So where should you begin in your quest for the ultimate fridge? There are plenty of options on the market. Here are the best French door refrigerators. What We Don’t Love: Some users report issues with ice maker, limited warranty This is a 22-cubic-foot French door fridge with everything, including Wi-Fi and the Samsung Family Hub application, which organizes the smart contents into food management, entertainment, family connection, and Smart Home compatibility. It’s a way to streamline your organizational needs while staying entertained. On the inside, multiple cameras allow you to see exactly what your refrigerator contains. The appliance is also compatible with an app. Although this isn’t the largest French door unit on the market, its 15.5 cubic feet of fridge space and 6.6-cubic-foot freezer offer ample room for family needs. It comes with both water and ice dispensers, as well as an auto-fill function operated via a digital sensor. Additionally, the middle drawer is a “flex zone,” which can store contents at a different temperature than the fridge. This fridge is Energy Star-certified, an added bonus for those looking to save on their utility bill. All told, this unit does just about everything you need a refrigerator to do—and more. Price at time of publish: $4,199 Type: Counter depth | Dimensions (DxWxH): 29.25 x 35.75 x 70 inches | Refrigerator Capacity: 12.5 cubic feet | Freezer Capacity: 6.6 cubic feet | Flex Zone Capacity: 3.1 cubic feet What We Don’t Love: No water filtration system With a total of 21.8 cubic feet of space, this entry-level unit sacrifices a little bit of space, but it’s worth it for the price. Although there’s no external ice maker, there’s one inside the freezer—itself a total of 7.3 cubic feet of space. A stainless steel finish is sleek and attractive.  This unit does not have a water filter or dispenser, but it does have a linear compressor, which makes it a quieter unit. The compressor itself comes with a 10-year warranty, a built-in bonus. That compressor and well-placed vents help keep your food fresh. The refrigerator includes your usual crisper drawers and door bins along with a pantry drawer for storage. This Energy Star-certified fridge is perfect for those looking for the advantages of a French door unit but need a little flexibility on the price. It’s also a solid choice for small living spaces. Price at time of publish: $1,749 Type: Standard depth | Dimensions (DxWxH): 35.5 x 29.75 x 68.5 inches | Refrigerator Capacity: 14.5 cubic feet | Freezer Capacity: 7.3 cubic feet What We Don’t Love: Can be loud at times With a total capacity of 24.7 cubic feet, this model is spacious, offering plenty of room for all those family snacks you may find you need to keep on hand. The 18-cubic-foot fridge has a filtered water dispenser on the door, for easy access. FreshLock crispers, adjustable half-width shelves, and wire and plastic baskets for freezer organization make it easy to store everything you need with efficiency. And other functions, like the interior LED lighting and an automatic defrost, are useful upgrades. But perhaps what makes this Energy Star-certified fridge the best for families is the fact that it comes in a fingerprint-resistant finish. Although the fridge is also available in black and white, the fingerprint-proof stainless is an excellent bet for families with lots of smudge-fingered children. Type: Standard depth | Dimensions (DxWxH): 35.25 x 35.6 x 70.1 inches | Refrigerator Capacity: 18 cubic feet | Freezer Capacity: 6.7 cubic feet Price at time of publish: $2,799 What We Don’t Love: No smart capabilities Energy Star efficiency meets sleek design in this 20-cubic-foot KitchenAid fridge, which is available in black stainless steel, stainless, steel, and white. Fun interior bonuses include a metal wine rack, a full-width temperature-controlled deli drawer, and a produce preserver, which clears out ethylene, the gas that causes produce to rot. There are also temperature sensors inside the fridge and freezer to help keep food fresh and to avoid freezer burn. This fridge has 14.38 cubic feet of capacity—larger than many counter-depth versions on the market. It has no exterior ice or water dispenser, though the interior of the fridge has a small built-in dispenser, and the interior of the freezer has an ice dispenser. Other features include five glass shelves, adjustable door bins, and a butter tray. Price at time of publish: $2,520 Type: Counter depth | Dimensions (DxWxH): 30.5 x 36 x 70.1 inches | Refrigerator Capacity: 14.4 cubic feet | Freezer Capacity: 5.6 cubic feet What We Don’t Love: Pricey, deli drawer lacks custom temperature controls This ultra large-capacity refrigerator by LG has tons of bonuses. With a total space of 27.8 cubic feet, this is one of the larger models on the market. A dual ice-maker produces standard ice cubes, crushed ice, and craft round ice for your cocktails. That ice system is one of the smallest available, offering more shelf space and indoor bin space. Water is controlled by a measured fill, and the extra-tall dispenser can accommodate drinks measuring over a foot in height. Of course, the fridge’s double freezers help to organize food into separate compartments. The fridge also comes with a one-layer fresh air filter, which keeps the inside smelling cleaner and produce fresh for longer. The smudge-resistant finish can be cleaned with traditional cleaners, rather than dedicated stainless steel cleaning agents. The Wi-Fi-capable unit can be paired with Alexa or Google Assistant. Price at time of publish: $3,299 Type: Standard depth | Dimensions (DxWxH): 36.25 x 35.75 x 69.75 inches | Refrigerator Capacity: 18.6 cubic feet | Freezer Capacity: 9.2 cubic feet What We Don’t Love: Door-in-door isn’t sealed off from main fridge A flexible, functional French door unit with plenty of space, this 27.9-cubic-foot GE model has a door-in-door design, making it easy to grab items without fully opening the fridge. For the family with children, this function makes for added space to store snacks and drinks (and this is an extremely spacious model, with 15.7 cubic feet of space in the main fridge, plus a 3.6-cubic-foot drawer). For the technology-savvy household, this fridge’s built-in Wi-Fi can give you real-time alerts on your phone, plus connecting with Alexa, Sonos, and Google Assistant. An ice and water dispenser comes with an AutoFill option that senses how much space is left in your glass. The fridge’s interior has an LED light wall so that you can easily see groceries. It also has soft-closing doors. A drawback here is that this is a large unit, and not everyone will have space for a 70-inch tall, 36-inch wide refrigerator. With that said, those with ample kitchen space might want to consider this unit, since it cuts back on the need to keep an additional refrigerator or freezer unit elsewhere, like in the garage or basement. Type: Standard depth | Dimensions (DxWxH): 36.75 x 35.6 x 70 inches | Refrigerator Capacity: 15.7 cubic feet | Freezer Capacity: 8.6 cubic feet | Flex Zone Capacity: 3.6 cubic feet Price at time of publish: $4,199

What to Look for When Buying a French Door Refrigerator

Capacity

French door refrigerator capacity ranges from 20 to 28 cubic feet, which includes both the freezer and refrigerator compartments. Models typically hover around 22 cubic feet, but if you feel that you’ll need more freezer space, you might want to look to units that exceed 24 cubic feet. Consider both how much space you need and how the interior is divided among separate sections.

Features

Like other types of refrigerators, French door units offer a wealth of features, from LED lighting to external water and ice dispensers to smart technology. What you need will depend on how you and your family operate. Decide which features matter most to you, whether it’s spill-proof shelves, adjustable door bins, or easy access to filtered water, and then make those features a priority when shopping.

Counter-Depth vs Standard-Depth

Refrigerators can have a counter-depth or standard-depth design. Which one you opt for depends on your kitchen’s specific layout and your own aesthetics. Counter-depth refrigerators sit flush against cabinetry, for a more curated design. These units, though, are tighter on space, so you may be willing to sacrifice the “built-in” look for a larger, standard-depth unit.

How should you organize a French door refrigerator?

“French door refrigerators are modern, sleek, and add an elegant look to any kitchen,” says Katy Gespass, appliance buyer for P.C. Richard & Son. “What’s more is they offer wider dimensions to allow for storage of large food items and catering trays.” But that begs the question, where should those items go? “Just like with a traditional side-by-side, store condiments in the doors, food that doesn’t need to be cooked on the upper shelves, and raw foods on the lower shelves,” she says. The flexibility of adjustable shelves, which are typical for this type of refrigerator, makes it easy to fit what you need to fit in the best place it should go.

Should you have a professional measure for a French door refrigerator?

While “homeowners can certainly measure the space for their new appliance by precisely measuring the length, height, and width, then triple-checking their work,” Gespass says, it’s much more precise to work with a professional “who will use a rendering software system that shows a 3D image of your space” for optimal accuracy.  This kind of precision is important when it comes to French door refrigerators since swing needs to be accounted for on both sides, and all refrigerators require proper ventilation—at least an inch of extra room in the back and at the top, she advises.

How much extra space should you account for in a French door refrigerator?

“A refrigerator’s door should have enough room to open at least 90 degrees while you’re standing in front of it," says Gespass. “To ensure adequate swing space, there should be at least two inches of room on the hinge side…be sure to allow that on both sides.” She also brings up clearance. “You need roughly four feet in front of the fridge for standing space,” she says. “If your refrigerator is going into a kitchen that’s being remodeled, be sure to take into account the placement of any islands or peninsulas that may be added later.”

Why Trust Simply Recipes?

Hannah Selinger has written about food and drinks for local and national publications since 2015. A former sommelier, Hannah has worked for some of New York’s top restaurant groups, including Laurent Tourondel’s BLT group and David Chang’s Momofuku group. Her work has appeared in Eater, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Wine Enthusiast, and more. Hannah is also a graduate of the International Culinary Center and a mother of two refrigerator-obsessed young children. Read Next: The Best Microwaves