Bosch KTR 18P20

When I first encountered this fridge, I was puzzled by the absence of the usual storage compartments on the inside of the door, those that housed milk and juice cartons in my old fridge. Without the door compartments to get in the way, the shelves reach further forward than would otherwise be possible. It was when I realised the shelves were actually drawers that I immediately knew this Bosch beauty was for me.

I should point out that this is a larder fridge and therefore doesn't have the small freezer compartment. Having recently acquired a freezer that lives in my garage, the Bosch fridge replaces my old one, which did have a freezer compartment, but had much less fridge space and needed defrosting with frustrating regularity.

The door is hinged on the right, but this can be changed over if necessary. The inside is well lit, and this, together with the German design, lends the interior a clean, modern, clinical look, which I find very pleasing. Each of the four drawers is made from solid clear plastic and slides smoothly out, even when fully loaded, allowing easy access to items at the back. No longer do I have to unearth the contents of the fridge to find that tiny piece of ginger lurking somewhere behind the week's shopping!

Large bottles are stored upright on the left side of the bottom drawer and next to this is a good sized home for vegetables. There are a couple of bottle holders to prevent smaller bottles falling over when sliding the drawer, but I have removed these for the time being. Hovering above the vegetable compartment is a moveable tray, which is where I store packets of herbs. There are two slightly puzzling compartments in a recess of the door that would also suit such small items. The next drawer up is shallow on the left to accommodate the tall bottles below and deeper on the right, where I store taller jars and fresh items like fish, since this drawer is the coldest zone. A temperature slide at the back allows ventilation to this drawer to be controlled, making it a little warmer or colder, but I haven't yet found the need to use it. The top two shelves come with removable bottle holders that can double up as compartment dividers. These allow bottles of wine etc. to be laid down without rolling around. All drawers are removable for cleaning.

Temperature can easily be changed using a button on the front (+2,+4,+5,+6, and +8 degrees are the options), along with a "super" cooling button, which chills the fridge as far as possible for about 8 hours. I haven't yet had a reason to use this, but its suggested use is before loading the fridge with large quantities of fresh food or for quickly chilling drinks.

This fridge is a couple of inches wider than my old one, but I think the deeper shelves made possible by having no protruding door compartments make the greatest difference to its capacity. Unlike my old fridge, there is still ample room after a big shop and with Christmas coming up, that will make all the difference. By far the major selling point for me is the ease of access that the sliding drawers provide. I had expected my decision to be governed by price, but although there are many cheaper, more standard models out there, this one is hugely rewarding for the extra money.