Where's my Damn Chicken Nugget Button? a.k.a. Appliance Shopping

During the design process we really didn't give much thought to appliance selection. We figured anything that you could buy new would be exponentially better than the junk that we were currently using (see the first blog entry, Before Pictures to get the scoop). But there are soooooooooo many choices.

Luckily we were able to identify a few constraints pretty easily. We wanted stainless steel finish. Due to the spacing between the fridge and the island we knew it needed to be counter-depth, and it helped to rule out a bottom-freezer (we didn't like them anyway); thus we went with side-by-side. We wanted a gas range, though we weren't aware of the differences between freestanding, slide-in, and drop-in. After seeing a couple pictures of slide-in ranges, we felt that was the way to go.

As far as the dishwasher and microwave, about the only additional constraint here was the microwave better look a whole lot like the range, since it will be hanging right above it.

My initial attempt to weed out was using Consumer Reports reliability ratings, and had I stuck with it, that would have been a helpful approach. But after talking with sales people I began to question some of the info in there. Like, why does the Kenmore version of the exact same appliance by the OEM sometimes score differently? And how come every single sales person that I spoke with said to stay away from Frigidaire? Seriously, I didn't even have to prompt them. And how come the Samsung fridge (which we really like) has gotten highest performance ratings from J.D. Power 5 years in a row, yet doesn't show up in Consumer Reports' reliability list of fridge manufacturers?

The features that we care about are so basic that they will be included in pretty much anything. Of course, the fact that the fridge is counter-depth and the range is slide-in drives us to a higher level appliance, so we'll definitely get more goodies than we need.

But what's up with this trend in ranges where you have all these burners of different sizes. Specifically, what's with the cheesy little "warming burner"? This anemic little thing sits on the back row (prime cooking space to keep hot stuff away from our toddler) and is there to presumably keep something warm until we're ready to eat. Guess what? That's the beauty of the knob that controls the flame - you can turn it down! Maybe in 6 months we'll be singing the praises of the warming burner, but as far as I'm concerned they may as well have only put in 3 burners.

But there is one ray of light in this dark, foggy night. Should you need to cook chicken nuggets on a regular basis, Frigidaire has got you covered. Mind you, I'm not sure if it's for heating up frozen nuggets or for baking your own, but these nut jobs put a special button on their oven just for you. And apparently their marketing people went crazy with it. I am not making this up.

On the first product page under Features:
Chicken Nugget Button
Easily bake perfect chicken nuggets with the touch of a button. Read More

On the Specifications page under Control Panel:
Chicken Nugget Button: Yes

Note that there is also a pizza button, which almost seems useful in a pathetic kind of way. But the best part is that there is little mention of the pizza button, yet the chicken nugget button is touted to the extreme.

So at this point it seems like we're just going to go based on price and aesthetics. Eh, what else can you do???