I got my advantium for fairly similar reasons, though mine is mounted above counter height in a pantry stack, and is 240. I haven't "cooked" in it, but it makes a fine microwave and it's marvelous for that extra oven space needed for entertaining on a large scale. I don't use a toaster oven for that. The only thing I've done besides toast in a toaster oven is heat trays of appetizers.

I've only been in my new kitchen for a few months. I did try speed ovening some appetizers that I knew should be baked properly, but wanted to try, and didn't want to wait. They came out about as expected. The Advantium is great for when I have the proteins still cooking in the "real" ovens and need to warm up the (pre-made) casseroles. Even if I could wedge them in the ovens on convection and have it work, I don't want them tasting like meat. My biggest Pyrex , 17"+ long, fits on the wire shelf in the Advantium, and a few Corning casseroles fit on the turntable. For heat and hold, it works just great.

I found microwaving frustrating until I figure out the secrets. It's not hard, but not entirely intuitive like my old kaypad style one. I tend to just use the time setting, rather than the menus. The menus work fine, though they're somewhat limited. The melt works well, though, which is better than guess and spatter, and the defrost is better than in previous MW's I've had.

For just time on high, you can press "Express" as many times as you want for 30 second intervals, so a two and a half minute zap is five taps. It starts microwaving immediately on the first tap. The important thing, though, is that once it's running, whether on the menu or on Express, you can use the knob to adjust the duration up or down. That's the real trick! There are things I zap that need exactly 54 seconds. The MW is a little more powerful than my old one, but not so much that I have to relearn everything.

The other important thing about an Advantium is that you have to change out the trays. If you're really going to use it as a secondary oven then you should have a drawer or vertical cubby that can hold all the pieces right by the unit. The trays aren't too heavy, but they're large and awkward, and a lot of people I know don't bother and just use the toaster oven or something, even when the trays are in the bottom drawer. GE sells an accessory drawer that fits under the unit and just holds the trays. I don't know if it even holds the wire rack. It probably takes the least space. But it also is pricey and it doesn't use all the space available to it as drawer space. My cabinetmaker just made me a shallow drawer underneath that holds the trays, wire rack, pot holders, apron and microwave splatter covers. Because you're mounting your unit low, you might prefer a vertcial narrow tray cabinet to a drawer.

Thanks plllog for such a great review! It is good to hear that the mw is fairly easy with the shortcuts. It seems like the advantium will be a good fit for me. I actually will have a vertical tray divider close by and a cabinet storage drawer under, so good to know for keeping the accessories close by! Do you think a 8 yo could operate it as a microwave?

Sandlll,

We are still in the planning stages as well & went thru same mental gymnastics as you. We decided on the built in under counter advantium,although haven't completed/used the kitchen yet :)

We have 3 girls 8-10 & expect they will be able to use the mw feature based on reviews here. For us, we decided to go w the wolf dbl oven which had only 1 con vs 2, that saved us over 1k so the upgrade to advantium vs STD microwave still put us a few hundred ahead of the game.

We asked if anyone found a shortcoming w that pan & got pos feedback- hopefully it works out, only so long we can deliberate mw w so many other decisions ;)

Hope that helps you a little