I think those are the two best refrigerators in this class.

That particular GE Café is not made by GE but by Samsung.

According to JD Power Samsung is the best FD fridge the last 6 years in a row.

All appliances get mixed reviews. Many/most of the issues surrounding this fridge are about it getting too cold. I guess that is better than the reverse.

BTW You should get the best appliance that fits your budget regardless of brand. Buying a suite of appliances is usually a bad decision. No one appliance company makes the best of everything. Virtually all the mid-priced and high-end appliances use 304 SS so the appliances will match SS. The grain may not matchup perfectly but they are unlikely to matchup within the same brand unless they are made from the same SS roll.

I ordered the full size GE Cafe, but it is not yet installed. I liked that front was flat, not curvy like the Profile and Samsungs. I had no idea samsung made any GEs, as I thought now made it America.

For DW,I ordered a Bosch. Matching isn't my priority, though I kowit is for others.

After further investigation, I think I'm going to go with the GE Cafe for the refrigerator and double oven, bosch for the cooktop and dw and summit for the microwave and range hood.

Slight change - Bosch will only be for the DW and Dacor (DCT365SNG) will be the cooktop. Getting excited for this remodel!

Giantsnation, which fridge did you land with? We have a Cafe 25.1 FD, new in January 2013. I like it a lot, but it is noisy. A loud buzzing noise, GE says its normal. Three different repair people told me that, its part of the new energy star efficiency mechanisms that make this blower noise. I've gotten used to it. But it really annoyed the daylights out of me for a few months.

We went with the KitchenAid but it was a real toss up. The one thing that convinced me was seeing both in person. I didn't like how the Cafe door bins were so large (that's something GE says is a feature) that it hinders interior space.

My kitchen is shaping up: I too just bought the GE Cafe full size 29 french door (with hot water!). Very excited for the much needed upgrade.

I need all your input on DW (GE Cafe just came out with a new one this month) and Gas Cook tops, Micro (built in kit needed). Do the GE Cafe cook tops have issues? I do ALL my cooking on the stove.

The single oven will most likely be GE Cafe, unless you all steer me away. This will not be used all that much, baking and the yearly turkey.

Thank you in advance! Ronnie Puddle

I am also looking at KA vs GE Cafe so I thought I'd add on to this thread. I'm looking at the standard depth french door 28.6 cubic foot versions of each brand:
http://www.kitchenaid.com/shop/-%5BKFIV29PCMS%5D-403747/KFIV29PCMS/

http://products.geappliances.com/ApplProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=SpecPage&Sku=CFE29TSDSS

Any advice on choosing between these two versions? Does Samsung make this version of the GE Cafe also?

I will say the KA interior on this one is slick with the grey color and also the crisper drawers are much sleeker looking. But the GE Cafe is several hundred dollars less and I sure could use that somewhere else in the budget too.

Any thoughts on these two models in particular?

thanks

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Aid Architect II

I have a 2 year old French door Kitchenaid that works fine, but the"stainless" has rusted in some spots. Kitchenaid says that this is not covered by the warranty.

Not surprised that it is not covered by the warranty but I'm curious as to how you clean your stainless. There are a lot of misconceptions on what is safe to use but the best cleaner is warm soapy (use dish soap if needed) water.

The thing is that Stainless Steel is comprised mainly of steel and steel will rust. Protective coatings are becoming increasingly weak against chemical cleaners.

Stainless in modern home appliances:

Since nickel skyrocketed in price in 2008, almost every manufacturer moved to 200 series stainless and in some cases 430 series stainless steels. 301, 302, and 304 high nickel stainless eps are now reserved for only the highest end commercial appliances. A deep drawn part might still be 300 series but more likely 201 or some other 200 series.

That said, nickel mainly impacts the form ability of the stainless, not the corrosion resistance that is more tied the chromium content.

Laundryvet

Very interesting LaundryVet. Do the manufacturers publish the series stainless steels used in each product, or does anyone know how to figure out what the series for a particular product/model is?

giantsnation, if you're still around can you give some feedback on your kitchenaid fridge? Would love to hear almost a year later.

Thank you.

Any updates on your experience? Wrestling with the same choice.

bj, i just posted on another thread...can't remember what it was called, but I talked about my Kitchenaid....piece of crud! I'm not happy w/ it at all. I bought the counterdepth - 36" wide - & french door. I do not like the FD's....at all. When I open them, they do not feel like they've been sealed well after closing. I can pretty much open them w/ my baby finger without any resistance! That makes me feel it's not very economically friendly! Even tho, every time I close them, I have to almost body slam them to make sure they are really closed & not a little bit opened. I would not recommend a FD fridge to anyone!

I also think the inside is cheaply made. The drawers aren't on a track or anything so they kind of wobble when opening & closing. Not that it really matters, but it just seems to be cheaply made. I'm actually going back to the store I bought it from today to tell them I hate this fridge!!! I've had it about 2 months so probably not much we can do about it, but I just don't care for it. Oh well, if the french doors are the worst thing & everything else holds together well, I guess it'll be ok. We'll see tho.

Good luck, it doesn't seem like there are many fridges out there unless you spend around $6K.

I like my Kitchenaid Architect II series FD full sized refrigerator. You don't have to be a gorilla to open it. It closes smoothly.

I especially like that I can open and close each door independently. There isn't a gasket and flapper between the doors. I noticed when shopping that the Samsung's had this flap and you had to close the doors in the proper order.

It's reasonably quiet. The shelving is sturdy. It has lovely LED lighting. Plus, it's this pretty grey color with stainless accents on the interior.

One man's trash is another man's treasure.