Advantium Ovens: More Than a Microwave?

[ronnie_suburban]

Hi All,

I know that the manufacturer bills Advantium ovens as being quite versatile but I'd like to hear from folks who actually own them or at least use them on a regular basis.

Are they truly capable of tasks beyond those normally performed by a microwave? Can one successfully roast meats or bake confections in them? Can they be used for serious cooking or are they really just glorified soup and coffee warmers?

Thanks,

=R=

[JohnN]

I've hesitated replying because I was hoping you'd get replies from people who use them more often than I do.

When remodeling our kitchen, we purchased an Advantium instead of a normal microwave thinking in our small kitchen it would add extra versitility (we don't have room for an extra oven or anything like that).

Basically it has two halogen radient elements (like the ones in glass top radient cooktops), one on top and one on the bottom. It can cook with a) radient top, b) radient bottom, c) microwave or any combination. It has pre-programmed recipes or you can control exact percenteges of each. It has a polished stainless interior.

In our application we have it mounted over the cooktop and utilize the built in exaust fan which we configured to vent out the wall and over cooktop light.

The fan can be a bit loud, but does work OK, but is not strong enough to pull fumes that are in front of the oven (as opposed to under it).

The oven does seem to work as advertised. The gotcha for us is we tend not to use it often. Part of this is we forget about it and part of it is learning to cook in a different way.

One other thing that is a bit of a pain is if you cook something like chicken that isn't covered, the grease splatters all over and then you have to clean it. I suppose this is the same for anything, but cleaning a big flat thing like a cooktop is easier than a little box.

It has a fairly low celing, but it does pass my wife's viente latte cup test (a must).

I think in the end, if you are willing to learn to cook a bit differently (or stick to things it has pre-programmed, of which there are a fair number), this can work out. On the other hand, if you aren't, it is going to end up just a very expensive microwave (but hey, the stainless interior is pretty cool! :-O )

-john

[ronnie_suburban]

Thanks, John. I sincerely appreciate the input. We've ordered one for the kitchen in our office (at work). I'm just not sure it's the right move and it's still reversable. But, I also don't envision us doing a huge amount of serious cooking here either.

Again, thanks very much for taking the time to reply.

=R=

[NulloModo]

So the interior of the Advantium is stainless? Does that mean you can put metal into it and it won't mess up while microwaving? I have always dreamed that perhaps someday someone would invent a metal-friendly microwave...

[andiesenji]

When my friends remodeled their kitchen 3 years ago, (all electric home) they were talked into an Advantium oven by the contractor.

After 4 months they had it taken out and a combination convection/microwave made by Panasonic installed instead.

They found it was difficult to clean, had hot spots so that parts of a dish were overcooked and other parts undercooked and the same problem with cookies, some would be burnt while others were barely baked. When I used it while visiting that Christmas, I found that it was not as efficient as my Sharp countertop combination oven (that I had taken with me as we had a lot of food to prepare and knew the size of their oven was not enough for all of it.)

I cooked two large prime rib roasts and the one in the Sharp, using the combi feature, was perfectly done but the one in the GE was getting too done on one end and was still blood rare on the other. I had to take it out, cut off the cooked end and finish it in the Sharp.

For the price they paid, they thought it was vastly overrated. At the end of January they had it replaced.

They may have corrected the problems by now, however I notice that while Sears still carries them, they no longer push them as they were a couple of years ago. At the store that is local to me, they only have one on display whereas they used to have 3 or 4.

I personally know one other person who has one but they rarely cook, it is more a conversation item for them.

[ronnie_suburban]

When my friends remodeled their kitchen 3 years ago, (all electric home) they were talked into an Advantium oven by the contractor. 

After 4 months they had it taken out and a combination convection/microwave made by Panasonic installed instead. 

They found it was difficult to clean, had hot spots so that parts of a dish were overcooked and other parts undercooked and the same problem with cookies, some would be burnt while others were barely baked.  When I used it while visiting that Christmas, I found that it was not as efficient as my Sharp countertop combination oven (that I had taken with me as we had a lot of food to prepare and knew the size of their oven was not enough for all of it.)

I cooked two large prime rib roasts and the one in the Sharp, using the combi feature, was perfectly done but the one in the GE was getting too done on one end and was still blood rare on the other.  I had to take it out, cut off the cooked end and finish it in the Sharp. 

For the price they paid, they thought it was vastly overrated.  At the end of January they had it replaced. 

They may have corrected the problems by now, however I notice that while Sears still carries them, they no longer push them as they were a couple of years ago.  At the store that is local to me, they only have one on display whereas they used to have 3 or 4.

I personally know one other person who has one but they rarely cook, it is more a conversation item for them.

←

Yes, Andie, this is what I kind of fear with this unit. I have large (but portable) DeLonghi convection oven which I am considering bringing to the office (and leaving here). That will take care of some of our cooking requirements but still, I don't want us to then install an additional unit that we will rarely or never use.

And Nullo, the answer is no. From what little I know about Advantium, one must still use the conventional, microwave-safe, non-metallic vessels with it.

Thanks, both of you, for the comments.

=R=

[MArkF]

I opted for the Dacor (Panasonic) convection microhood. It gives me a second oven for the rare times I need it. Inside is SS and is easily cleaned with a spray of 409. Cooks the same as the big oven. I like to combination methods (30% microwave plus convection heat). Cooked a boness leg of Lamp (2.5lbs) to med in 20 minutes...nice and crusted on the outside too.

Not sure if the Advantium is a "better" system but I didnt need to learn another way to cook.

Mark

Edited January 17, 2005 by MArkF (log)

[JohnN]

So the interior of the Advantium is stainless?  Does that mean you can put metal into it and it won't mess up while microwaving?  I have always dreamed that perhaps someday someone would invent a metal-friendly microwave...

←

You can use metal in it when you are NOT using the microwave function. The oven will remind you to use the microwave tray (white) or non-microwave tray (black). Basically if it uses the microwave at all you can't use metal.

AFAIK, the physics don't allow for a metal friendly microwave. Although, my understanding is you can have metal as long as it is smaller than wave length of microwaves. So, you'll note that the tray holder is metal, but it has holes in it.

-john

[JohnN]

They found it was difficult to clean, had hot spots so that parts of a dish were overcooked and other parts undercooked and the same problem with cookies, some would be burnt while others were barely baked.

This is an interesting item. While I haven't used mine enough to really determine if mine has this problem, it makes sense.

Consider that the food is on a rotating carosel and that the oven pulses the lights on and off to get the correct heat. The light is offset, not across the whole width of the food. Depending on when/how much it pulses the light and the rotation of the food, you could end up always nuking the one side and never the other.

Depending on how much % of light vs microwave, this could come into play more or less. For example, if the light was amost always on, this probably wouldn't happen. If you mostly cooked via micrwave, it probably wouldn't (but may not brown evenly).

Interestingly, this could be solved via software if you take this into account.

-john

[WHT]

The only way that would happen is if we can change the laws of physics. Metal reflects radio energy as do some stones and gems.

Edited January 17, 2005 by WHT (log)

[ronnie_suburban]

I appreciate the discussion and feel much more informed than I did before it. The reason that the Advantium was suggested/recommended to us is specifically due to the limitations of putting an oven in a relatively standard office space (space, venting, etc.). I have to say that the portable DeLonghi convection oven I mentioned upthread seems to be a better option for us. I've used that unit to turn out some great stuff over the years, it'll fit on the countertop and I no longer have a use for it at my house (bought it back when I lived in a house with only 1 oven).

I think we (at my company) have to proceed with caution if we stick with the Advantium or make some other arrangements. I'll continue to update as we move along.

Thanks again for all the comments.

=R=

[andiesenji]

Regarding metal in the microwave. Both my Sharp Convection/Microwave and my friend's Panasonic convection/microwave that is built in, allow the use of a certain amount of metal.

For instance when using the "combi" feature, which is a combination of convection and microwave, a metal rack is okay as long as the volume of meat is at least 5 times the volume of metal. That means that a roast or a whole chicken can be combi- cooked on the wire metal rack but you can't cook something as thin as steaks, chops or chicken pieces.

The Panasonic has a ceramic base plate however my Sharp has a metal (enameled steel) base plate that is 15 inches in diameter and will hold a round pizza stone for use while cooking with the convection only. I don't leave it in the oven if I am going to be using it as a microwave.

(I have another large microwave only, also a Sharp, so don't have to use the combination as much as a microwave as I do as a regular oven. My "regular" oven is a large commercial oven which uses a lot of gas and is only practical to use when I am doing a lot of baking or baking or roasting things that are too large to go into the smaller oven.)

[CtznCane]

When we recently bought our new appliances I was shown the Advantium but opted instead for the Viking Microwave/convection combination. Since I haven't had a chance to play around with the convection, and especially the combo features I'd be interested if anyone has tips on those as well.

[JohnN]

FWIW, I think convection is more intuitive. People can just think of it as baking. Since the Advantium uses radient cooking, this requires an adjustment in thinking.

-john

[Melic]

When my friends remodeled their kitchen 3 years ago, (all electric home) they were talked into an Advantium oven by the contractor. 

After 4 months they had it taken out and a combination convection/microwave made by Panasonic installed instead. 

They found it was difficult to clean, had hot spots so that parts of a dish were overcooked and other parts undercooked and the same problem with cookies, some would be burnt while others were barely baked.  When I used it while visiting that Christmas, I found that it was not as efficient as my Sharp countertop combination oven (that I had taken with me as we had a lot of food to prepare and knew the size of their oven was not enough for all of it.)

I cooked two large prime rib roasts and the one in the Sharp, using the combi feature, was perfectly done but the one in the GE was getting too done on one end and was still blood rare on the other.  I had to take it out, cut off the cooked end and finish it in the Sharp. 

For the price they paid, they thought it was vastly overrated.  At the end of January they had it replaced. 

They may have corrected the problems by now, however I notice that while Sears still carries them, they no longer push them as they were a couple of years ago.  At the store that is local to me, they only have one on display whereas they used to have 3 or 4.

I personally know one other person who has one but they rarely cook, it is more a conversation item for them.

←

I feel better now.

I've been wondering about the Advantium.

Two years ago I had to replace my dead range hood/microwave combo. I opted for a microwave/convection hood combo instead of the Advantium/microwave hood combo simply because of the cost differential. The convection combo was maybe only $100 more than a straight microwave; the advantium combo was hundreds more than that.

Now I've just replaced the old stove and was wondering if I should have re-replaced the hood with a matching ss advantium/microwave.

I think I'll stick with what I've got. It seems like it would buy me less functionality than the micro/ convection combo for a small cosmetic change only (black to ss, and my new stove is black and ss anyway).

I'm sure I'll figure out some way to spend that saved money ...

Edited January 18, 2005 by Melic (log)