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What to Look For in a Professional Style Refrigerator
Professional Style Refrigerators - For a while stainless steel was the domain of professional equipment, but now virtually every appliance has a stainless steel finish option. Professional appliances also were the units that looked like they came from a restaurant kitchen, but that has changed too. True commercial equipment is designed for heavy duty use and is essentially frill free. The equipment marketed to consumers is professional in "style". It has many of the appearance cues taken from commercial equipment and some of the more powerful features, but it also has some advantages over commercial equipment. Consumer pro-style appliances also have all the frills you would expect, frills that are not offered on true professional equipment.
In some ways the "pro-style" genre has been blended into high end appliances. Many appliances are no longer referred to as pro-style, even though they have all the styling details of what are thought of as restaurant style. Many lower cost appliances are picking up these styling cues and can be had at very affordable prices.
All that being said, whether an appliance is labeled as pro-style or it has the styling of professional equipment, the bottom line is buy what you need. Select features and styling the suit your needs. Pro-style appliances are not necessarily better than other equipment, in fact, many have a higher repair frequency according to consumer journals. The higher cost of equipment that has pro-style cache does not always translate into better value or yield better results in the kitchen.
The manufacturer list below reflects those companies known to produce Pro style refrigerators at the time of writing or recent update.
Pro-Style Refrigerator Buying Guides
| How To Choose a Refrigerator |  |
Design Considerations for a New Fridge |
| Refrigerators by Manufacturer | |
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*All prices are MSRP
