water dispensing capabilities seems useless to me

• The top of the line KA looks really nice - I'm intrigued by the special herb container as I currently have to go to the trouble of wrapping fresh herbs in a moist paper towel :-)
• Am I correct in that the water dispenses to the side? Does that create issues in terms of height above counter
• It is really frustrating that so few models are available to actually check out in person. I'm in a major city but there doesn't seem to be much in person availability of these refrigerators. I am surmising that lower end refrigerators are in stock or I could go to a very high end appliance store and there would be a Subzero but this upper middle range must be a small market and therefore it doesn't pay to have items on display.

I was able to see several upper-middle range refrigerators at a Ferguson appliance showroom, wonder if you have one nearby? (I went two and a half hours to see it!)

I don't have a built-in herb system in my fridge, but I find the Rubbermaid FreshWorks containers work really well to extend produce life, including herbs.

http://www.rubbermaid.com/en-US/freshworks-produce-saver-green

My tap water isn't fantastic either, we use a Big Berkey countertop water filter and use that water for ice cube trays, which I stack in the ice dispenser tray. So, yes ice and water dispensers are wasted on me, so I can't comment on their functionality. I can say the small water dispenser in the interior of my Jenn-air takes up no space at all, and that's all I really care about lol.

Whatever you do, stay away from LG products.

Helen: Check the opening specs for the side opening wall oven. Apparently the door requires a 10 inch swing, so cannot be placed next to a wall.

Nel Smith. Thanks for the input. The oven will be placed to the right of a cabinet so there will be 10” of clearance for it to swing properly.

Sue, how long have you had your "flex zone" Samsung? The online ratings are pretty good but I'm just so wary of getting a fridge with water through the door.

Right now I'm looking at this Whirlpool or this Kitchenaid, which look to be twins.

https://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/WRF540CWHZ.html

https://www.homedepot.com/p/KitchenAid-20-cu-ft-French-Door-Refrigerator-in-Stainless-Steel-Counter-Depth-KRFC300ESS/205905754

I'd love to get that top-of-the-line KA kenstl mentioned, but they must be kidding with that price differential! I can't afford that. However, one of those model IS available at a Sears outlet near me, and I'm wondering if I'm brave enough to get a "refurbished" model. The pictures look fine but I'd really have to see it in person.

I second the LG fridge. Stay away. I inherited one when we bought this house that was about 6 years old. It has done nothing but leak and spoil food - the replacement parts are expensive when compared to Sub Zero parts and the tubing on the back of the unit actually disintegrates in my hand. I was lucky to have been given a pair of all fridge all freezer sub zeros and all my food is in them. The SZs are older than the LG and never fluxuate greater than 1 degree. Temp swings will rot your food more than anything else. Also, most of those fancy features like ‘ice cream shelf’, beverage center, etc are just a fancy way of saying ‘our fridge can’t keep a consistent temp throughout the unit, so we recommend putting these foods where it’s warmer and these where it’s colder.’ No joke, i fell for a Monogram fridge and it did nothing but freeze my produce for years.

I LOVE my Thermador French door refrigerator. I've had it for two years and it has cabinet panels (added a new kitchen to my 1939 house).

The only caveat -- it's not for short people. I'm 5'7" and can reach the top shelf just fine, but a few of my friends can't. It's TALL.

The drawer freezer is fabulous, too!

That's my fridge between the glass-front cabinets. It's the focal point!

Cs929 Can you post a link to the Whirlpool? I'm not finding any French door, counter depth models that come in black.

I pulled the trigger today and got an amazing deal on the KA krfc302ess. I can't wait to get it delivered so that we have an ice maker again! It is replacing our 12 year old KA single door / bottom freezer which is still working well but for the ice maker. I really liked this model because of the ice bin having it's own compartment that pulls out vs it sitting in the top shelf of the freezer. Hopefully it lasts as long as our other one.

Congrats, Kenstl! If you don't mind sharing, where did you get it?

Hi Jennifer -- here's a link to the Whirlpool I've been looking it. It looks like it comes in black.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Whirlpool-20-cu-ft-French-Door-Refrigerator-in-Fingerprint-Resistant-Stainless-Steel-with-Internal-Water-Dispenser-Counter-Depth-WRF540CWHZ/302483135

The model number for the black one is WRF540CWHB.

Picked the KA up at a local discounter (sell new, some perfect some dent). Got one on the original crate, no damage for $1650!

dyhgarden, how long are your fridge appliance handles?

That's a great price, kenstl! That makes me want to check out my local appliance stores as well. Hope it works out well for you. :)

cpartist -- my handles are just under 20" long. Same size on the freezer and the dishwasher.

Ugh, I'm getting the Bosch version of your Thermador and I think I got handles that are too short.

Anyone interested in a Samsung should contact the designated service provider. Parts have been difficult to get for some. This has led some to refuse to work on them. And they do need service it appears. So negotiate a good deal on an extended warranty into any deal.