5 Kitchen Appliance Brands That Are Owned By Whirlpool

Whirlpool is an American appliance company that got its start in 1911 in Michigan, founded by Lou Upton. Upton Machine Company, as it was known back then, introduced a wringer washing machine more than 100 years ago. Despite the fact that the initial model had some flaws, the company repaired any defective machines free of charge, which garnered it a trustworthy reputation. By the 1950s, the company had become well known for its electric washing machines. Eventually, the Upton Machine Company came to be known as the Whirlpool Corporation.

Whirlpool currently owns 13 brands that mostly specialize in home appliances, but also include companies that produce auxiliary items, like detergents, water filters, and cleaning supplies. Of its appliance brands, three are dedicated to serving Latin America — Brastemp, Consul, and Acros — with a focus on the Brazilian, Argentine, and Mexican markets. Below are several Whirlpool-owned brands available in the U.S. that produce kitchen appliances. These range from small countertop gadgets, like stand mixers, to things you may not always think about when preparing a meal, like garbage disposals.

While you can mix batters and doughs by hand, most home bakers today opt for an electric mixer. It all started with KitchenAid's first heavy-duty stand mixer, which debuted in 1919. A company employee's wife is said to have come up with the name, commenting that the gadget was the best kitchen aid she'd ever used. The stand mixer design many recognize today was finalized after World War II. Only a few tweaks have been made since, and it has become many home cooks' go-to countertop kitchen appliance.

By the end of the 1940s, KitchenAid introduced the electric dishwasher to the market, taking inspiration from a 19th-century design. It was considered the gold standard of dishwashers, and its mechanics earned a reputation for lasting decades. Since being acquired by Whirlpool in 1986, the brand has remained focused on the kitchen and now has nearly 20 categories of both large and small appliances, ranging from stand mixers and dishwashers to refrigerators and toasters.

The Maytag brand got its start more than a decade before Lou Upton's company, in 1893, and primarily specialized in farm equipment. Founder Fred Maytag debuted the company's first washing machine in 1907 and, in 1922, introduced a new washer that would influence how modern machines were designed across brands. The Gyrafoam Washer moved the agitator from the lid of the machine to the bottom of the basin, and the spinning mimicked the friction applied by a traditional manual washboard while also circulating water.

The 1950s saw Maytag become a household name for premium electric washers, and the founder's great-grandson even dipped his toe into the beer industry, purchasing a stake in the Anchor Brewing Company, America's oldest craft brewery, in the 1960s. Whirlpool bought the competing appliance brand in 2006, briefly securing its position as the world's largest appliance manufacturer. Maytag still makes washers and dryers, but also has a range of large kitchen appliances, including refrigerators, cooktops, dishwashers, and more.

JennAir was founded by Louis Jenn in 1947 in Indianapolis, Indiana, and specialized in providing overhead exhaust fans to factories. In 1961, the Jenn-Air Corporation was established and introduced a self-ventilating cooktop. In 1965, the company debuted a range featuring a downdraft ventilation system. Many existing stoves required overhead hoods to remove smoke and steam as they drifted upward.

A downdraft cooktop, however, featured ventilation built into the cooking range that sucked in smoke and steam before they drifted upward. This innovation eliminated the need for a separate appliance, allowing homes to feature more flexible designs, including open kitchens. The brand changed hands before being acquired by Maytag in 1984 and later became part of Whirlpool following the corporation's purchase of its competitor. It is still known for its downdraft ranges, but also makes refrigerators, ovens, and dishwashers, and remains popular with design-focused consumers for its stylish aesthetics.

Amana is an appliance brand founded in Amana, Iowa, in 1934 by George Foerstner. It initially focused on refrigeration solutions for the home and developed the first upright domestic deep freezer. Some refrigerator features that we may take for granted today were also developed by the Amana brand, including the first self-defrost feature and the first side-by-side refrigerator. It also debuted the first countertop home microwave in 1967, replacing older gargantuan (and expensive) models. 

After joining Whirlpool through its acquisition of Maytag in 2006 (which had purchased Amana in 2001), the company remains dedicated to affordability. It still makes refrigerators, freezers, and microwaves, along with ranges, exhaust hoods, and dishwashers.

If you've ever had to fish vegetable peels out of your sink to throw them in the trash (or repurpose the scraps in the kitchen), then you should thank John W. Hammes, the man widely credited with inventing the modern garbage disposal in 1927. After perfecting his initial design, he founded the InSinkErator brand in 1938. In the 1970s, the brand expanded into manufacturing trash compactors and instant hot water taps. Acquired by Whirlpool in 2022, the Wisconsin-based company remains dedicated to making its original invention and hot water dispensers.