Premium kitchen appliances for people who want something different
Big Chill may be the best-kept secret in the premium appliance world. For now.
Big Chill is not as well-known (yet) as some other premium brands, such as Viking, Blue Star, Wolf, Miele, or Sub-Zero. But the brand’s best-in-category performance, combined with stunning design features, makes it a favorite in high-end home kitchens.
Big stars like Big Chill
Scarlet Johansson was one of the brand’s biggest fans. She has a yellow retro fridge. Rachael Ray has featured Big Chill appliances on her show for years. She also has them in her home.
Big Chill’s path from idea to premium appliance brand is different from other manufacturers. Instead of concentrating on stainless steel and commercial styling alone, Big Chill focused on unique designs anchored in classic style and retro lines. Big Chill appliances become part of the kitchen’s design.
Best of all, Big Chill appliances are assembled in the USA.
It all started with a refrigerator
Today, Big Chill makes refrigerators, ranges, dishwashers, ventilation hoods, wall ovens, microwaves, and other kitchen appliances in styles ranging from mid-century retro to contemporary professional. But it all started with a refrigerator.
Back in 2003, product designer Orion Creamer was looking at the classic styling of vintage refrigerators. Their shapes and lines, chrome accents, and large handles. No modern brands had the same character. So, with the help of his uncle, he built a unit that had the look and feel of refrigerators they no longer made.
According to the company’s history, a passerby saw Creamer’s fridge on the porch of the house where they had installed it. He instantly fell in love with the rounded metal body, chrome trim, and substantial handles. He bought it right there.
That first refrigerator became the basis for the Big Chill Retro collection.
The company eventually expanded well beyond retro appliances.
Three design collections
Retro
This is the first Big Chill design style. It is still the design most people associate with the brand.
The Retro collection draws heavily from mid-century American appliance design. Refrigerators have rounded corners, stamped metal bodies, substantial handles, and chrome details. Matching ranges, dishwashers, hoods, and other appliances allow the look to carry through an entire kitchen.
The important distinction is that these are new appliances, rather than restored refrigerators and stoves built decades ago.
You get the appearance of an earlier era without designing a kitchen around an antique appliance.
Classic
The Classic collection takes its styling from early industrial and traditional American kitchen design rather than the 1950s.
The look fits particularly well in traditional homes, farmhouses, historic renovations, and kitchens where a standard stainless appliance would feel out of place.
Homeowners find this collection gives them an option when they want an appliance to make a statement without making the kitchen feel like a commercial restaurant.
Pro
Not into a Retro or Classic look but still want distinctive style and uncompromising quality?
Big Chill’s Pro collection is right up your alley.
Offering the same aesthetic and similar performance as brands like Viking, Wolf, and BlueStar, the Pro collection features cleaner lines and a contemporary, professional appearance.
There is one huge difference: color choice.
Buyers can order a Big Chill Pro range or refrigerator in any standard or premium color, with more than 200 additional custom colors available.
The 36-inch Pro gas range also uses 304 stainless steel, offers burners rated up to 21,000 BTU, and includes a 30,000-BTU oven burner and an infrared broiler.
This is not simply a conventional range with decorative trim added. It is a serious cooking appliance that offers considerably more design freedom than most kitchens are accustomed to seeing.
More than 200 color choices
Color may be the feature that most clearly separates Big Chill from even the most expensive appliance brands.
You aren’t stuck with stainless steel. Pick a color to match the cabinetry or another feature of your home. Coordinate with tile, stone, paint, or other finishes. A Big Chill appliance can be the focal point of the room. Or it can play a strong supporting role.
Big Chill’s 200 custom colors are available on most refrigerators, ranges, dishwashers, microwaves, hoods, and wall ovens.
Classic Standard Colors
Classic Premium Colors
Retro Standard Colors
Retro Premium Colors
Pro Standard Colors
Pro Premium Colors
Custom Colors
For designers and homeowners building a kitchen around a specific visual idea, that creates considerably more flexibility.
What is the connection between Big Chill and BlueStar?
Big Chill and BlueStar are two separate companies but are in the same family, made in the same factories.
Prizer-Painter Stove Works, the Pennsylvania manufacturer of BlueStar, also manufactures Big Chill cooking appliances. Prizer-Painter’s manufacturing history in Pennsylvania dates back to 1880.
Big Chill’s ranges are designed in Boulder and assembled in the United States at factories in Pennsylvania and Iowa.
Who is Big Chill for?
If you see your kitchen as more than a collection of cabinets with appliances inserted between them, then Big Chill is for you.
The Pro collection is perfect for the serious home cook who wants professional cooking performance. The Retro and Classic lines blend beautifully in a carefully restored older home. All of the product lines can anchor a colorful contemporary kitchen or help create a memorable vacation property.
And for someone tired of choosing among stainless steel, black stainless steel, and another shade of gray, Big Chill offers a broad spectrum of color options.
See Big Chill appliances in person at Kitchen Obsession and decide which collection best fits how you cook and how you want your kitchen to look.
What is Kitchen Obsession?
Kitchen Obsession is the name of our shop. It is also the reason it exists. Founder Randy Steigerwalt fell in love with Big Chill appliances. So much so that he installed them in his own home.
Then he decided he wanted to help others share his kitchen obsession. And so the shop was born!
Kitchen Obsession is a licensed Big Chill Dealer. We have a showroom in downtown Blue Ridge, Georgia, in the heart of the mountains. If you stop by, you will see our full collection of Big Chill products, complete with cabinetry and small appliances.
At Kitchen Obsession, we don’t try to sell you our idea of what a kitchen should be. We want to help you create the kitchen of your dreams.
When you visit our showroom, we will take the time to listen to your ideas and needs. The design process is a conversation. We will translate your vision into a workable plan that captures the look, function, and feel of your new kitchen.
We love Big Chill
Big Chill is the only brand of large appliances that we carry. That’s how much we love the look, style, and performance.
Talk to Randy. He is here all day, every day.
