Kitchen appliances can be some of the biggest purchases you make for your home, which is why you want to get ones that will last you a long time. This is why Consumer Reports (CR), the nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that tests and reviews all kinds of products, places such an emphasis on reliability. Just as Consumer Reports has named its most unreliable cars, CR also publishes yearly findings concerning kitchen appliances.
Using data from owner surveys, which asked about nearly a quarter-million relevant products, Consumer Reports has ranked what it considers the most reliable kitchen brands. The list comprises some big-name brands you’ve likely heard of, like Whirlpool and LG, but you may not be familiar with the company that ended up on top: Gaggenau, which scores higher than all of the competition when it comes to reliability.
Gaggenau Hausgeräte is one of the oldest home appliance companies in the world — it was originally established in 1683 to manufacture hammers and nails, before pivoting to oven enamel and stoves in 1880. Today, the German company sells high-end appliances like refrigerators, dishwashers, coffee makers, wine coolers, and more. Consumer Reports finds that its cooktop stoves have a higher predicted reliability than most, and its dishwashers score even higher. Its wall ovens, on the other hand, rank about average. Together, the average of available products makes Gaggenau the most reliable kitchen brand — at least based on Consumer Reports’ methodology.
LG is still one of Consumer Reports’ most reliable kitchen brands, though
Of the 24 kitchen appliance brands on Consumer Reports’ predicted reliability list, Gaggenau sits on top with the highest overall average. However, LG’s score is just a hair under Gaggenau’s and sits comfortably in the second position. In a way, LG’s score can be considered more impressive, as its average comes from all six of the product categories included in CR’s testing — refrigerators, dishwashers, ranges, cooktops, wall ovens, and microwaves. Gaggenau, on the other hand, only makes three of those.
Of the six, LG scores highest in the microwave category, though it still performs better than average in the other five. Luxury brand Fisher & Paykel, which ranks further down the overall list, scores the highest when it comes to refrigerators, but LG is still one of the best major refrigerator brands you can buy, and the same can be said for several other appliances and devices. Of course, the South Korean company also has a reputation for high-quality computers, TVs, speakers, and other consumer electronics and appliances found outside the kitchen.
Rounding out the top five of Consumer Reports’ list of the most predictably reliable kitchen brands are Signature Kitchen Suite (SKS), Thermador, and Wolf/Sub-Zero. Of the three, only Thermador makes all six product types like LG does, with its dishwashers and microwaves scoring highest of those six. Its wall oven and range, however, have more middling scores. The weakest categories for SKS and Wolf/Sub-Zero are refrigerators and cooktops, respectively, with average reliability ratings from CR.
How does Consumer Reports create its reliability scores?
2025 was the seventh year in a row that Consumer Reports published the results of its survey. This survey asked users about nearly 240,000 different kitchen appliances purchased new between 2014 and 2024. CR’s survey asked owners whether their appliances had suffered a drop in performance or had broken outright, which CR then used to estimate how likely a given model is to survive its first five years.
This list scores brands instead of specific appliances. Thus, a company that makes sub-par fridges and microwaves but offers one of the best dishwashers you can buy may still perform well. To be considered for CR’s list, a brand must make at least two of the kitchen appliance types tested, with Consumer Reports weighting scores to compensate for the different appliances’ inherent reliability traits.
Consumer Reports is quick to point out that reliability does not equate to performance. After all, an appliance may perform very well for two years before becoming completely unusable soon after. A high predicted reliability rating from CR doesn’t guarantee a product will last, either, as the data is based primarily on owner experience and may not account for the many complex factors involved with kitchen appliances. Plus, Consumer Reports is only one of many organizations that collect consumer data — others, like J.D. Power, may have different results. Finally, while reliability is important, there are likely other factors you may find worth considering, including price and aesthetics.
