A Case Study In Engineering Ingenuity: How Consumer Reports (CR) Tested Major Kitchen Appliances,

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 7, 2002

CONTACT:
Jennifer Shecter 914-378-2402 shecje@consumer.org
Consumers Union

A Case Study in Engineering Ingenuity:
How Consumer Reports (CR) Tested Major Kitchen Appliances,
Sinks, Countertops, Faucets, and Cabinets for August 2002 Cover Story

During months of testing in CR's state-of-the-art labs,
engineers evaluated products based on how consumers use them every day

Ranges (49 tested), Cooktops (17 tested) and Wall ovens (9 tested): Overall score includes cooktop speed and simmer performance, oven capacity, baking, broiling, and self-cleaning.

· Cooktop speed is how quickly the highest-powered burner or element heated a bit more than 6 quarts of room-temperature water to a near boil.

· Simmer shows how well the least powerful burner or element melted and held chocolate without scorching it and whether the most powerful, set to Low, held tomato sauce below a boil.

Chocolate used: Almost 20 boxes of baker's chocolate

Tomato sauce: Testers make the sauce themselves following a basic recipe (in the Fanny Farmer cookbook) that requires tomato paste, carrots, basil and ground pepper. Eight cups were poured into each pot.

· Bake shows baking evenness for cakes and cookies.

Cookies made (and eaten by staff): 2,000
Cakes made (and eaten by staff): 500 white cakes

· Broil shows cooking and searing evenness for a tray of burgers.
Burgers made (and donated to an animal shelter): 1,200

· Self-cleaning gauges how well the self-cleaning cycle removed a baked-on mixture of eggs, lard, cherry-pie filling, cheese, tomato purée, and tapioca. The "Monster Mash" was baked for 1 hour at 425 degrees Fahrenheit. After it cooled, testers followed manufacturers' self-cleaning instructions.

Refrigerators (41 tested): Overall score gives the most weight to energy efficiency and temperature performance. Energy-efficiency information is taken from the appliance's EnergyGuide label and the model's usable volume.

· Temperature tests involve installing the refrigerators in one of Consumer Reports' state-of-the-art environmental chambers and attaching 15 temperature sensors to the inside of each appliance-9 in the refrigerator and 6 in the freezer. Using these sensors, testers are able to evaluate how well the appliance maintains the ideal temperature for the refrigerator-37º F-and for the freezer-0º F. The refrigerators are evaluated on how they react to changes in different ambient conditions-the effects of leaving the door open for a long time or a spike in room temperature like a summer heat wave.

· The spinach test: To ensure that CR's tests most closely match the consumer experience, each freezer is stuffed with roughly 70 packages of spinach because most people's freezers are usually pretty full. Having a full freezer actually helps the refrigerator perform better, since it reduces the temperature swings that result in damage like ice crystals in ice cream. Spinach itself has thermal properties similar to many of the most common frozen foods.

Packages of spinach needed for this project: More than 2,800

Microwave Ovens (38 tested for January 2002 issue of Consumer Reports and reviewed in this package): Overall score is based largely on evenness of cooking and ability to defrost as evaluated by instruments that measure temperature, as well as ease of use. Note: Where food is still edible after testing, it is offered to staff.

· Ability to cook evenly reflects how well a model heated a dish of 2.5 pounds of instant mashed potatoes. Total grams cooked: About 100 pounds of instant mashed potatoes

· Auto defrost is based on how well the automatic-defrost program defrosted 1 pound of frozen ground beef. Total pounds defrosted: 38 pounds of ground beef

· Ratings also incorporate test results for settings or buttons. Some of the most common settings include:

· Casserole. CR tested how well a prepackaged lasagna that has been sitting in the fridge reheated.

· Dinner Plate. CR tested how well a meal of meatloaf, green beans, and mashed potatoes reheated.

· Vegetable. CR tested how well the microwave cooked both frozen and fresh vegetables.

· Popcorn. CR tested how much of the popcorn in a typical 3½-ounce bag popped (the actual number of kernels that popped was calculated using a graduated cylinder that measures volume).

Dishwashers (31 tested for May 2002 issue of Consumer Reports and reviewed in this package): Overall score stresses washing, but also factors in noise, energy use, water use, convenience, and cycle time.

· Washing was evaluated by testers who soiled 113 items (the equivalent of 10 place settings, which included dishes, flatware, and glasses) exactly the same way. They smeared dishes with soggy cornflakes, mashed potatoes, oatmeal, peanut butter, and a dozen other foods in precise patterns. The items are loaded in the dishwasher and then left to sit overnight, as is typical of consumer behavior.
Total items soiled for the last project alone: 3,503

Sinks (4 different materials), Faucets (3 different finishes), and Countertops (6 leading materials): Overall score summarizes performance in tests for stains, heat, slicing, abrasion, impact, and chopping.

· For stains, CR used 20 common household products such as ketchup, coffee, tea bags, vinegar, mustard, and drain cleaner.

· For heat, CR warmed a pot of oil to 400º F and placed it on sinks and countertops to check for discoloration or other damage.

· For slicing, up to 25 strokes with a weighted chef's knife on countertops.

· For abrasion, up to 25 back-and-forth swipes with a weighted sanding block for countertops or with nylon and metal scouring pads for sinks and faucets.

· For impact, blunt and pointed weights (simulating pots and utensils) dropped from heights of up to 2 feet. There were up to 36 individual impacts on each model.

· For chopping, countertops were rated by evaluating surface damage from a knife edge driven by a falling weight. There were up to 10 different impacts on each model.

Cabinets: CR's tests, last done in 1997 and reviewed for this package, are tougher versions of those developed by the American National Standards Institute and the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association.

· To judge cabinet and component durability, CR built a machine that opens and closes drawers and doors 30,000 times. Then, using sandbags and metal weights, CR testers assessed the ability of doors, floors, and shelves to hold up to a sharp impact.

· To test cabinets' finish as well as the plywood or particleboard case, testers subjected the cabinets to alternating cycles of high and low temperature and humidity.

· To test for damage in a flood situation, CR used cabinets representing a cross-section of materials, and simulated such an occurrence by letting the cabinets sit in a shallow tub of water for 24 hours.

- 30 -

AUGUST 2002

The material above is intended for legitimate news entities only; it may not be used for commercial or promotional purposes. Consumer Reports® is published by Consumers Union, an independent, nonprofit testing and information-gathering organization, serving only the consumer. We are a comprehensive source of unbiased advice about products and services, personal finance, health, nutrition, and other consumer concerns. Since 1936, our mission has been to test products, inform the public, and protect consumers. OPI:JBS:6/19/02

View Files Sorted By Office: Consumers Union OPI, New York - Washington DC Office
West Coast Regional Office - Southwest Regional Office - Consumer Policy Institute

[ Health ] [ Finance ] [ Food ] [ Product ] [ Other ]
[ About CU ] [ News ] [ Tips ] [ Resources ]
[ New Files ] [ Home ]