Shopping for a fridge can get very overwhelming very quickly. There are hundreds of options available, and if you haven’t jotted down your requirements, taking a stroll through a home improvement store will leave you confused and frustrated.
Going with the brand you trust is key to ensuring that the unit you buy doesn’t break down too soon or give you trouble.
Kenmore is one of the world’s most trusted home appliance brands. While the company only started to sell refrigerators and freezers roughly fifty years ago in 1976, the brand’s origins in the home appliance space date back to 1913.
But then again, Kenmore has a considerable number of offerings. The brand sells all types of fridges – everything from mini-fridges to smart French-door refrigerators – and finding the one perfect product from the bunch can be challenging.
And that’s what we’ll help you with.
Kenmore’s Elite line of refrigerators is one of the brand’s most premium collection of products, and buying any one of them will leave you satisfied.
But to make the buying process easier, we’ve shortlisted and reviewed five of the best Kenmore Elite Refrigerators available for purchase.
Not all fridges are built the same, and different consumers have different needs. Recognizing exactly what you need will ensure that you’re happy with your purchase for years, if not decades. The reviews are followed by a detailed buying guide, ensuring you get the perfect fridge for your home.
Best Kenmore Elite Refrigerators: Our Top Picks
1. Kenmore Elite 72483 refrigerator
The Kenmore Elite 72483 boasts a sleek design and an easy-to-use layout, which, coupled with its excellent performance and separate temperature-control drawer, make it an excellent overall option.
Specifications
- Doors: Four
- Height: 70.25”
- Width: 35.75”
- Depth: 37.75”
- Interior Space: 29.9 cu. ft.
Features
One of the best things about the 72483 fridge is its design – it makes organizing food and drinks effortless. The special meat drawer makes it the perfect fridge to get if you’re a BBQ lover or love to throw parties in general.
The meat drawer also doubles as the perfect spot to store away wine and cheese for special occasions.
The fridge has bright LED lights, which add to the convenience that the smooth-sliding doors make for. In a lot of spots in the refrigerator, the storage is customizable, allowing you to personalize how you store food.
The 72483’s controls are on the top of the frame and not around the water dispenser, giving the dispenser a modern, minimalistic look.
What makes it one of the best Kenmore Elite refrigerators is the temperature accuracy. Once you’ve set the fridge’s temperature, you have nothing left to worry about – the temperatures are consistent over time.
It also comes with two AirTight crisper drawers, which live up to expectations and retain moisture effectively.
Energy efficiency can be a big concern, especially with a fridge this size. Thankfully, though, according to the new Energy Star standards, the 72483 is super energy efficient.
In fact, it is one of the most energy-efficient French door refrigerators that money can buy.
Its excellent in-door storage gives you more than enough room to stack away sauces, wine, juices, and more with ease. Since the shelving is adjustable, you will also be able to put away tall bottles in the unit without any problems.
The freezer in the unit is just as impressive – it has three tiers, giving you plenty of room to put away meals, treats, and extra meat.
The pull-out drawers also make it a lot easier to keep your frozen food organized and remove the need for you to dig around for that one bag of peas or tub of ice cream.
The ample storage, high energy efficiency, excellent temperature accuracy, and reasonable price make it one of the best Kenmore Elite refrigerators that money can buy.
2. Kenmore Elite 74033 REFRIGERATOR
The Elite 74033 is very similar to the Kenmore Elite 74025. The only significant difference between the two is that the 74033 has a door-in-door storage compartment.
Specifications
- Doors: Three
- Height: 70.25”
- Width: 35.75”
- Depth: 36.25”
- Interior Space: 29.6 cu. ft.
Features
The Kenmore Elite 74033 is slightly smaller than the Kenmore Elite 72483, its design does its size justice, and you will barely notice a difference in terms of storage space.
Since it has a storage capacity of 29.6 cu. ft., fitting leftovers, lunch bags, snacks, and treats will never be a problem.
The flexibility the fridge offers is what makes it one of the best Kenmore Elite refrigerators.
It includes adjustable spill-proof shelving, giving you the power to personalize how you put away your food, and the full-width pantry drawer makes putting away deli items, beverages, and other supplies easy.
The fridge has two crisper drawers, of which one is AirTight, and the Grab-N-Go™ door allows you to organize cooked food with ease. You can put away prepped party trays, leftovers from dinner, and even school lunches in the Grab-N-Go™ door.
The freezer is just as impressive – it has a three-tier Tilt-N-Take freezer, giving you all the space you need to put away meat, frozen food, and more.
However, we can only recommend this fridge if you have a larger kitchen. While freezer access is convenient, when the doors are open, it takes up a lot of floor space.
One of the best things about the fridge is that it incorporates GeniusCool technology to maintain optimal temperatures.
The charcoal CleanFlow filter that is incorporated into the unit helps get rid of any odor and keeps the air in the fridge fresh. You will never need to place a box of baking soda in this fridge to keep it from smelling bad.
The fridge keeps temperatures consistent over time, which is a testament to the quality of the components used.
For its size, Kenmore’s Elite 74033 is surprisingly efficient. It requires roughly 0.07kWh to chill a cubic foot of food, which translates to an approximate electricity bill of $45 a year.
You can further increase the efficiency of the fridge by turning off the ice maker.
Overall, though, the price, the storage space offered, and the flexibility it provides makes it an excellent unit that’s worth every penny.
3. Kenmore Elite 51773 REFRIGERATOR
Attractive side-by-side fridges can be hard to find as it is – the outrageous prices they sometimes go for only make the search more challenging. But if that’s exactly what you’re looking for, the Kenmore Elite 51773 will be perfect for you.
Specifications
- Doors: Two
- Height: 69”
- Width: 35.5”
- Depth: 35.13”
- Interior Space: 28 cu. ft.
Features
One of the best things about the 51773 fridge is its design. It is loaded with LED lighting, giving it a lively modern look. The grey trim on the shelves and the drawers complement the lighting beautifully.
It’s just as attractive on the outside as it is on the inside. The control panel incorporates blue-tinted symbols, which beautifully contrast with the stainless finish.
However, the design does have some flaws, the most noticeable of which is the text. It doesn’t fade away when the unit is not in use, making it distracting in a dark kitchen.
But on the plus side, the 51773 has a door-mounted ice maker that saves a lot of space. The fridge comes with multiple shelving brackets, allowing you to customize every section of the fridge to your liking.
What’s more, the fridge has many extra perks – including but not limited to the five-can door rack.
It also comes with a four-bottle wine rack, which can be coupled with a bunch of other organizational options to make everything in your fridge that much more accessible.
However, you have to be careful not to use too many of the shelves – while the fridge is considerably big, it can start to feel cramped quickly.
Kenmore incorporated its GeniusCool technology into the fridge, which works with the SmartSense temperature management system to keep the food stored in the fridge at optimal temperatures.
Humidity is also regulated by the same system, ensuring that meat and other products do not get freezer burn.
All the air in the fridge is passed through the CleanFlow air filter, ensuring that only clean air circulates in the fridge.
Another excellent feature is the in-door icemaker. The Accela Ice feature keeps the ice coming, making the Elite 51773 the perfect fridge to buy if you throw a lot of parties. You won’t need to worry about the safety of the ice cubes, either, since the NSF-certified filter gets rid of 99.9% of the contaminants for you.
4. Kenmore Elite 79043 REFRIGERATOR
If you want a lot of storage but don’t want to get a French door refrigerator, your options are limited. Among the options that are available, though, the Kenmore Elite 79043 is the best one. It’s slightly expensive, but its features make it worth every penny.
Specifications
- Doors: Two
- Height: 69.875”
- Width: 32.75”
- Depth: 34.875”
- Interior Space: 24.1 cu. ft.
Features
The fridge’s stainless-steel design makes it look great in every kitchen, but what makes it fitting for almost any kitchen is its size. The refrigerator has a storage capacity of 24.1 cu. ft., nearly all of which you can organize to your liking.
While the fridge is large, it does come with a door reversal kit, allowing you to change the way the door opens should your kitchen’s layout demand it.
In addition to being able to fit all the household staples, you’ll be able to fit party trays and snacks in it just fine.
The full-width pantry drawer is fully customizable – the adjustable glass shelves included in the fridge enable you to personalize how you store your supplies.
It also has a Tilt-N-Store door bin and gallon storage bins enabling you to accommodate wide and tall items with ease. You will never need to worry about where you’ll fit that box of milk or bottle of wine.
Kenmore also incorporates the Multi Air Flow technology into the Elite 79043, which uses venting to balance cool air throughout the unit.
Another advantage with the Elite 79043 is that it comes with two humidity-controlled crisper drawers, helping keep your produce farm-fresh for a little longer.
The two-tier pull-out freezer makes it very easy for you to access pre-made meals and treats. You won’t need to dig through piles of food to find what you need.
An icemaker comes built-in, giving you continual access to fresh ice whether you’re hosting a cocktail party or having people over for brunch.
But perhaps the best thing about the Elite 79043 is that even the freezer is well lit, which isn’t the case with most bottom freezers in the market.
Despite the unit’s size and the fact that it has an icemaker, the Elite 79043 is surprisingly efficient. It will only cost you a little more than the average lunch to run over a year, making it one of the most efficient refrigerator models in the market.
5. Kenmore Elite 74025 REFRIGERATOR
If you need the largest Kenmore Elite fridge you can get your hands on, the Elite 74025 is exactly what you’re looking for. It looks great and works efficiently, which, coupled with competitive pricing, makes it one of the best Kenmore Elite refrigerators.
Specifications
- Doors: Three
- Height: 70.25”
- Width: 35.75”
- Depth: 36.25”
- Interior Space: 29.8 cu. ft.
Features
The Kenmore Elite 74025 French door fridge offers 29.8 cu. ft. of storage, making it the largest fridge on this list. It can accommodate groceries, snacks, leftovers, prepared party food, and still have space left to store more.
The 74025 comes with four adjustable glass shelves, which, coupled with the full-width pantry, leaves no confusion as to what needs to go where.
It also has two crisper drawers, further enabling you to sort your supplies correctly.
The fridge comes with gallon-sized door bins and also a dairy shelf, allowing you to grab commonly used items quickly in a pinch. There’s also plenty of designated space for tall items such as wine bottles.
The three-tier freezer makes organizing your food easy as it is – the two slide-back drawers make storage that much more convenient.
The linear compressor handles changes in temperature well, and the CleanFlow Air ensures that only clean air circulates inside the fridge.
Its Active Finish feature gives the refrigerator the popular stainless-steel look, but the surface is fingerprint-resistant.
Buyers Guide
As mentioned earlier, different consumers have different needs. Besides the price, there’s a lot more for you to consider before you decide to pay on a scale of hundreds for a Kenmore Elite Refrigerator.
Figuring out what your needs are can be confusing as it is – and then there’s the added pressure of understanding what needs to prioritize. This guide should help you with all that and more.
Preservation Power
Spending on a scale of thousands of dollars doesn’t make sense if the refrigerator you buy cannot sufficiently cool and preserve the food.
When shopping for a fridge, you will need to ensure that the fridge can cool your food at the temperature you want. You will also need to ensure that it has the humidity controls to keep your supplies fresh for longer.
Size
One of the most important things you must consider is the size of the fridge you need. There’s a chance that your current refrigerator cutout is created specifically for it – so you must measure the cutout precisely and ensure that the fridge you buy fits.
Additionally, you must remember to leave at least a two-inch gap between the fridge and the walls of the cutout. Fridges break faster if they don’t get the right amount of air circulation.
Style
There are primarily four styles of refrigerators: French door fridges, top-freezers, bottom-freezers, and side-by-side freezers. Top freezers refrigerators have the freezer positioned on the top, whereas bottom freezers have the freezer located on the bottom.
Side-by-side units work differently – the freezer is typically on the left, and the fridge is on the right. Each has its own door, making access convenient.
Lastly, French door fridges also have two doors, but both open up to the refrigeration space. The freezer is positioned on the bottom.
You can pick between the four depending on what layout you find most convenient to use and the size of the fridge you’re looking for.
Water and Ice Dispensers
Not every fridge comes with an ice dispenser, so if you need one, also be sure to check what types of ice the fridge dispenses. If you have people over often, you may feel the need to use a lot more than cubed ice.
Some fridges in the market dispense crushed ice, cylindrical ice, and a lot more. Some of the more expensive fridges dispense both hot and cold water, and few even have built-in coffee makers.
Fridges with through-door water dispensers sometimes come with built-in pitchers that fill up automatically.
More and more fridges with these features have appeared in the market, so if you cannot make do without any of these features, make sure you look hard for a fridge with the feature, because it’s surely out there.
Finish
Most modern refrigerators come in some variation of a stainless steel finish. However, finding a fridge that complements your kitchen’s setup should be easy.
But it’s important to remember that fridges in more “sophisticated” colors like black and white cost a lot more than a run-of-the-mill fridge.
Efficiency
Many consumers wish to switch to more environmentally friendly electronics. If using a fridge that conserves water and energy is important to you, the best way to go about buying a fridge is to take a look at the unit’s Energy Star rating.
As a rule of thumb, the more complex the fridge’s design is, the more energy it uses. While the difference in energy consumption between a basic fridge and a French door fridge isn’t too large, the costs and damage to the environment do add up over time.
It’s up to you to decide if you’re willing to trade the convenience that a complex unit offers for slightly higher running costs over time.
Storage Options
The possibilities are endless when it comes to the storage options that a fridge can have. A lot of modern fridges come with several shelves that you can flip up and retract or slide and expand to fit the supplies you need to fit.
Other fridges come with door-in-door storage, giving you access to commonly used items without needing to open the fridge’s door completely.
FAQs
Q: How do I reset my Kenmore Elite refrigerator?
A: No, most Kenmore Elite fridges do not have a reset button. However, some models do, and reading the manual is the only reliable way to find out. Most Kenmore Elite refrigerators can be reset by holding down the light and lock buttons for five seconds and then power cycling the fridge.
Q: How do I set the temperature on a Kenmore Elite refrigerator?
A: To set the temperature of your Kenmore Elite fridge, you must hold the fridge temp and freezer temp buttons together. The display will beep, post which you can use the fridge temp button to cycle through the available temperature settings.
Q: How can I make my Kenmore Elite fridge cooler?
A: On models that have a dial, the dial controls both the refrigerator and the freezer’s temperatures. Turning the dial clockwise will make the fridge colder. The temperature control is positioned on the back wall of the freezer.
Q: What is the temperature that Kenmore Elite fridges work best on?
A: 37 degrees Fahrenheit is the perfect temperature to set a Kenmore Elite refrigerator. The freezer is best set at 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
Final Thoughts
Now that you’re acquainted with the best Kenmore Elite refrigerator options and know what you should look for in a fridge before deciding to buy it, getting your hands on the right unit should be much easier.
One unit that we can recommend to anybody without reservation is the Kenmore Elite 72483. It has an attractive design, boasts an easy to use layout, provides a lot of space, and is super-efficient, making it a refrigerator that is hard not to recommend.
