Bosch GSN 32A21

...Ending up with a Bosch was no real surprise: we already have a Bosch oven, hob, fridge and tumble dryer and in the past have had a Bosch washing machine and dishwasher. Their design, spec and price always hit the right note with us. With so many, though, we’ll have to watch they don’t start to breed. One morning we’ll come down to a kitchen full of little Bosch juicers and blenders.

Bosch. Not an attractive name. No image consultant ...
...monosyllabic plosive. But Robert Bosch when he started his automotive components business back in the 1880s, was passionate about quality and technology and that is still the key to the company’s success. So let’s hear it for Bosch! Give me a B, give me an O …. All right then.

B is for Boxes, 8 in all, of varying sizes. The top 3 are racks, with pull down front flaps. The other 5 are boxes proper which lift out. The very lowest one ... more

Our freezer gave up the ghost recently. Not with a bang: no “oh-my-god-everything’s-defrosting-where’s-my-insurance-policy”. Just a whimper that all was not well. We had to put it on life support (constant super-freeze). Over 25 years (about 75 years in human terms) it had behaved impeccably, and now it hung on until we could get a replacement. So goodbye Zanussi, hello …. what?

Fortunately the choice available for our specifications, while large, was not overwhelming. We wanted an upright, 10/11 cu ft, frost-free, medium price range. It was easy to narrow it down to 4 or 5 on-line, then check them out in the flesh in store. Ending up with a Bosch was no real surprise: we already have a Bosch oven, hob, fridge and tumble dryer and in the past have had a Bosch washing machine and dishwasher. Their design, spec and price always hit the right note with us. With so many, though, we’ll have to watch they don’t start to breed. One morning we’ll come down to a kitchen full of little Bosch juicers and blenders.

Bosch. Not an attractive name. No image consultant starting from scratch would consider “Bosch” as a brand nowadays with its uncompromising monosyllabic plosive. But Robert Bosch when he started his automotive components business back in the 1880s, was passionate about quality and technology and that is still the key to the company’s success. So let’s hear it for Bosch! Give me a B, give me an O …. All right then.

B is for Boxes, 8 in all, of varying sizes. The top 3 are racks, with pull down front flaps. The other 5 are boxes proper which lift out. The very lowest one is half depth because of the freezer’s gubbins behind it. Box number 5 is a Big Box – it helpfully has this stamped on the front – and certainly big enough to take a medium-sized turkey, say 12-15 lbs. All the boxes are made of thick plastic so they slide in and out with a nice thunk, rather than the clatter you get with cheaper models.

O is for Opening and the one issue I have with this freezer. The handle is vertical, hinged at the base. Pulling down on it releases a lever which presses against the freezer frame and provides leverage for opening. The first model we had delivered had a chip out of the frame just where this lever bites into it, so we sent it back. The current one is fine, but may over time and after many openings develop a dent and than a chip just at that point. We’ll see. It’s a clumsy system when a simple pull handle would do.

S. There are people on this site who would say S is for See-through drawers, but not me. Oh no. Let me tell you about the Systems. It’s got various gadgets my old one didn’t have. A temperature reading for a start, pre-set at -180C and adjustable. A warning beep if the temperature starts to rise. This one is a tad annoying; unless I work with lightning speed and decision it beeps every time I go in there. You can turn it off if you want to ferret for longer, but you only get about 20 seconds of silence. No chance of accidentally leaving this door open. There’s a light which comes on when the door opens, and I gather goes off when the door closes. Despite my Scottish ancestry I have not climbed in to make sure.

S is also for saving – your time and energy. The frost-free function was top of my list of requirements, so the dreaded defrosting job can now be banished to a distant memory. Energy-wise it’s rated A+ and Bosch tells me the running costs are about £30 a year.

Oh and by the way the drawers are indeed See-through – but only at room temperature. They mist up in the cold air, so only Semi-see-through, I’m afraid.

C is for Chilling, obviously. It performs its main function admirably. But what struck me as really neat were the 2 Cool packs slotted inside the door. How convenient: always available and not taking up freezer space. Looking at the wider picture, however, it is also CFC-free, so no contribution to greenhouse gases. What does it use instead, I wonder, as CFCs were always an integral component of fridges and freezers up till now? Whatever, it does show that alternatives can be devised, so maybe we can save the planet yet. Back from the sublime to the ridiculous, the inside of the door has one of those freezer Calendars printed on it which seem to be de rigueur on all freezers of whatever vintage. Why? Does anyone actually consult these? They are so vague and generalised as to be useless.

OK, I’ll stop wittering and get to the real C point. Cost. From about £530, depending on which on-line store has the best deal at the time; I couldn’t find a high street store to match the on-line prices. Most stores offer to take away your old one (for a charge), but the practicalities of this defeated me. The new one has to be cleaned, switched on and reach its chilling temperature, then the contents of the old one transferred. I don’t see the delivery guys hanging around that long. Our local council removes old fridges and freezers for a slightly higher charge, but at your convenience.

Finally, the big one: H is for Height. This is a big beast. My old Zanussi came to just below my shoulders; this one is 2 inches above my head. We are not a large household but we live in the middle of nowhere, and a nip to the shops is a 6 mile round trip. So this freezer combined with Tesco home delivery should mean my carbon footprint is minimised. More importantly, we should never run out of peas or pizza. For its dimensions (185cm high, 600 cm wide, 650 cm deep) it claims 11 cu ft of storage, more than its competitors of similar girth. Quite how it achieves this Tardis-like effect I can’t say but it certainly swallowed the contents of my defunct one with plenty of room left for more.

Its size and colour (white) means it’s pretty dominant, and it’s a challenge to give a big rectangular box anything in the way of design appeal. Within these limitations I liked the Bosch more than its competitors for its clean, uncluttered lines, achieved partly by the slightly convex door, and partly by having no controls on the outside. The controls are accessed by opening the door, and only the digital temperature reading and superfreeze and alarm indicators are visible through a small window when the door is closed.

A few more final details you might need to know:

• this model is part of the Bosch Logixx range, “premium models with exceptional cutting edge features and extras”
• only available in white, although there is a similar model in a stainless steel finish, if you fancy collecting more fingerprints than Interpol
• the door is supplied hinged on the right, but is reversible
• the magnetic door seal is removable for cleaning and replacement
• the front feet are height adjustable

So the Big Chiller is ready for the Big Heatwave when it comes. On the other hand, given the weather at the moment, I might have been better advised to upgrade the central heating. 

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