Samsung Kitchen Appliance Review

We did some big updates in the Storefront kitchen in the past year. We added the 7 foot long coffee bar, enlarged our peninsula, added a new sink, ceramic tile backsplash and of course our DIY concrete countertops.

One thing we didn’t change was the appliances. The appliances came with the house and were two  years old and still looking/working like new. While we did not choose the appliances but we do get a lot of questions about them.

So here goes, our review on our Samsung Kitchen Appliances.

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Samsung bottom mount refrigerator freezer. See here for current version of this fridge.

The fridge gets two thumbs up on appearance. It is a clean lined fridge with no visible handles (they are inset handles on the side of the fridge door and top of the freezer.) The controls are located on the top of the freezer and are easy to control and do have a child lock. The stainless steel is a high quality and polishes and cleans to a streak-free shine very easily. The interior storage is great with two climate controlled produce drawers at the bottom, and a mid level cheese drawer. The door has lots of shelves and cubbies to hold all of our condiments. (Why do I have more condiments than actual food in the fridge?!)

The freezer is large, but to be honest it’s a bit hard to access. It opens with a swinging door, then inside are two drawers. You have to completely open the door to access the drawers which makes it a bit more complicated to reach in and grab a few ice cubes. It does hold a fair amount of food and does a great job of self defrosting. However due to the self defrosting, it can “eat” ice cubes meaning that if you make a tray of ice cubes and leave them in there they will eventually shrink and disappear. The moral of the story is use your ice or lose it.

Overall score. Three awesomes out of five.

 

Samsung Dishwasher. Current model here.

When we moved in the appliances were brand new, and had never been used. The first time we turned the dishwasher on, it worked for ten minutes than turned off with a leak sensor activated. After three service visits we were told it was a manufacturers default. However the model had since been discontinued and we could either have the lower model, or we could have a store credit for the amount the previous owner paid (on sale) to buy the more expensive model. Being the broke new home owners we were, we opted for the lower model. Big mistake. Our new dishwasher has been disappointing from day one. The display system is unattractive and the stainless steel quality is poor. It does not clean up half as well as the fridge, and mars so easily with spots and splashes. It never looks good, and is dull in comparison to the fridge. We could overlook all of this if it worked well but… the dishes are perpetually dirty, especially things on the top rack. We purchased the recommended dishwasher tabs and use Jetdry, and yet there are always food particles on our dishes. Probably half of the dishes need to be rewashed after coming out of the dishwasher. Plus one cycle takes several hours to complete. If it meant clean dishes, I could live with it, but dirty dishes and a long cycle have me wanting to sink some cash into a new (quality) dishwasher.

Overall score. One awesome out of five.

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Samsung electronic range. Current model here.

The stove is made with the same quality stainless as the fridge and cleans up great. The oven is fast to heat and has a very consistent temperature.  The oven door has a really great seal. Sometimes too good, and it can tend to steam things slightly. The broiler is very powerful (and has two settings) and is perfect for broiling. The one downfall is that it has a hidden bottom element, and if anything overflows or spills while cooking, it will hit the bottom of the oven and burn instantly making tons of smoke and causing a big mess. The oven controls are easy to use and the oven emits an “I’m hot!” noise when its done. The stove-top is a flattop electric. It has four burners. Two small, one large, and one combination small & large. It also has a 5th warming burner. The burners heat up fast and offer good control. There is a “hot surface” light that indicates one or more of the burners are still warm. The one con is the cleanup for the glass cook-top. It takes major dedication (and elbow grease) to keep that thing spotless! Luckily El Granto is a little bit… we’ll say “obsessed” with it being clean (which is funny because he rarely uses it).

When we renovated the Storefront, a gas line was run into the basement below the stove. When we are ready to update the stove, we will absolutely be switching to gas and the cooking performance and control gas offers. We are a foodie household, and while this stove does good enough, it has room for improvement.

Overall score. Three awesomes out of five.

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Samsung combination microwave/vent hood. Current Model here.

This puppy is a little workhorse. It does a good job extracting moisture and smells from cooking. It also has a nice light perfect for shining light on the stove. It is also a pretty good little microwave. We’re not really microwave people, but it’s great at what we need it for (melting butter, defrosting, cooking a baked potato.) It’s got a lot of pre-programmed items, and they do work well. The potato & defrost are bang on. Its got a good display, and is easy to use. It comes with a removable “shelf” which makes it easier to reheat more than one item at once. While it is very good for a microwave, I would get more use out of a large exhaust hood in its place.

Overall score. Four awesomes out of five.

Closing Thoughts: We have quite a lot of Samsung items (I am typing this from a Samsung Chromebook in front of our Samsung TV.) We are happy enough with all of the kitchen appliances except the dishwasher. I would not recommend a Samsung dishwasher. It severely under-performs, and we will be tossing it and searching for a new (non Samsung) model soon. My favorites are the fridge and microwave/vent. BUT if you offered me a gas slide in range, I would throw my Samsung electric range under the bus, but it does work well, and is definitely a quality stove.

What kitchen appliances do you have and love? Can you recommend a good dishwasher?

*We have no affiliation with Samsung, and this is our unbiased, unpaid honest review.


Author: Kristen

Kristen & her husband El Granto & their Vizsla Odin live in a converted Storefront in downtown Toronto.

13 thoughts on “Samsung Kitchen Appliance Review”

    1. I would unfortunately say no. We had problems with every single one and have replaced all but the microwave (which we glued it’s handle back on…)

  1. Hi Seeing that your post was in 2014 you probably have a new dishwasher but I just found your post. My Samsung dishwasher was not cleaning either then I read an article that changed that. Make sure water not too hot( I turned down water heater. If you have soft water don’t use more than 2 tbls dishwasher soap and I started washing on heavy( only runs about 2mn longer) and my dishes come out perfectly clean 99%of time. They are a little spotted because I don’t use any rinse agent( I don’t care to eat that). Maybe this will help someone else with same problem

  2. Have Samsung fridge, dishwasher, stove and microwave. Ice maker has to be defrosted every month or so. Stops making ice and have to use hairdryer to get the ice drawer out. Hate it! Dishwasher is mediocre at best. Have to clean under door area after each wash. Paper towel is black with residue or whatever. The dishes are usually clean, but I have to wonder what might still be on them. Sometimes flatware has spots and I have to wipe the tops of the glasses because of the water that does not dry even at high temp setting. Have tried vinegar, etc. to no avail. I would not buy another Samsung appliance ever again! Another problem is the black stainless steel fridge that I have to wipe clean of my husband’s fingerprints every day and night. No handles. Big mistake! Of course, you’re not warned about these things. We definitely should have done more homework. Can’t find a Samsung number to make an official complaint. Just repair shops who fix Samsung appliances. Samsung should be ashamed of themselves for producing such inferior appliances. Should have stuck to GE or Whirlpool.

  3. I love my Frigidaire gas range. My dishwasher is okay, it works fine, but it’s the only white appliance we have so it doesn’t match up at all with the rest of the stainless stuff. Our Ikea (Whirlpool)fridge is nice, but slightly annoying. This has more to do with where I placed it (in a corner) than with the fridge itself.

      1. Only 4… I have plenty of room for a 6 burner, but would need to re-do one of my cabinets (need to go from a 24″ to an 18″).

  4. Not that you were probably considering it but don’t get a frigidaire. It cleans fine but not all that well built.

  5. Get a Bosch dishwasher. They are expensive, but SO worth the money. Quiet, fast and do an amazing job. We had one in our house in Ontario. The dishwasher in our new house is a whirlpool. I wouldn’t ever buy one again. Its so loud and like yours takes FOREVER to go through a cycle.

    1. I have heard a lot of good things about Bosch. It really seems like you get what you pay for in dishwasher. The inexpensive ones just aren’t worth it!

      1. We have a new bosch and HATE it. That said, we got the cheapest bosch (but still, pricey for a dishwasher). The end of cycle beep cannot be turned off and it beeps until you get up and turn it off (so no setting it and going to bed), the bottom drawer always falls off the rails, etc. Hate.

        1. Oh my goodness, the perpetual beeping would drive me nuts! I often turn the dishwasher on before bed (its off peak hours) and I would go bonkers if it beeped like an alarm clock.

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