Kitchen Stoves: All-in-one

Reviewed by:
Rosemary Thornton

An oven-refrigerator may sound like an oxymoron, but it's actually Whirlpool's hottest (or coolest?) new idea -- the Polara. You can place a casserole in the oven in the morning and with its programmable computerized controls, the Polara will keep it chilled until the preset time. The Polara will then turn off the cold and crank up the heat to bake your dinner. Running a little late? This smart appliance will shift to warm after the bake cycle, and eventually back to cold if you're really late getting home. Color options are white, biscuit, black and stainless steel (shown in photo). Suggested retail price (for stainless steel model) is $1519 (November 2004).