Still smitten by Smeg
4/5
We bought this Smeg fridge/freezer to replace a similar model purchased in January 2000. This new model has been significantly improved by the addition of a "super cold drawer" as well as a more efficient fruit and vegetable drawer, making it easier to keep foods separate and avoid contamination. The downside of these additions is the loss of storage capacity within the door to the refrigerator where the new style drawers protrude at the base of the compartment. This has roughly halved storage for bottles and also mysteriously resulted in the loss of egg racks for a dozen eggs. Why at least one egg rack could not be incorporated into the closed storage compartment in the top of the door is not clear and this omission is a pity. Moreover, the model is now slightly narrower than its earlier equivalent which means that the bottle rack for storing and chilling white wines etc which fitted the earlier model is too wide for the new model and sadly Smeg do not make a rack to fit this new model. Coupled with the 50% loss of bottle storage in the door, this change is inexplicable and means wine bottles now have to compete with milk bottles. But despite this we are still smitten by our Smeg. We like to eat fresh foods in season and do not store a large amount of frozen food so that the freezer compartment is perfectly adequate and the refrigerator compartment with its 3 shelves affords a large amount of space for storing various foods separately without a lot of undue bending. Our old Smeg had to go because even after a new thermostat some 4 years ago, it was noisily running on 7, largely because of the leakage around the gasket around the door beyond repair. Our new Smeg now gently and quietly hums away on 3 with the gasket fitting tightly. Indeed it seems that we may need to visit the gym more often to develop arm muscles capable of opening the door to the refrigeration compartment with one hand.
Robert Jones