We just did a complete kitchen remodeling and added a new GE Advantium over range microwave oven. The oven cooks with microwaves and halogen lights; once it's fully powered up, the entire oven becomes awash in light- it looks like the food is being engulfed by aliens just like on bad X-files episodes. Although the oven has taken a lot of getting used to, we've become used to the controls and settings and use it routinely for cooking whole chickens and steaks really fast. We have 2 small kids and with both my spouse & I working, there isn't time to do a lot of thinking- we can cook a whole chicken in 20 minutes and this is a lot easier than going to Boston Market down the street, which is now out of business anyway....and the food tastes great! The oven has a lot of preset programs which are easy to use with the big master dial; the instructional video which came with the oven really helps you to get familiar with what you're doing. The microwave portion of the oven is also very easy to use- there is an express button that gives 30 seconds of full power cooking each time its pressed (4 presses for a cup of water). We've tried making some of the recipes that came with the oven which have all been pretty lousy; it's better to experiment and go it alone for most things. One big gripe about the microwave- there is no light while the microwave only portion of the oven is in use so you can't see the food cooking. There is a button that you can press to shine the halogen lights for a second, but this is a pain in the neck if you're trying to microwave something sensitive...like melting cheese or butter.

Using the oven is pretty simple- you adjust microwave power (10 different levels), and make separate adjustments for top light and bottom light (each of these also have 10 levels)...for the most part, we either use full power, half power or nothing so it's pretty easy to set. Then set the time and you're in business....

We bought the stainless steel version of the unit which really looks great and has real buttons on the front panel vs. those lousy membrane style buttons that come on most units. The interior is totally stainless steel which looks great and is easy to clean...a good thing because speedcooking makes the oven get dirty really fast unless you cook in covered dishes. We finally went out and bought a set of covered Corning cookware to use specially with the unit to cut down on cleanup. The halogen lamps have glass covers which get dirty if things aren't covered- GE includes a razor blade scraper to keep these clean....not exactly what you want around the house if you have small kids. You're better off with covered cookware! The lamps also make the oven extremely hot during cooking- in the video, the cooking lady gave us a big laugh since she had the biggest potholders known to man (it looked like she was getting ready to man a metal smelter)...but you really need protection since the dishes get really hot.

Installation was tricky since the unit needs a dedicated 30 amp 240V line, just like a clothes dryer (4 prong plug). Since we were doing a remodel this was not a big deal but it was somewhat of an annoyance. The oven was easy enough for us to mount by ourselves without professional help- they give you a template to cut holes for screws and a big hole to get the monster cord and plug through...(I wish GE would make the cord shorter as it takes up a lot of space in the cabinet above the oven.)

The oven comes with 2 types of trays for cooking- a white reflective tray strictly for microwaving, and dark gray trays strictly for speedcooking. It's a big pain to keep switching trays, so we just use only the flat gray tray. We really haven't noticed any big difference from not using the white trays while microwaving, except they do get slightly hotter.

Overall, we've been pleased with the oven and will use more of the special cooking settings as we get used to them. It's a real attention getter when people come in the kitchen while it's in operation!





Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 1100 after rebate