Lennie Liebherr (Liebherr KIB 2840)

Member Name: SueMagee

Product:	Liebherr KIB 2840
Date:	29/08/02 (1424 review reads)
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When I was planning my new kitchen I had my heart set on one of those big American fridge/freezers. You know the sort. A family of four can live in the fridge section and the freezer could be used as a granny flat and staff quarters. I was determined. Why? Well when you go to buy a new fridge the first thing the salesman asks you is 'how many people live in your home?' When you say 'two' he escorts you to the smallest fridge in the store and, depending on your age says something along the lines of 'an excellent starter model...' or 'once the children have left home this model should prove more than adequate...'

Unfortunately they never ask the question which they should be asking which is 'how often do you shop?' Now, I hate shopping. I hate it with a vengeance and if I could find an online site which stocks all that I want and which provides a half-way decent service then I would gladly never go near a supermarket again. As it is I've managed to reduce shopping to a once-a-week torture but to be able to do this and still have an efficiently functioning fridge it needs to be of a reasonable size.

The kitchen designer looked sceptical but wasn't one to turn down what could be a lucrative sale so he designed me a kitchen to include my heart's desire. Well, I say 'include' but what I actually mean is that this appliance would have been moved into the kitchen before the outside walls were fully built and then odd units fitted around it. Cooking was to be by Bunsen burner and water supply from the garden tap. Even I could see that I'd got this a bit out of proportion and it was back to the drawing board, or, more accurately, a pile of brochures. I also started to think about what I really needed.

The trouble with only shopping once a week is that the vegetables that you bought on Friday are starting to look a little, well, tired by Tuesday and meat is more than j
ust beginning to have an aroma. In fact, the fridge doesn't smell quite fresh any more. I needed a fridge that would store each food at optimum temperature and humidity for the longest possible periods. I needed Leonard Liebherr.

Leonard's fully integrated. He's what's called a door-on-door model. A door which matches my kitchen units is fitted onto his door and you would never know that he's there once his door has been shut with a satisfying 'clunk'. He stands next to his petite wife, Freda Freezer Liebherr, but I'll tell you more about her in another opinion.

He's not exceptionally tall, at 1.4 metres and I could have gone for his bigger brother, but I can't see the point of having a fridge which needs a step ladder if you want to reach the back of the top shelf. Leonard fits into a kitchen unit - he doesn't stand on the floor, so his top shelf is about at eye level for me. Inside he's pristine white and has glass shelves (to stop things that shouldn't drip onto other foods dripping onto other foods, you see) and all his shelves are edged in white plastic, which is easily removed when I wash him out. I cheat and put all the glass shelves into the dishwasher! Shelves can be pulled forward by about 10cm to make reaching something at the back of the shelf a little easier. One of the shelves is split ('sectioned' the brochure says!) in case you want to put a tall jug in, but I must admit this is one of the few annoying things about Leonard. If I move anything on the shelf underneath I occasionally catch the split section and it moves. I have to remember not to put anything there that could easily be upset. It's not the spot to keep the bowl of beetroot! I've only got one other minor niggle and I'll tell you about that in a moment.

The refrigerator section is about the same size as a refrigerator that fits under a working surface. There are five shelves
in the body plus two vegetable bins to take the vegetables which can't go into the Biofresh compartments. These are clear Perspex and are the subject of my other minor niggle. I generally use them for baby potatoes and peppers. I suspect that I'm intended to pull open the drawer, remove what I want, and close the drawer, but I don't usually know how much I'll need until I see what the quantity of prepared food looks like, so I remove the drawer and put it on the working surface. When I pick it up it feels a little flimsy and I wonder how long it will be before the Perspex cracks. In fairness it hasn't happened in the last eight months; it's just one of those things which 'wouldn't surprise me'.

There are five shelves on the door too, including the usual dairy compartment at the top. The other four shelves have stainless steel bars to hold bottles and cans in place. I've found the shelves to be adequately adjustable and dismantle for easy cleaning. Yet more glass goes through the dishwasher! There's the usual butter dish and egg rack but I've never used the latter - I prefer to keep my eggs at room temperature.

I didn't think I'd find much use for the 'super-cooling' function which drops the internal temperature to 4 degrees centigrade. I usually have the temperature at 5 degrees centigrade - there's a handy digital display which tells you the internal temperature of the refrigerator section and you simply press a button to alter it. Occasionally (well, OK, most Fridays!) I put rather a lot of food in which is at room temperature and the super-cooling function, which operates for six hours and then switches itself off, brings the temperature of the food down as quickly as possible. This does consume more energy than normal running, but it automatically reverts to energy-efficient running after six hours. Whilst we're on the subject of energy consumption, it's En
ergy Efficiency class B and consumes 230kWh a year.

So, you're thinking, it's a fridge. It's even a nice fridge. What's so special about it? Right, I'll tell you. It has two Biofresh compartments under the refrigerator section. These are two sturdy Perspex drawers mounted on telescopic runners. The humidity in the bottom drawer can be adjusted, whilst the top drawer is dry. Food can be stored in optimum conditions and it lasts a great deal longer.

Have you ever bought mushrooms and two days later they look sad and disreputable? I can keep them for a week and they still look good. I bought some grapes about ten days ago because they were on special offer. They still look as god as the day I bought them. Lettuce lasts for about three weeks, celery a month, carrots five months and pears a massive six months. Fruit and vegetables go into the drawer with humidity and meat goes into the dry drawer. Raw meat which I would previously freeze if I was not going to use it within a couple of days lasts for a week. Food is simply placed in the drawers, unwrapped, and it remains in prime condition for a great deal longer than it would otherwise do.

Some foods, such as bananas, melons, peppers and potatoes are sensitive to cold and shouldn't be put in the Biofresh drawers, but they can be stored in the refrigerator section. Strictly, cucumbers should come under this heading, but I must confess that I keep them in the Biofresh drawer for about a fortnight without any ill effects.

Leonard's pretty labour-saving too. The refrigerator and Biofresh compartments defrost automatically and all he needs is the occasional wash to keep him spruce. I can honestly say that I've been much happier with him than I would have been with his American cousin!

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