Easy as 1-2-3 Christmas Cookies

Great for Gifts, Parties, Or Just You!

There are just under two weeks until Christmas. In fact, last we looked at a calendar, there are twelve full days until Christmas Eve... At which point the kids are likely going to start commenting that Santa needs some cookies.

In our house, it's tradition that the cookies for Santa are always homemade. The recipes and quantities may change from year to year - and honestly, sometimes we just get caught up in the rhythm of measure-knead-roll-cut-bake-cool-repeat, and end up making way too much.

So, for us, cookies are also Christmas gifts for the other households in our family. A little tray or box of handmade treats is also a cute, enjoyable and inexpensive long-distance (or socially-distanced) way to tell someone else you're thinking of them in this unconventional holiday season.

If homemade cookies sound a little out of your league, don't fret. These aren't terribly difficult. They're among the most crowd-pleasing recipes we know, and they are extra easy to personalize.

We'll start with a go-to favorite: Almond Puff Cookies. We've been making this recipe for almost fifteen years now, and it has never failed to impress. They're soft and fluffy, almost cake-like in texture when fresh. These don't really lend themselves to decorating with royal icing like sugar cookies because of the way they puff. A quick egg wash is often all we do to jazz them up. We like to cut these into bell, star and ornament shapes and wash them with different colors, but we've also included a handful of other decorating ideas your family might enjoy.

Almond Puff Cookies

Ingredients:

5 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups white sugar

1 1/2 c butter, unsalted, melted

4 eggs

2 tsp almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Egg Wash (optional)

1 egg (well-scrambled) per each color you intend to make

2 drops food coloring per color

1 teaspoon water per color

Alternative Decoration Ideas (optional)

Sprinkles

Powdered sugar

Slivered almonds

Sweetened coconut flakes

Melted chocolate drizzle

An example of what the egg paint can look like.

Tools:

Mixing bowls (2), rolling pin, cookie sheet(s), cookie cutter(s), small dishes for egg wash (divide by color), pastry brush, cooling rack, space to make a mess (100% not kidding here, especially if the kids are assisting)

Instructions:

Sift together your flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in one mixing bowl.

In the other mixing bowl, whisk together your extracts, eggs, and cooled melted butter. We do NOT want to cook the eggs quite yet, so please allow your melted butter to cool a little before this step; ideally it's still liquid, but not scalding hot.

Knead together the contents of both mixing bowls. If you feel like the dough is a little too stiff, feel free to add a tiny bit of water to it, but don't go overboard. Too much liquid can't be undone, and a wet dough is very difficult to cut into shapes.

Once you've established a nice lump of dough, squish it down into the bottom of the mixing bowl and put the whole thing in the fridge for about 15 minutes. We like to use this fifteen minute break to start making the egg washes, but if you chose another decoration, you're free to relax for a few.

After your fifteen minutes are up, start preheating the oven to 400.

While the oven heats, turn out your dough onto the counter and roll it to about a quarter inch thick. If you feel like there's not enough room on the counter for the whole ball of dough, divide it and toss half back into the bowl for now. Save yourself the headache of having to pull dough out of the backsplash or from under that knife block you couldn't find another place to put (no, we've never had this happen to us - gee, why do you ask?).

Grab the cookie cutters (the objects, not the little minions you may or may not have clamoring in the background). Either you or your helpers should cut as many shapes as you can from the dough you've rolled out, peel away the excess dough, and gently transfer the shapes to your cookie sheet. Be careful not to stretch or distort them during the transfer - if they're stretched, they'll bake up lumpy and uneven.

If you find yourself struggling with the process of transferring, you might consider rolling the dough out on a cutting board or a sheet of wax paper before cutting your shapes. Having an extra layer you can just pick up and flip over the cookie sheet sometimes makes it easier to get the cookies from Point A to Point B without creating oblong ornaments or lopsided stars. Another trick to try is chilling the cut shapes before moving them to the cookie sheet with a thin metal spatula. If you do use a spatula, try to find a smooth one without slots (as the slots risk tearing up the undersides of your cookies).

Repeat the rolling, cutting, and transferring of shapes until you're out of space on the cookie sheets, or out of dough, or out of patience, whichever comes first.

Once your shapes have been arranged on the cookie sheet, you've reached the ideal time to add an egg wash. Use your pastry brush to lightly coat the tops of your cookies with the color of choice. Try not to use too much, just cover it with a thin layer. You don't want it to puddle around the edges on the cookie sheet, as that gets messy and difficult to clean later.

If you're not doing an egg wash, coconut flakes and slivered almonds will hold up well in the oven, and even toast a bit - but sprinkles will lose some of their color to the moisture in the dough, and that color will leak all over the cookie, so it's better to add them, the powdered sugar, or the chocolate later, after the cookies have been removed from the oven.

Bake your cookies 5-8 minutes at 400 degrees. You'll know they're ready to leave the oven when the edges are golden, the centers are puffed up, and the egg wash (if you used it) is set and shiny.

The cookies are still very soft at this point, so allow them to cool for about two minutes before you move them from the cookie sheet to the cooling rack, where they'll finish setting up.

Should you want to do any further decorating, let the cookies cool about ten more minutes on the cooling rack to ensure they're fully set and ready to be moved about (or boxed up for giving).

After you’ve tried out this week’s recipe, consider letting us see? We would love to get pictures over on our Facebook page to see how your cookies turned out. 

If on the other hand you need your oven fixed, or any of your other major appliances, we can help. Just call us at ((214) 599-0055) or make an appointment over at our website. We aim to be the most reliable appliance repair in Addison and the surrounding areas, and we want to keep your home running smoothly. Whether that’s an oven that won’t heat right for making cookies, or a washing machine that won’t drain right, we’re here to help.

Organizing Your Fridge for Efficiency and Safety

Or how to keep your food from becoming sentient. 

Have you ever opened up your fridge to have to dig through stacks of leftover food, bags with questionable contents, and a head of lettuce you thought you had thrown out last week? All just to find the one jar of mayo you need for a sandwich. Or what about putting some hamburger onto a plate in your fridge before work, and coming home to find it spilled down all three shelves and now you have a mess to clean up. These situations are ones we all face when we don’t have an organized fridge. Fortunately, there is a way to fix it. 

What Most People Do

Most of us will toss our food into the fridge without any sense of order.  Crushable things might be on top, to keep them away from any damage. On the door, you have the weird and annoying thin shelves that are only good for eggs, drinks, and condiments because what else are you going to fit there? Then you have the drawers at the very bottom that claim that they’re perfect for fruits and vegetables. Except, if you’re like the majority of us, that ends up meaning you have a head of bland lettuce that rolls around for a month, a couple of apples in the other drawer, and one corner that might have been a tomato at one point, but now you’re waiting for it to gain sentience. 

And the rest? The whole great middle of the fridge? That’s Free Territory. That’s where you put leftovers, the meat you’re defrosting for tonight, this week’s lunches, and anything else you can put in there. If it can be stacked, it will be. Of course, that means that if it can be forgotten about, it will be. 

Why Do I care?

A good question. First off, organizing your fridge will mean that things like the weird semi-sentient tomato are less likely to happen. When you know what you have, you can plan accordingly for your meals, and keep foods from spoiling before they get used.  More importantly, it cuts down on cross-contamination. When you have your foods stacked every which way, and without any clear separation between them, there’s too great a chance for foods to touch things they shouldn’t. There are three different types of cross-contamination that we're talking about.  One might be as simple as one piece of fruit spoiling and then being pressed close to another and causing it to spoil. Or you might go up another level and you’re dealing with two different foods being stored next to each other when they shouldn’t. An example of that is squash and apples. Apples give off ethylene gas which will make the squash turn yellow and spoil before they should have. The third level is the one we hear about in schools, but don’t always think about. Storing raw fish and meat in your fridge, even in the store packaging, is complicated. It doesn’t take much for some of the juices to drip and get onto anything nearby in the fridge. This can be just from you reaching in and grabbing the meat, and it drips off your hand. It can be from overflowing onto lower levels, from any of the edges of the shelf. How it happens, doesn’t really matter. The problem is still that whatever it’s dripped onto, if not properly enclosed, is now unsafe to use. 

What You Should Do

You’ve undoubtedly realized that this isn’t a state you want to be in. If nothing else, wasting food bites into your pockets over the long term. How then to organize your refrigerator? With buckets and boxes and time-consuming systems? Sure, you could do that if you have plenty of time, but we certainly don’t. Instead, we looked to the experts to see what they had to say on the matter. 

Let’s start on the door, working from the top shelf down.

The top shelf on your door is best utilized by putting your dairies here. That’s going to mean eggs, butters, and any cheese you use regularly. If you are putting cheeses there, you’re going to want to wrap them in either wax or parchment papers, to keep them isolated from smells. 

The middle shelf should be dedicated to condiments, salad dressings, marinades, and similar concepts. 

Your bottom shelf on the door should be for all beverages, and if it’s large enough, milk. 

There, now your door is all done and dusted. Still with us? On to the body of the fridge. Again, we’ll start at the top and work our way back down. 

The top shelf of the fridge should be used for foods that are ready to eat. This can be everything from foods you’ve already cooked, pre-made meals, salads, pickled foods and fruits, either already sliced or whole. 

Moving on to the middle shelf, or shelves of your fridge. Here is the one thing that doesn’t change much between the original version of your fridge and this new and improved version. Here is where you’re going to put your various leftovers. Tupperware is your friend because then you can put in the other foods on these shelves. Cheeses, that are prepackaged, eggs in a carton, and any cold cuts and sandwich breads.  (Although we will point out that if you are going through a loaf of bread in a week, it’s perfectly acceptable to  keep your bread in a breadbox.) 

Finally, we have the bottom shelf. Here is where you’re going to be putting any meats that are raw. Beef, chicken, pork, fish, it doesn’t matter. It goes here. The ideal method is to store them in sealed containers. So take them out of the store-bought packaging or at least put them into a casserole dish either before you let them defrost or cook them. 

We’re not ignoring the crisper drawers, don’t worry. However, they’re much easier to deal with because they are sealed. When storing vegetables, there are a few tips for keeping things fresh longer. Start off by washing your veggies before you store them. Wrap them in paper or plastic in order to prevent contamination (better safe than sorry.) For salads and herbs, you’ll want to wrap them in damp paper towels before storing them to prevent them from drying out. 

Now that you know how to organize your fridge to keep your food safe and fresh for the longest amount of time, what do you think? Are you going to make the change or would you rather stick with your current system? Let us know in the comments below or over on our Facebook page. We’d love to hear from you.

If you’re having issues with your refrigerator, or any of your other appliances, we’d love to help! We’re here to serve, whether your refrigerator has stopped running or your dryer is making a really weird rattling noise. You can call us at ((214) 599-0055) or go over to our website to make an appointment.  We want to help all of our clients in Garland and the surrounding areas. 

The ‘Post-Thanksgiving’ Meal Guide

 AKA I’m sick of turkey, please give me something different. 

Congratulations! You've survived Thanksgiving! And by now you've probably even eaten up most of the leftovers.

But that means everyone in the house is getting tired of Thanksgiving leftovers, doesn't it? And we bet they all still want to eat, don't they?

You did all that work just a couple days ago, and they just don't seem to get that you're all cooked out. They - or maybe even your own stomach - still want you to make more food.

No worries! We've got you covered. This post will feature two recipes that you don't have to stress about or fuss over. Everything will come together in 30 minutes or fewer, and you won't have to resort to takeout. 

Shrimp Pesto

Somehow, the kids always seem to think shrimp is fancy. No one needs to know this is a one pot wonder.

Ingredients:

1 12 oz package extra small precooked shrimp

1 lb pasta of choice (we suggest tricolor rotini)

1 8 oz jar pesto sauce (or you can head over here and make your own) 

1/2 cup matchstick carrots

1/2 zucchini, chopped

2 tsp butter

1 tsp minced garlic

Tools:

large pot with lid, colander, cutting board, knife

Fill your pot with water and put it over medium-high heat. Salt the water if desired, and place the lid on the pot.

While the water comes up to boil, wash your zucchini and chop it into small chunks or thin slices, whichever you prefer.

Once the water begins to boil, add your pasta. Please do not put the lid back on the pot after this step, lest you risk a messy boil over.

Bring the water back up to boil and cook your pasta according to package directions. We usually shave a minute or two off the recommended cook time (this house does not appreciate mushy pastas).

In the last two minutes of cook time, toss in the whole bag of shrimp, your carrots and your zucchini and allow it to all cook together.

Drain your pasta, shrimp and veggies. Leave it all in the colander for a minute while you use the pot to melt the butter and sear the garlic.

Once your garlic has been seared, turn the heat down. Empty your jar of sauce into the pot and give it a good stir. Let it warm up a little over medium-low heat, maybe  two minutes or so.

Pour your still warm pasta and veggies into the sauce and stir. A little dash of Parmesan cheese never hurts a dish like this, either. Dinner is ready to plate!

Cornbread Skillet Bake

This one is a little bit pot pie, a little bit casserole, and a lot of "grocery day isn't until tomorrow - what do we have lying around the house?"

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1 Roma tomato, chopped

1 12 oz bag frozen corn

8 oz mild salsa or tomato sauce

1 15 oz can of beans (pinto or black work best)

1 8.5 oz box corn muffin mix  (if you like to make everything from scratch, you can try this) 

1/3 cup milk plus 1 tablespoon

1 egg

1/2 cup shredded cheese

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried chives

1 tablespoon hot sauce (we like sriracha) - more or less, to taste

salt and pepper, to taste

Tools:

oven-safe skillet, colander, knife, cutting board, mixing bowl, measuring cup/spoon

Start your ground beef browning in the skillet. Season with your garlic, chili powder, cumin, chives, and hot sauce. If your family doesn't care for spicy foods, you can adjust the hot sauce some, but we don't think you should eliminate it entirely - the dish suffers some without the spice for depth. Add however much salt and pepper you'd like.

While the seasoned beef browns, open up your can of beans, drain and rinse. Let them sit in the colander until you've had a chance to get around to the veggies.

Wash and chop your tomato, pepper and onion. If you've got picky eaters, we suggest chopping things extra-fine to hide a little better. You can also adjust amounts, add in or substitute with something your pickiest eaters like better.

Drain the beef, but don't rinse out all your spices. Return it to the skillet and pour your tomato sauce or salsa over it.

Add your chopped veggies in with the beef, then toss in the beans and that bag of frozen corn. Give everything a good stir and let it simmer together, stirring frequently. Try to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the skillet and scorches there. In the event it's giving you trouble, you can toss a tablespoon of butter in.

In your mixing bowl, whisk together the milk and the egg. Pour in the contents of the box of corn muffin mix and stir. It will still be a little lumpy, and that's okay. (If you want it to be extra smooth, you can sift the muffin mix before this step.) Let your batter rest a minute or two while you take care of other things - like stirring the beef and veggie mix.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the beef and veggie mixture from the heat. Give it one more good stir, then pat it down so it's mostly level in the skillet. Sprinkle your shredded cheese in an even layer all over top of it.

Give your batter a quick stir, and then pour it slowly over the top of the mixture in the skillet. Your goal is to cover the top in an even layer of batter without smothering everything or overflowing the skillet.

Once you've got an even layer of cornbread batter in the skillet, set it in the oven for about 15 minutes. If you're working with a larger than average skillet and a thin layer of cornbread batter, it's wiser to check on it after ten minutes or so to avoid over-baking it.

Your casserole is done when a toothpick inserted into the thickest part of the cornbread crust comes out clean.

We cut ours into generous slabs and flipped them into shallow bowls with a spatula. Expect the filling to fall apart a little.

Optional picky-eater-bribery step: Add a dollop of sour cream and guacamole, drizzle some warm salsa con queso over the top and serve with tortilla chips.

Whichever one of these two options you go for, we know you’re in for a treat. We hope that you’ve survived through the holiday, whether it was full of family in person or via video. If you enjoyed our recipes this week, why not head down to the comments or over to our Facebook and let us know? We’d love to hear from you. If on the other hand you ended up here because your appliances have gone on strike after the holiday, head on over to our contact page and set up an appointment for appliance repair. We’re here for all of our clients in Dallas and the surrounding areas.

French Door Refrigerators: LG vs Dacor

Who Makes the Best French Door Counter Depth Refrigerator? Reviews & Ratings

When it comes to refrigerators, we know that defining the best depends on several different factors. What do they cost? What features do they have? Will they fit in my kitchen? In this article, we’ll show you two of the highest rated refrigerators on the market from LG and Dacor, what features they have to offer, and where we think they would fit best. They are both 36” counter-depth French door refrigerators, widely acknowledged by experts as being the best in their class. 

LG SIGNATURE 23 cu. ft. Smart wi-fi Enabled InstaView™ Door-in-Door® Counter-Depth Refrigerator

Model: URNTC2306N

Price: $7,199.00

InstaView™ Door-in-Door® - One side of the fridge will have a mirrored panel that will illuminate the interior with two quick knocks. Now you can look inside without having to open the door. No more staring into the fridge wondering, “now what did I need?” 

Auto Open Door™

LG has put in a detection feature on the foot of the refrigerator. It projects a light which, when stepped on, will open the fridge doors. We can only hope that it takes more than tripping into it to cause the door to open. 

Voice Control

If the light projector isn’t futuristic enough for you, LG has made it so that by saying “Hi LG” the ThinQ will open the door and set the ice dispenser to your favorite mode. 

FRESHShield™ Cooling

The ThinQ has ducts located at the top of the refrigerator to form a barrier of cold air between the shelves and the doors. 

ThinQ®

The ThinQ App acquires information on your usage to build a tailored experience for your home. It ramps up cooling performance and ice making during peak times and reduces these features during off hours to conserve energy and spare your electric bill some pain. 

Door-in-Door® Adjustable Shelves

You can change the height of your in-door shelves to match what you need most. 

Textured Steel™ Finish

Custom Chill™ Pantry

Problems? 

So far, there are only three issues we’ve been able to find with this model. 

• Some people have an issue with the glide and serve drawers freezing over.

• There were a few instances of being unable to connect the fridge to the owner’s phone. 

• There have been a handful of issues with the master circuit board frying after a month of use, although to LG’s credit, this does seem to be a rare occurrence. 

We can see this being the workhorse of a busy home. If you’re always running, this fridge is perfect for you. The different options for easily opening the doors mean that no matter how much you’re hauling inside, you can get it into the fridge with ease. If you want to be able to control your home from your phone, this fridge is for you. 

Dacor 36 inch Counter Depth French Door with Recessed Handle 

Model: DRF36C000SR

Price: 3740.75

Precise Cooling Technology

The Dacor Digital Inverter Technology works to provide consistent performance with minimal fluctuations in temperatures. Dacor claims on their web site that their Digital Compressor has been said to ‘offer superior performance against the industry standard A/C compressor.’ 

Best In Class Food Preservation

Dacor understands that ‘freshness’ for food is best maintained with a constant temperature and an environment with high humidity. They say they offer the best preservation system in the home appliance industry, with the tightest temperature controls and unmatched humidity levels. 

FreshZone Drawer

This refrigerator offers a full width storage drawer that provides adjustable temperature settings. This means you can safely store meat, fish, deli items or even drinks in it, and have it at the perfect temperature for each, as long as you remember to adjust it when you change up what you’re storing. It also gives you a space to defrost items without having to leave them out on the counter, or worry that they’ll drip onto something else within the fridge. 

Twin Cooling System

This brand offers two independent evaporators to protect your food and to keep it tasting fresh longer. 

Interior Pitcher With Automatic Water Fill

Comes with a 48oz pitcher that fills automatically with filtered water. There is also an infuser option that allows you to add fruits, herbs or flowers for easy flavored drinks. We’re wondering if you could do herbal teas this way or if it wouldn’t work since the water is cold.. 

Power Cool

Automatic Humidity Controlled Crispers

Discrete Controls

External Ice And Water Dispenser

Problems? 

The only problem we could find was an issue with the speed of the ice maker. People were displeased at how long it took to get ice and how little they received when it was done. 

This fridge doesn’t come with a lot of bells and whistles. What it does have, it does them right. We expect that this would be perfectly matched for someone who wants perfection and expertise from their appliances. 

So, which is better? 

Like most appliances, this comes down to preference. What do you need most from your refrigerator? If you enjoy having everything connected in your kitchen for ease of use regardless of where you are, we think the LG would fit. If however you’re more the type who wants to have your home as a place of peace, without everything trying to get your attention, we feel the Dacor would be more your speed. It’s also a matter of price. You can still get an LG for considerably less, but it won’t have all of the features that this one does. What fits you and your lifestyle is going to be the biggest deciding factor. 

Do you already own a Dacor or an LG refrigerator? Do you love it? Hate it? Let us know over on our Facebook page. We’d love to hear from you. If you’re dreading the holiday tomorrow because your appliances are on the fritz, we can help! Give us a call at ((214) 599-0055) or place an appointment over on our website. We’re here to keep your appliances in tip top shape, for all of our clients in Frisco and the surrounding areas.

A Note About Pricing

Pricing on this blog is for reference only, and may include time-sensitive manufacturer rebates. We make every attempt to provide accurate pricing at time of publishing - but if you’re considering purchasing, please call the stores for the most accurate and up to date price.

What Separates the Best and The Worst Refrigerators

How Big Is the Gap in Ratings?

If you’re like many Americans looking for a new French Door refrigerator, you’re probably spending time looking at reviews. Which means you’ve probably seen Consumer Reports, and their ratings across many models of refrigerators. They are an impartial third party with a long history of looking out for the consumer rather than the companies. We wanted to check out what made the best and the worst, as rated by CR, so different. 

Consumer Reports separates their refrigerators first by the style and then by the size. We went for the most popular model among our clients, French Door refrigerators, and chose the 34” and wider selection.  

As of writing this, the most well rated refrigerator is the LG LRFXC2406S with 84 points total. The current worst, as rated by Consumer Reports, is the Whirlpool WRF550CDHZ with only 37 points. 

Consumer Reports tests the models on a variety of things, as well as comparing which features they do and don’t have. 

Features 

So let’s start with the features each has before digging into the testing.

Whirlpool also offers a counter depth  design, again, with the goal of making it look like a built-in model. 

 Adjustable Gallon Door Bins -  meaning you can move the trays around on your door. There when you need it, gone when you don’t. 

Temperature Controlled Full Width Drawer -  for storing meats, cheeses and other items  that you need on a regular basis. 

Two Tier Freezer - To organize frozen favorites with two-tier freezer storage, including two sliding bins.

Spill Proof Shelves -  Designed to contain liquids to a shelf and keep them from dripping down. 

Claimed Useable Capacity 19.7 Cu Ft 

Actual Useable Capacity 11.6 Cu Ft 

LG’s fridge comes with a CoolGuard™ - a metal back plate in the interior of the fridge, not only to offer a premium look, but also to ‘maintain cool air’. 

It’s sized for counter depth, so that it aligns with countertops and cabinets to give your kitchen a built in look, while avoiding the higher price tag. 

Tall Ice & Water Dispenser® with Measured Fill - We love this one. Finally an ice and water dispenser that will give you exactly the amount you ask for, and no more having to fit your water bottle at weird angles or use a second cup to fill it. 

Dual Ice Makers - LG offers the ice maker on the door, as well as a second one in the lower freezer compartment. Goodbye running out in summer! 

Slim SpacePlus® Ice System - The ice maker on the door has a slimmer profile, allowing for you to fit more food in your fridge, without giving up your ice maker. 

Claimed Useable Capacity 23.5 Cu Ft 

Actual Useable Capacity 15.7 Cu Ft 

Testing… Testing… One...Two...Three...

So, those are the facts. What they offer, and how they compare to one another in the features department.   Let’s switch over to how Consumer Reports rated them, and what they were rated on.

Thermostat Control :  Here CR is testing the refrigerators on their ability to: 

• Reach the desired set temps that the manufacturer suggests.

• Achieve the optimum temperatures for both the refrigerator and the freezer simultaneously.

• Keep those temperatures consistent, even when the room the refrigerator is in has large changes in its temperature. (So summer and winter in Texas for example.) 

LG scored a 5/5  Whirlpool scored a 5/5 

Temperature Uniformity: CR tests the models on how well they keep the temps even throughout the entirety of the fridge and freezer sections. 

LG scored a 5/5  Whirlpool scored a 4/5  

Energy Efficiency : CR tests the refrigerators on electrical consumption per useable cubic foot. So even if the two models were the exact same size, the one with the greater storage capacity is going to be more efficient. Which fully explains why the scores weighed out as they did. (Check out our earlier article about energy efficiency here.) 

LG scored 3/5   Whirlpool scored a 1/5  (ouch!) 

We’d also like to point out that the LG earned an Energy Star rating while the Whirlpool did not. 

Noise : CR measures noise based on two different times as well as in two different ways. It measures noise for a refrigerator based both on when the compressor starts up and during steady running. They also use a noise-meter alongside the more subjective responses of a panel of listeners. 

LG scored 5/5  Whirlpool scored a 2/5  

Ease Of Use: The last thing that CR rates the refrigerators on is ease of use. How accessible are they, how useful are the features and layout of the refrigerator and how well do the controls work.

LG scored a 5/5  Whirlpool scored a 3/5 

Let’s finish up looking at the price. The LG is priced at $3400 while the Whirlpool is $3195. Based on the prices alone, you might think that the Whirlpool is the better price. Given the issues that we’ve outlined though, we’re thinking that LG has every reason to command the higher price. 

How Does It Shake Out? 

Looking over the numbers, we have to say that the biggest difference between the two came at the Noise and Energy Efficiency settings. To us, that makes perfect sense then that the Whirlpool ranked so low. It’s also a good indicator of how seriously these things are taken when it comes to ranking different refrigerators on Consumer Reports. 

We do want to point out that this doesn’t mean that Whirlpool is a bad brand, or that all of their refrigerator models, or appliances rank this poorly. We took what Consumer Reports had tested and wanted to give you a look at what made those reports worth looking into if you’re purchasing new. On the flip side, this doesn’t mean that LG is always going to be the best bet. It’s that these models, as the market stands now represent the best and the worst of 34” French Door Refrigerators. 

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to reach out to use here in the comments or over on our Facebook page. We’d love to hear from you. 

If you have any issues with your refrigerator (whether it’s an LG, Whirlpool, Bosch, Dacor or any other brand) we’re here to help. Keeping your appliances running in tip top shape is our number one goal. Reach out to us via phone ((214) 599-0055) or through our website.