Oh Starfish, sorry that I have been absent. DS has been sick. I have the Adv 120 over the Miele MC. I think it was a good choice. I reheated soup in the Adv and it has this sensor that calculates the time--Goldilocks perfect, not too hot and not too cold (I'm picky about temps). The melt and soften options were perfect for getting butter to to right consistency for baking. Used the speed oven to make hotdogs in the buns. The dogs were juicy and warm and the buns were toasty. Yum. Also made some biscuits using the speed oven. It wasn't any faster per se, but no preheat time and the oven was cool so it did not heat up my house. Hope that helps, even though late.

We have the 27" Gagg combi steam oven installed over the EB 290/291 27" convection oven, both in stainless. The interior width of the oven rack is 21", & the biggest pan you can put on the rack is 19" wide & 14" deep. The oven comes with 3 different kinds of racks: 1 conventional grid rack, 1 porcelain sheet for cookies or bacon, & 1 porcelain collection sheet with grid insert for roasts. It also comes with the rotisserie & a temperature probe. It will accept up to 4 racks, and you can also put the roasting rack on the floor of the oven to maximize height. The capacity of the combi steam oven is much smaller, but it too will accept up to 4 racks or pans. The oven comes with a grid rack, solid bottom pan, & perforated pan. You can buy more pans or half pans as accessories. The combi does a great job as a warming oven -- it will heat up a plate of food more gently than a microwave, not just keep it warm. We use the combi for most of our vegetables. Right now it is steaming two full racks of baby back ribs which we will finish on the grill. We also have the 240 Advantium Monogram wall oven, & think it really adds a lot of function to our new kitchen. It is both a speed cooker & a powerful microwave. We have made incredible chicken breasts & pork tenderloin in it, using the speed cooker function.

My 2 cents: Your first resort should be to call Gaggenau!! That shouldn't happen! Mine is perfectly clear. It's concerning that there was stuff between the panes from the start. There may be a flaw. And since it sounds like the styrofoam is still there, they might even do it on their dime if there is a problem. As to the trays and racks, what are your questions? I bought extras for the most flexibility, but it's not necesary. I find the baking trays so useful that I never use my old ones. I use them for making everything from kale chips to choux paste puffs (like the outside of cream puffs) to meatballs to roasted chicken. For the last, I'll put the chicken on a wire stand, and pour some leftover wine or something into the tray with some herbs. The tray is big for the purpose but helps contain the splatter. :) The only drawback is that they don't fit in the dishwasher, however the enamel is very easy to clean up, and if it gets dire it can go through the self clean cycle. If one has several of the trays they can be loaded up at once and cooked on multiple levels with convection. Even the puffs come out fine that way, with the trays fairly close together, though I was worried that, like souffles, they might not like the convection. I haven't tried a souffle on the Gaggenau convection, but it might be that it's gentle enough for that too. For broiling meats, I like to use a cast iron grill plate on the wire rack, but I use the meat tray occasionally with a big roast, and, of course, with the rotisserie. The rotisserie is great! Again, with the caveat that some parts have to be washed by hand. My biggest problem is getting the wire racks clean. That baked on brown spot stuff, that's good for seasoning a cast iron pan, is nearly impossible to get off (I won't use harsh chemicals and haven't found a good trick yet). I use them just like the racks in any other oven. The middle for a casserole, low for a big roaster, or a big pot on the center, and shorter things on the bottom position. If you don't have multiples, you can use the baking tray with the wire rack. Say, put a roaster or large casserole on the wire rack in middle position (perhaps, old style, with a cookie sheet under to catch drips), and sides and pies on the baking tray underneath, just like in an old fashioned oven. Or you can use the meat tray as, essentially, a wire rack. And for multi-level baking, like cookies or hors d'oeuvres, you can put cookie sheets on the wire rack and meat tray wire rack. When I do three level baking I do top, middle, bottom, and for two level I do the in between positions. I don't know if that's "right" but it works. I've also don't top-middle and middle, and that worked fine too. All in all, I'd suggest you just go for it. Think of something you want to cook and just do it. What I love so much about the Gaggenau is the amount of control I have over it. I haven't had anything come out badly (nothing that was the oven's fault, that is), which definitely wasn't the case with my old oven. Re figuring out the settings, there's a method to the iconography. Do you have the current model with the screen? Or the previous model with the knob and icons? The symbols are similar, but I don't remember off hand which settings the latter has. In general, line on top is top heat and line on bottom is bottom heat. Partial lines mean just in the middle. Fan is convection (outline fan is light off convection). Wiggly line is broil. Smaller wiggly line is broil just in the center of the oven. Snowflake is defrost. Bread loaf is for rising bread in cold kitchens, and can also be used for things like plate warming. Stack of dishes is keep warm. The rest of the settings are combinations. I haven't had much luck with the temperature probe, but I'm not good with a meat thermometer either. I do much better cooking meats by time. I do have to look at the manual to set the probe, though, especially if there's a shut off time. I don't know if any of this is useful to you, or if you just need more experience with the oven to get a handle on it, but, really, do at least call Gaggenau and talk to them over the phone, and start off the conversation with the styrofoam. there's something wrong about that.

There are several models of Advantium, and I can speak only about the older model 240. However, I doubt any of the models would make a satisfactory warming drawer. I use my warming drawer to warm plates as well as keeping prepared food at serving temperature, sometimes for a couple of hours. I think there's an Advantium model that's also a convection oven, and maybe you could use that to keep one item warm, but I'm not sure; perhaps someone more familiar with the latest models will chime in on this. As far as I know, all the Advatiums can function as a regular microwave. ---Margaret