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  • Design & Usability

  • Performance & Features

  • A Good Deal

  • The Cold Hard Facts

  • Temperature Performance

  • Moisture Retention

  • Freezing & Thawing

  • Storage Space & Energy Efficiency

  • Design & Usability
  • Performance & Features
  • A Good Deal
  • The Cold Hard Facts
  • Temperature Performance
  • Moisture Retention
  • Freezing & Thawing
  • Storage Space & Energy Efficiency

For about 30% less than many comparable models, you get high-end design, plenty of room, and a level of performance that's pretty solid. Sounds like a good deal to us.

Design & Usability

High-end style on the cheap

Despite its modest price point, the folks at Kenmore definitely didn’t come up short in the style department. A stainless finish with responsive touch-panel controls are marks of a high-end fridge, as is the inclusion of a central drawer that comes with four distinct temperature settings for specialized food storage.

Four adjustable shelves in the fridge section—two of which have retractable front halves—offer plenty of customizable storage, while three smooth-sliding drawers help keep fruits and veggies together at the bottom.

A shallow, recessed tray at the bottom of the fridge serves as a nifty little multipurpose nook where other fridges simply have wasted space. You can store marinating meat or use it as an easy-to-reach snack bin for the kids. It's covered by two sliding glass panels, similar to the overlapping double doors you might find on a bedroom closet.

These little nooks, found right in front of the Kenmore 72383's crispers, are great for storing anything from trays of marinating chicken to snacks for the kids after school.

These little nooks, found right in front of the crispers, are great for storing anything from trays of marinating chicken to snacks for the kids after school.

In the pullout freezer, you get sliding drawers of various heights and a pizza holder, which can fit two family-sized frozen pies at a time.

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Performance & Features

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Temperature performance is alright

In our lab tests, temperature performance was acceptable. Both the fridge and freezer zones ran warm, something that is correctible by turning down the thermostat.

Over time, temperatures varied only slightly in both compartments, though food in the freezer compartment frequently got above 0ºF—which is what causes freezer burn.

None of the three fridge drawers have adjustable humidity controls, and this is made all the more frustrating by the fact that they only did a mediocre job retaining moisture.

The Kenmore 72383's icemaker bin itself is easy to remove for access to bulk ice.

The icemaker bin itself is easy to remove for access to bulk ice.

Aside from the central temperature-controlled drawer, the feature set is pretty standard. Through-the-door ice and water dispensers are complemented by a control lock, rapid-icemaking Acceler-Ice, and vacation modes. You do get the option of a measured fill on the water dispenser, which is a nice perk. Users can ditch the measuring cup and let the fridge dispense exactly as much water as a recipe requires.

For in-depth performance information, please visit the Science Page.

A Good Deal

A great price for a good fridge.

The Kenmore 72383 isn’t outstanding at anything. Other products have better temperature control, superior energy efficiency, and more gadgets than you’ll find here.

What this Kenmore does bring to the table is a great price for good performance and a good set of features. It's one of the least-expensive French door fridges to feature a fourth temperature-adjustable drawer—other, cheaper models tend to have a second freezer drawer instead. With its well-designed interior, it might be a good fit for families.

The Cold Hard Facts

While not perfect, the Kenmore 72383 (MSRP $3,699.99) offers reasonably effective performance all around. Our tests reveal a good amount of usable space and acceptable temperature performance.

Temperature Performance

Running just a little warm

In the fridge, our sensors recorded average temperatures of 38.8°F at the top, 38.34°F in the middle, and 39.5°F at the bottom. Because temperatures fluctuated an average of 0.5ºF over 72 hours, you needn't worry about food's internal temperatures going above 41ºF—the temperature at which bacterial growth begins to become a problem. Still, you’ll want to turn the thermostat down a degree or two for optimal food preservation.

The Kenmore 72383's touch screen controls work fine, but are very reflective.

The touch screen controls work fine, but are very reflective.

The freezer was similar: good enough, but warm. We recorded a low temperature of -2.37ºF, and a high of 3.47ºF during an automatic defrost cycle. On average, however, temperatures only fluctuated a half a degree over 72 hours. That means you'll do a good job avoiding freezer burn if you turn the temperature down.

Moisture Retention

We've seen better crisper drawers

While you can adjust the thermostat to help deal with temperature issues, there’s no adjustable slider to improve the crispers. Our test materials lost an average of 0.27 grams of moisture per hour over the course of three days inside the Kenmore’s fridge drawers. That’s more than average for French door fridges, and could potentially result in faster spoiling of produce.

The fact that you can't adjust the Kenmore 72383's crispers makes their poor performance all the more frustrating.

The fact that you can't adjust the crispers makes their poor performance all the more frustrating.

Freezing & Thawing

Neither under- nor overwhelming

Freezing times were just plain average. The chilly lower section of the Kenmore cooled room temperature food down to 32°F in one hour and 23 minutes, which is good.

The 72383 also passed our thawing test with flying colors. After 36 hours without power, the interior had only warmed up to 28.49°F—very chilly, indeed.

Two drawers and a deep bottom bin with a sliding middle section give you plenty or storage options in the Kenmore 72383's freezer.

Two drawers and a deep bottom bin with a sliding middle section give you plenty or storage options in the freezer.

Storage Space & Energy Efficiency

Could be roomier

Despite its size and some clever compartments, the Kenmore 72383 does have a few flaws when it comes to space utilization. Gaps around the four shelves waste good storage space, but nooks like the sliding compartment in front of the crispers help mitigate that. All told, the main fridge section offers up 12.48 usable cubic feet of space, including the large central drawer above the freezer.

Speaking of which, the freezer is quite roomy. Two sliding drawers sit above the main pullout bin, which is divided by a sliding central section. Throw in the pizza caddie hidden just inside the freezer door, and you get 5.02 usable cubic feet.

While the 72383 isn’t inefficient, it’s not quite as frugal with energy as other modern models. We calculate it requires 0.1 kWh to cool each cubic foot, as opposed to similar models that can use as little as 0.07. Keep in mind this is with the icemaker running, so if you don’t empty it out often, that efficiency will improve. Figuring a national average cost of $0.09 per kWh, that comes out to about $59.40 a year in electricity costs.

Meet the tester

Matthew Zahnzinger

Matthew Zahnzinger

Logistics Manager & Staff Writer

@ReviewedHome

Matthew is a native of Brockton, MA and a graduate of Northeastern, where he earned a degree in English and Theatre. He has also studied at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin and spends most of his free time pursuing a performance career in the greater Boston area.

See all of Matthew Zahnzinger's reviews

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