I have the Advantium 120, and no, I don't think it does a great job roasting potatoes. It doesn't even speed cook frozen fries well. Maybe the 240 would do better, but I don't think so. To me the problem is that you have to use a microwave-safe pan or the nonstick metal tray. I like to roast my potatoes and vegetables in my 15" cast iron skillet or on a cookie sheet, and I really like the level of caramelization those give. Another problem I have with the Advantium is that any small spatters from microwave mode get really smoky-smelling when you try to use the oven to bake. Overall I've been underwhelmed with speed cooking in the Advantium.

Hopefully you'll get some comments from 240 owners, maybe their experience is different.

By roast potato, I thought the OP meant a peeled, cubed potatoes cooked in a small amount of fat in a hot oven so that the exterior caramelizes and the interior is tender. Haus_proud, what you are describing is what I would term a baked potato. I think the Advantium can handle a baked potato okay.

Yes, that's my understanding, too (although sometimes just peeled and not cubed), but I'd like to hear more about your experiences with roasting/baking in the advantium, morton5.

Now that I think about it, writersblock, sometimes I will cut unpeeled red or yukon potatoes in wedges and roast them that way, too.

I can't say that I have truly put the Advantium through the paces. I have a 30" Monogram ZET oven below the Advantium, and a 36" Bluestar range. With those two appliances, I just haven't had that much need to speedcook, and I very rarely need the third oven. For example, if I need to cook a chicken quickly I'll butterfly it (simple), and then broil it in the Bluestar-- it will be perfectly done in a half hour. A quick dinner is a stir fry. I could see the Advantium being handy for casseroles, but keep in mind that when you are using speed cook you cannot cover the casserole with foil-- so some casseroles may dry out, unless you have a cooking vessel with a lid.

When I have tried to use the Advantium as an oven, I have had mixed results. It does not produce great french fries-- but then a frozen fry is kind of sad food anyway. Baked goods are okay, but you only save a few minutes, and you can't use metal pans in speedcook mode (though you can bake directly on the metal turntable). The oven in bake or speedcook mode provides as much aural and visual stimulation as a disco-- the halogen lights click on and off, the turntable is going, the exhaust fan is going. And if you haven't wiped out the oven before you bake, you will smell every micro splatter burning.

I do use the "keep warm" feature. It makes me feel guilty, though, as the digital timer reproaches me with how long I have abandoned food in there-- holding asparagus for 15 minutes? How can that possibly taste good or be nutritious? It does a pretty good job, though. Oh, yeah, it does do a good job of holding roast potatoes warm! You can select whether the food you are keeping warm needs to be crispy or moist.

Still, I like the Advantium. It is a really great microwave. I use the "soften" feature for butter often. I like that the door opens down. I use the timer. And it is a handsome appliance (I think). I just hope it doesn't break because it would be an expensive micro to replace.

Thanks. I asked because I've been toying with getting a smaller under cooktop oven and using something like an advantium as my main oven, since it's mostly just me or only two people here.

I appreciate the thorough review.

Rose, sorry if you think this was OT, but I see it as fairly related to the main question. :)

Not off topic at all. I know all about traditional ovens, but nothing of these new ones that seem to do everything, so I'm all ears. When haus_proud suggested that I put nails in the potatoes, I pretty much made up my mind to go with the traditional oven! (I didn't get that he/she was referring to baked potatoes. As someone else wrote, I was referring to cut up potatoes roasted in oil.) I've decided that I want one appliance that does what it's supposed to do really well, rather than an appliance that does a so-so job at many things. Great input, everyone. Thanks!
Rose

I have to disagree with Morton....I have the Adv. 120 and love it. I use it for all it's intended functions and frequently. I use it more than my regular oven by far. And I've never encountered the smoke issue Morton mentions.

When I want to roast potatoes or vegetables, I put them in/on a metal pan and convection bake in the advantium...they turn out great.
If I'm in a hurry I will put them in a glass pie plate and start with speedcook for the internals, then switch to bake or broil for the toasty exterior.

I use my Advantium more as a regular oven than for speedcooking...I just like not heating up the big oven and for most foods it gets the job done just great. I do like the speedcooking for frozen pizzas and convenience foods --it basically gets the job done in the same amount of time as the package states, but, without the preheating time. So not a huge time savings on the 120.

I do think the time savings is bigger for the 240....
But, the one downside of the 240 is that the interior space is smaller....

Hope this helps! I love my Advatium and would never give it up! I use it multiple times every day either as a microwave, oven, speedcooker, or warming drawer. I call it my workhorse!

Thanks, dlspellman. How large a pan can you fit in the 120? Is yours the OTR model?

I too like to oven roast potatoes in a conventional oven. I am moving into a kitchen with a convection oven. I hope no one minds if I ask the same question, but about convection oven roasting.

Typically I heat the conventional oven to about 450 farenheit and put a small amount of oil on a Lodge large rectangular griddle, placing in the bottom rung, just over the heating element. After the oil has gotten hot I add sliced potatoes, turning them over after 10 to 15 minutes.

The particular convection oven, a Maytag electric, in this new house has one element only, the broiler on the top just over the fan. Thus a bottom rung no longer exists. I suspect to get a comparable quick heating of the cast iron griddle I should first put it on the cook top to heat the oil. Then add the potatoes and put the whole thing in the oven at about the same temperature. The process should be faster than my old method, but will it carmalize the potatoes as well.

>Thus a bottom rung no longer exists.

Are you sure it's not just a concealed element?

I have the wall unit Advantium 120, and I can get a 9x13 casserole in mine, as well as a fairly large pizza pan. The metal round pan that comes with it, is quite large(16" diam.), so anything that fits on it, fits in the oven. It also comes with a rack, so that you can cook 2 - 9x13 casseroles at once(stacked - works great for dressing and sweet potatoes during the holidays).

And, since I bought my Advantium (1.5 years ago), I think the Adv. 240 now has a larger interior - so that piece of info might be outdated. Not sure, but, that's what I've gathered based on other Adv. posts that are quite recent.

Thanks, dlspellman. The only place in this kitchen would be OTR unfortunately and I don't think that one has the turntable or room for the 16" pan. (would have to be the 120v also).

We've used an over-the-range Advantium 240V for 9 years. My wife is Irish, Scottish and English. She and I agree that potatoes in the Advantium are superb. We'd buy another Advantium just for this reason...5 minutes with no pre-heat and they're done.

But note that we have the 240 volt version. I know for certain the 120 Volt Advantium doesn't do as well.

I was just out looking at the available OTR options last night, and the Advantium 120 OTR doesn't seem quite high enough inside to allow the double stacking racks, but the regular GE Profile Convection OTR hood's cavity is just enough larger that it does have the two racks.

Does anyone have any insight into the difference in performance between these appliances, as far as the end result for baking/roasting? I don't think that speed is a primary consideration, just what they can do.

Just thought I'd chime in. We had an Advantium 240 and a Trivection oven in our last house. I bake more than I use frozen foods.

I know you are not looking at the Trivection, but it did an awesome job on potatoes and so fast. We did do a bake test between the Advantium and Trivection, the Trivection while better at baked potatoes did not have much of a difference with the Advantium. Now if you are talking about roast potatoes where you cut your potatoes in wedges or circles and use a little olive oil- the Trivection won hands down vs the Advantium or a regular convection oven. The convection oven would come in second though.

i'm pretty sure potatoes would be a piece of cake in a a turbo chef. i can't wait to cook in that thing! i did a crown roast in the appliance store (marinated for an hour) and it was absolutely delectable.

more after install... for sure!