GE Advantium Over the Range

[jkbff]

I am surprised there aren't more advantium users on this board... But I guess its the same kind of tech as the counter-top halogen ovens.. .. sorta...

Anyways, my cousin bought a house and commissioned me to replace his appliances in his kitchen, one by one, as his step-dad remakes each of the cabinets. The kitchen has mostly new black kenmore appliances (fridge, stove and dishwasher) but has a very old white broan hood, a new white composite sink and black countertops :/... The cabinet above the stove has been taken down to redo, and I made mention of getting either an over the range microwave or a new hood to place there... We found the microwave that matches his appliances and its 500 bucks...

I can't justify him spending that for a microwave, when he is just getting a freestanding one off the counter and all he uses it for is the timer... So, I suggested why not spending a bit more money and getting something he'd actually use, a 240v Advantium oven... The reason I'm suggesting this is he is a single guy, usually throws stuff in the oven and broils it till its got the consistency of old leather and eats it.. The downside is he always complains how long it takes to get the oven hot when he's just wanting to go to bed.

My thoughts on the advantium are that he could use the grill plate, throw whatever hunk-o-beast on it, dial in the selection, press go and walk away till its ready to flip. He likes the idea but his main concerns were, would it have a light underneath for the stove, would it have a fan that can be vented outside like the hood and does it have a timer?

I think we are pretty set on him getting one of these, but I guess my major question is how hard are these to clean? Also, given how they work (Halogen bulbs, ceramic elements under the plate, the convection element/fan and the microwave unit) can he bake lasagna in it if I have stuff frozen in glass/ceramic containers for him? I know I read some things on the older units only having 900 watts of microwave power, it seems the new 240 models have 975. He really doesn't use his microwave for much other than thawing said hunk-o-beast for the nights feeding.

The thought would be getting away from packaged meals in a bag and pre-making food in containers that can be thrown in the advantium, the item chosen and go is pressed... How will food from the freezer to the advantium turn out if its not thawed? Using Emile Henry flame ceramic cookware (http://www.emilehenryusa.com/) comes to mind for a lot of things.

Oh, and the last thought was, given that it is vented outside, if he gets the urge to take cuts of meat and cook them until they are like leather, if the fan is on, most of the smoke will go out right? No more smokey haze from broiling, right?

So I guess the biggest concerns, on my end, are frozen to oven abilities and cleaning.

Thoughts? (Oh I should mention, my commission for helping him get his house going is an appliance of my choice.. This has been a long drawn out process... A built-in advantium seems like it'd have its advantages over the SS GE Micro-browner I have sitting around.)

Oh, and I guess the Monogram version has a 1000 watt microwave, but I'm not sure about the cavity depths. GE doesn't exactly make it easy looking at models online...[this post was last edited: 7/31/2014-04:29]

 

[tolivac]

Have a GE advantium-mine is over 10 yrs old!!Use it daily and LOVE IT!Broils steaks nicely.And it works as a good microwave.Yes,it can be used as an exhaust fan for the stove.The halogen heat bulbs in mine still work.Its like two above the cooking pan and two below.If you cook something and its not cooked right on the auto cycle-you can go to manual mode and finish cooking to your desired doneness.

 

[mattl]

I have considered the 240v version, and odds are when I update I'll go that route.  I would only consider the 240v version, my cousin has the 110v and it is s-l-o-w as a microwave.

 

[peteski50]

Advantium!

I am a advantium user for 13 years. I like it very much. I have made different things on speed cook like filet chicken. I do not broil steaks because it would probably make a big mess and its not self cleaning. I would like to learn to make a lot more. Even though I have A/C in my coop I cant use the regular oven in the summer because it would make my place like a sauna. The advantium doesnt heat the place up. If the unit was to break I would definatly get a new one and the newer units have even more flexability where they have shelves and are more versital. The only thing I dont like is if you do speed cook mode and than want to microwave you need to let it cool down before you microwave. I would also like to learn how I could brown things with the unit.
Peter

 

[mrb627]

GE Advantium

I have the OTR 120 version and it is pretty good at what it does. Wish it had some programmable buttons for favorite tasks on it. Get tired of turning the dial back and forth just to reheat a plate of food.

Malcolm

 

[combo52]

GE Advantium

Are a good product but a little tedious to program. There is no power difference in power of the MW when you are using it as a MW only between the 120 and 240 models, but the 240V is much faster as a speed oven because you can run all 6000 watts of halogen power with the MW if desired. I would recommend the 240V version if possible.

You can often find bargains on used 240V Advantiums at places like Habitat RS, I have bought at least 6 at places like this and never paid more than $50 for one, one lady at a HRS sold me a perfect SS 240V model for $15 because she said that no one wanted it because of the big cord it had, LOL.

The only real problem with this type of oven is that it is not self-cleaning so they can become a real mess. I am going to install a 240V model in a break area at the new office, but overall I still prefer a real oven that has the built-in MW capability, in our museum kitchen we will have at least 12 different MW-Electric ovens and even one MW-Gas Convection range thanks to Mark 71 in Minneapolis.

Hi Peter, It should not be necessary to let these GE Advantiums cool before MWing food, I have never heard of this, just put you food in and MW, it may require a little less time however.

 

[danemodsandy]

Google:

"julia child advantium."

An Advantium was the last major appliance Julia ever purchased; it was for the kitchen of her assisted-living condo she was in for the last few years of her life.

It was also the only time (to my knowledge) that she ever expressed dissatisfaction with a product by make and model; she was usually very circumspect about critiques, feeling they were most effective when aimed at features and designs, not specific makers.

The lady was not happy.

 

[jkbff]

Yes, but as Julie Powell so bluntly put it, "The bitch lied!"

She had two people from GE show her how to use the thing, asked them to do something they hadn't discovered the unit to be capable of, found out it worked then expressed her dissatisfaction because the pair GE sent weren't aware of the units capabilities.

She said that the pair had no idea what they were doing and they couldn't get anything to go.

There are always three sides to every story. [this post was last edited: 8/2/2014-02:48]

http://www.meltingpottours.com/melting-pot-tours-blog/40-dont-cry-julie-julia-trashed-me-too

 

[tolivac]

I am used to the "dial" programmer-find it quite easy and fast for me to use.I do wish the machine was easier to clean.But otherwise it does a great job.Sorry Julia Child wasn't happy with hers.And good the GE folks showed her how to use it.Didn't know she had one.Don't remember offhand what model mine is.If I found one for 50 or 15 bucks would buy it and keep as a spare.It along with the Vita-Mix,Sunbeam mixer,Blendtec blender-is my most frequently used kitchen machine.

 

[tolivac]

I am used to the "dial" programmer-find it quite easy and fast for me to use.I do wish the machine was easier to clean.But otherwise it does a great job.Sorry Julia Child wasn't happy with hers.And good the GE folks showed her how to use it.Didn't know she had one.Don't remember offhand what model mine is.If I found one for 50 or 15 bucks would buy it and keep as a spare.It along with the Vita-Mix,Sunbeam mixer,Blendtec blender-is my most frequently used kitchen machine.

 

[danemodsandy]

Joshua:

"There are always three sides to every story."

And sometimes even more than that.

Let's look at the link you quoted. The writer, who is one of the two "experts" GE sent out, describes the Advantium thusly (underscore added):

"Once upon a time, there was a lame GE “speedcook” oven called Advantium, that Julia Child had purchased."

Her story continues:

"She (Julia Child) wanted to be shown how to roast a chicken. The oven didn’t do that, we were sorry to advise her."

Say WHAT? A chicken can be roasted with any heat source, and the last time I checked, an oven was a heat source.

If the GE "experts" were daunted, the customer (who did most assuredly understand the relationship between heat sources and cooking) was not:

"'Why don’t we try it anyway?' Julia offered, kindly, hopefully.

Some short time later, we had a roasted chicken, to all of our delight. Who knew?"

The writer's own words answer the question "Who knew?" Julia did. First try. The GE experts - one dispatched halfway across the continent - did not. And that's not my opinion, that's from one of the two experts.

I've heard the opinion expressed before that Julia should not have been so kind in person and rather more blunt to the Times, but what would you do? Would you order the pair out of the house? Hiss, "Cretins!" at them? Sit there and eat all of your lovely roast chicken alone while the pair of alleged experts went hungry?

You would not. You'd make the best of things while they were there. But if you'd been disappointed, you might just say so later. Especially if someone didn't know that heat + chicken = roast chicken. Every damn time.

And if Julia was guilty of a bit of two-facedness, what about the writer, who represented GE on that visit to Julia, but whose later-expressed opinion of the Advantium was that it was "lame?"

Tch-tch, hmpf.

 

[jkbff]

No, I get what you're saying and I understand what Julia said about the Advantium... Please don't take my response above seriously, it wasn't intended as that but more as a mention of the 'three sides' thing.

I think it was put best on cookingforengineers.com:

"For a gadget lover, or technophile, they are great, but for a serious cook, not so much. They are too complex for the average joe to be able to use easily - you can't just hit start and have them run."

From my point of view, the Advantium oven brought back to the kitchen what started Julia fought against -- lazy cooks using processed premade meals...

With that being said, I also believe the Advantium, from what I've read and watched, can be the best asset anyone with a full time job could ever have. If a person would be willing to plan meals ahead of time, do a bit of prep for the week, they would have meals that are ready to go from the freezer to the Advantium, start the meal's cooking process and continue on with their evening -- Checking emails, catching up voicemails, starting laundry or whatever.. They leave the cooking to the Advantium and follow the prompts when they need to flip something or do something or what have you.

Before I go on, yes I understand there are countertop ovens that do this, there are crock pots and all sorts of time saving gizmos and gadgets available for this... But they aren't like the Advantium. You can't brown stuff in the crock pot, the counter top oven has huge vessels you have to clean and put away... and most things can't be done on the fly, pulled from the freezer.

If I am understanding the Advantium's recipe abilities, one can program a recipe for a roast beef dinner, you follow the prompts that lets you sear the piece of meat, then the next step is you take the meat and put it in the baking dish with your vegetables and continue with the process, following whatever prompts and beeps until the meal is ready...

Yes, it is dumbing down the cooking process, which is why true cooks at heart probably shy away from this.. The difference with this vs other technologies is that this seems to have the ability to give you a meal that seems like it should have taken hours and various steps/processes while allowing you to multi-task. If it has the same results as slaving over the stove, uses a fraction of the time and allows the user to keep focus on other things, does it really matter how the meal gets to the serving dish? All that should matter is that the meal made it to the platter and didn't come from a to-go container.

I've tried using crock pots, I am usually too indecisive or running late in the mornings to start a meal to cook. When I get off work, it is then too late to have the meal just starting because I would be eating 6 hours later.

I bought one of those halogen ovens thinking that would solve a lot of things -- Nope.. All that does it take up way too much space and causes too much of a mess when I try to clean everything. It still takes the same amount of prep and you have to baby sit it in case things get out of hand.

The thought of being able to take a frozen piece of meat out of the freezer, place it on a tray, select a few options, walk away doing other things and come back when the beeps tell me to seems heavenly. All thats left is to flip it, get my salad ready or whatever side as the final step finishes and pull it out of the oven. If that will give me the same results as coming home, thawing out the protein, standing over a stove cooking it, plating it, preparing my side dish and eating, why haven't I purchased one of these long ago? Thats where my head is, and thats why my cousin is going along with the idea. He works all day and doesn't want to deal with cooking when he gets off from work. He's also tired of eating out all the time.

The upside is if we both have the same oven we can teach each other tips and tricks.

 

[jamiel]

I think of the Advantium as being like the TurboChef or Rational ovens which are used in places like Starbucks or Subway--multi-mode cooking appliances which can mix multiple types of cooking and as stated above, need to be programmed before you use them to their best effect. Let's say you are the Starbucks product manager for scones/baked goods. You want to get them perfect in the customer's hands. You have infinite patience and budget to figure this out, together with a test kitchen and racks and racks of scones from the vendor. You've got the time and inclination to figure out that the optimal manner in which to serve a scone differs depending on whether it's frozen or room temperature. If frozen, you microwave at 84 percent power for 22 seconds, then 13 seconds of halogen, then 10 seconds of both. If thawed, 76 percent power for 18 seconds, then 11 seconds of halogen, then 11 seconds of both. You get my point. If you're cooking that repeatable kind of food (the kind which you buy frozen in 5 pound boxes at Costco or Gordon Food Services...for instance, 5 ounce chicken breasts or 6 ounce cod loins) you can get the most out of one of these types of machines. If not, perhaps there are better cooking solutions.

All that being said, it would be a lot of fun to have access to one in a commercial kitchen with an endless pantry to play with and figure it out...the multiple types of action (radiant, convection, steam, microwave) would be fun to play with.

 

[jkbff]

So interesting fun fact... When ya tell the guy building the cabinets that the upper needs to support a heavy ass oven weighing in at about 100 lbs, and ya tell him that most of the support comes from the top and ya tell him the studs behind the wall aren't close enough for more than 4 screws, that must mean hes gonna do what he wants till the day he decides to lift the oven and realizes it is a heavy ass oven....

We're waiting on the cabinet above the stove to be rebuilt since he attempted to mount it and it tore through the supports and luckily enough 3 of us that knew what would happen were standing there to catch it when he let go of it......... I've got another mounting bracket on order. He's gonna patch the sheetrock behind the stove too while hes at it ;-)

Hopefully I can post some pics of cooked food soon :-D

 

[tomturbomatic]

Combining 240 volts of heating and the ability to run a full power microwave AT THE SAME TIME is a wonderful thing. I saw the need for that with the Amana "countertop" combination microwave/convection oven. The Amana range I have with the Micro-Thermal oven is wonderful for saving time. It is a shame that the oven is so poorly insulated, but it turns out those 4 minute frozen French Fries just fine. Being an Amana, it also has the true variable power which pulses the magnetron in seconds so low power uses are more successful than regular microwaves provide. John and I were driving behind an appliance store one Saturday afternoon when he spotted one and said I should try cooking with it.