Having had one a grand total of a week, I'll give you what I can. I'm going into far more detail than you probably want, but I know when I was looking it was hard to find much. First, it isn't a real steam oven - it's more a convection oven with optional steam assist that can also be used as a microwave. So as far as I can tell, you can't do steam microwave reheating, though you can bake/broil with steam. You can also use steam alone for small jobs - nothing as big as steam cooking rice, though. Right now I'm using it as my only oven, so here's my take on the pros and cons of baking in it: 1) The interior is small - way too narrow and shallow for a lot of casseroles. OTOH, it's *way* bigger on the outside then I had realized. 2) You have to use the pans that come with it. There's two baking pans that go onto the rails, a top and bottom rack that fit into the baking pans, and a steam tray that fits on the top rack, in the baking pan. So if you want to bake something, you have to set it into a baking pan or place it on a rack over the baking pan. There's a lot of stacking and it still feels awkward. 3) Since you have to stack racks on pans on rails, there are definite height restrictions. If you have a pan that just has to fit, be sure to check it out first. 4) I like the control system. I read through the manual once and now feel like I can just run down the menu choices to get it to do what I want. It's also pretty good about telling you what pans you need to use and when you need to empty the drip pan, which makes it feel a bit less complicated. 5) It's loud. I don't know if it's standard for convection micros or not, but it basically sounds like a microwave's running the whole time it's pre-heating, cooking, and cooling down. 6) It doesn't seem to be too bad for heat. Which is to say, it gets quite warm to the touch when turned all the way up, but doesn't seem to heat the kitchen up much. 7) It doesn't really broil. I know broil's a setting, but it's not like there's a big heating element up there that will caramelize sugar. Just one of those things I hadn't thought of. 8) I don't think the interior's teflon, but it definitely feels slick and has been really easy to wipe down. The saleman also said if it gets gunky, just crank up the steam. 9) Love the light from the glass door - it makes it easy to monitor the food. OTOH, the pull down door means have to be more careful where you mount it, especially since you can't pull the racks out like you can on a real oven. For the next part - the cooking. The basic settings are: Microwave, Steam, Convection, and SuperSteam Convection. So far I've: Baked biscuits. The turned out fine, though I had to rotate the pan halfway so they'd brown evenly. Baked ziti. The cheese melted, but it didn't brown and I don't know if it would have if I'd left it longer. Steamed eggs. I used the poached egg setting and my daughter loved them. I read that someone made a custard without a waterbath and would love to try that. Convection Steamed bacon. Cooked pretty well and a lot of fat rendered out. Microwave Reheat. Seemed to do fine with leftovers but it is a bit slow and underpowered. I had initially planned on using it as a reheating microwave, a mini-steam oven, a third oven for holidays, and a primary oven in the summer to save heat, and I still think that's going to work. The steam isn't going to do as much as I initially thought, but it should be okay for reheating siu mai and poaching eggs. If I really needed it for a second oven, I'd probably skip the steam and get a larger convection microwave - at least something that took standard pans and didn't require all the stacking. After a week I'm still happy with it, though, and feel a lot better about including it in the remodel.

It depends on your cooking style, and whether your kids are old enough to prepare things on their own. I microwave a lot. When I had three kids at home we had three microwave ovens and there were times when all three were in use at the same time. And there was the benefit of having the ovens in different areas to keep traffic out of the prep space. Now it's mostly DH and me, and we still use two, plus two regular ovens. It seems to me that whether an Advantium would be an advantage to you would also be a matter of cooking style. I cook from scratch. When I considered an Advantium, I realized that aside from an occasional roast, I'd mostly use it as a microwave oven. Casseroles, stews and pot roasts (yup, I generally do them in the regular oven -- less effort than on the top of the stove -- and in a time pinch most can be done in the microwave) and the like all are better made the day before and reheated before serving. Speedy baked goods sound nice, but I'm not fast enough at preparing them that saving a few minutes baking time would matter much. For me, the solution to those crazy rushed dinners was to prep and when appropriate, cook, the night before, after the kids were in bed. (I'm lucky that I've always had a kitchen open to the family room, so I could talk to DH or watch TV while cooking.) And while I don't have to do it every day any more, I still enjoy my evening cooking sessions. And we still have a couple of rushed evenings each week where cooked-ahead dinners are a lifesaver.

We bought the Electrolux Icon 30" speed oven April of 2006 for $1397 + tax. It is still our most used appliance, The New Icon Induction cooktop that we bought, comes in 2nd, and wayyyy behind those 2 is the Electrolux Icon Convection oven. All have been trouble free. We use the speed oven for "Speed cooking" not nuking yams and baked potatoes, takes bout 7 to 8 minutes (+ preheat time about 5 mins) The convection oven would take 45 minutes + (preheat Probably about 15 mins). Saves a lotta energy and the taters and yams come out great. I also use the speed oven for making toasts, roasting turkey legs, and dressing etc etc etc. When our new-fancy-expensive cooktop died(In less than 2 years Caldera) we even used the speed oven to boil water for spaghetti, as well as cooking the spaghetti sauce in it It boils water a lot faster than the Gas DCS burners, I have outside. Anyway now we have the Induction cooktop, so the speed oven is back to "More routine tasks" One thing we like about the Electrolux Speed oven is that it's "default mode" is microwave--so no fooling around with a menu if ya just wanna "Nuke something. Especially handy early in the AM as I use it to "Nuke my instant coffee" I just push 111 and hit the green start button. Very east also when ya not in a "Nukin' Mood" It has a button for grill, one for roast and one for bake or you canh choose "auto cooking" and follow the bouncing ball "A La Miele" Anyway, we wouldn't hesitate to cook anything in it that would fit, Wife doesn't bake cakes--so no experience there. Good Luck with your choice---I hope they make the Speed ovens in a 24 inch size Electrolux or the Miele, should that be your choice. The Electrolux does require 220 volt power instead of the usual "House 110 volt"--I suspect the Miele does too. Gary

You can install a GE Advantium under the counter. You need the 110v version 30". In either of these SKU below, and the only difference between the two is the HANDLE. ZSC 1201 OR ZSC 1202 You CAN NOT install a 220 v under the counter. That has a safety requirement of 36 3/4 from floor installation, is more expensive, is unnecessary. For every hundred of these my "walking encyclopedia of GE " sells, he may sell one of the latter. The only difference is a bit more power, and less cycling in halogen feature. He also will fervently state "NO enjoyment of all the features of a great oven is lost with the most popular/purchased version" , sku's listed above.