I don't own an Advantium but heavily researched it before deciding it was not worth the money to me.

But you can use convection only.

The main difference between Advantium and other speed ovens is the use of high powered halogen bulbs to brown or crisp food.

I believe the long preheat times, were for the large ovens, not the speed ovens----IE Miele and Electrolux. I don't recall posts of complaints about preheat times with these ovens. Mine takes about 7 minutes to preheat for baked potatoes, (that is using the speed cook mode) and then it takes about another 7 minutes to bake the potatoes.

From posts we have seem, folks seem to like the Advantium for
"Convection baking", but I don't recall any "Glowing Reports" about its speed cooking abilities---(Speed cooking being a combination of either conventional baking + Micro, or Convection baking + Micro.In fact there have been a couple of posts on GW from Advantium users that said they didn't use the speed cook option much, and they preferred to
stay with straight microwave, or convection bake.

Try a search for Advantium at the bottom of the main appliance page, and read for yourself!

In fact, Mojavean and I have offered several times to have someone with an Advantium join "The Great Potatoe Race", and so far, no takers.

With the Elux and the Miele Speed ovens, baked (Actually Speed cooked items are much the same quality as if you were to do them in a conventional or convection oven.

HTH's

Gary

"In fact, Mojavean and I have offered several times to have someone with an Advantium join "The Great Potatoe Race", and so far, no takers."

Ooh, I'm up for this. I'm also curious about the differences between these speedovens. I have a 240v Profile Advantium OTR that I recently installed. I'd also like to see someone with a Monogram 240v Advantium join in too. As I understand it, the Monogram version is supposed to have a little more wattage on the MW side. There's also the Advantium built in ovens. Anyone? Finally, I'd also like to see a Turbo Chef in the mix. Anyone have one of those?

jscout, I have a recently installed Monogram 240V Advantium in-wall unit. I'm game for some experimentation, potato racing or whatever.

From the owners manual, it has; Two 1200W upper halogen lamps, lower (under floor) 500W ceramic heater, rear 1500W convection heating, and from the Monogram website, 950W microwave. Model ZSC2201NSS

Any or all of the cooking elements can be used simultaneously through the elaborate menu system. Or with the custom setting, you can set each of the four cooking elements to be on, as a percentage of the total cooking time, from 0% to 100%. Up to 30 custom or favorite settings (recipes) can be saved in memory with a name of your choosing.

I'm still getting used to to using it, but so far I like that it can be pretty simple, or I can get into more complexity if I choose.

I don't zap potatoes so I'm not volunteering to race even though I have a large Monogram ("Pro" 240), but want to answer the OP.

Samantha, I haven't heard good things about countertop style convection microwaves. My guess is that they're underpowered.

I'm one of the people who doesn't really like the results of the speed oven settings on the things I've used it for, but I haven't had the need for it that I had thought I would have. There is a learning curve. Using the programmed settings, I find the results too microwaved-seeming. One can adjust these. When I've said I didn't care for the speed ovening, I've always said that in the context of not using it enough or really learning it. Many people who have participated here, including those whose enthusiasm made me consider Advantium in the first place, have loved the results. You might try over in Kitchens if you don't get enough info on speed cooking with the Advantium here. There aren't so many of us now who stick around to answer questions about it in Appliances.

Unless there's a new feature since I bought mine, there isn't actual "grilling". There's a ridged pan that comes with, called a "grill pan", but that's just for keeping things from getting soggy. The four modes are microwave, speed, convection and warming. The convection feature works like a standard convection oven: There's a heating element that heats the air, which is then circulated by a fan. There isn't a direct heating element with the convection like there would be on a convection added regular oven. The environment in a convection oven is closest to a regular oven on "bake". The interior of the Advantium on convection is very dry, so a little extra moistening is necessary to compensate. It's very useful as an oven but does have some limitations. Generally, things that require eggs for lift don't like convection. And it does take a good while to preheat.

There isn't actually any scientific basis for the urban myth that microwaving destroys nutrients more than other forms of cooking. Heating in general can destroy some vitamins, and in some vegetables can actually release vitamins and/or make them accessible to the body. Breaking down the cell walls by cooking (all cooking does this) will make the nutrients in tomatoes, for instance, more accessible. Microwaving can preserve the water soluble vitamins that are lost in steaming or boiling. Roasting is currently popular. There are some compounds created in roasting which are potential carcinogens. Eating more veggies because they're delicious when roasted will protect you more from cancer. Many of the best nutrients are in the peels, so eating whole veg will do the most for you. If you won't eat an apple if you have to eat the skin then it's better to eat the peeled apple than no apple. There are still good things in the flesh of the apple.

Thanks for the input.

I had read some general complaints on regular microwave OTR's preheat for convection only taking a long time, longer than a large oven. One reviewer did note 15-20 minutes and was very unhappy with that.

On the microwaves being underpowered, do you mean wattage? I'm also looking at a Whirlpool OTR convection which has 1100 watts. I see the OTR Advantium has 1000.

So, pllldog and others who have the Advantium, why do you like it more than a convection microwave? Do you think their convection mode somehow cooks better? I'm probably most interested in the convection feature and good performance on roasting and browning. I'm not sure about the speed cooking.

I think that the 240 V is probably the big difference. The Advantium is also the best microwave I've ever used. :) The sensor is great. I haven't used a convection microwave myself, but was warned off by a lot of people who hated them. I think my Advantium also takes about 15 minutes to get to 350, but it's a lot bigger than an OTR. You should have all the roasting and browning you want (short of a broiler) with the Advantium. I can't speak to the Whirlpool.

I have not used, or even seen a convection/microwave unit, so I can't compare with one.

I am finding that the Advantium is a very good microwave, and so far a good second convection oven, though I have avoided using it for meat, or poultry roasting because I don't want to clean up the potential grease splatters. It isn't self cleaning, and doesn't have a temperature probe like my main oven.

The real strength of an Advantium is in using the multiple elements to get the best results in the quickest time, for a large variety of food items. The instruction manual and included recipe book are geared towards using one of the three included round enameled steel trays for speed cooking, though you can use other cookware as well. By using a percentage (0-100%) of each element, the halogen bulbs to brown or crisp the top of the food, the under floor ceramic heater that primarily heats the tray from the bottom for browning or crisping the bottom of your food, plus convection for general heating, and then you can add a touch of microwave to add speed by heating from the center of the food.

The idea is that you should be able to adjust the parameters to end up with perfectly cooked food in a fraction of the time needed with a less versatile cooking appliance.

If you're just looking for a smaller second oven, and/or a microwave, the Advantium may not be the smartest choice, although it will handle both tasks very well. I suspect there a quite a few people that use their Advantiums only for microwaving, or as sort of a toaster oven, but it's sort of a waste of the Advantium's power. BTW, it will make toast, but a dedicated toaster (as I use) is a little better/easier.

I have a convection microwave, the Sharp. Browning is not really possible since it does not have an exposed heating element. I can cook anything that says, "Preheat to 350F and bake for 30 minutes" or whatever. I've never paid attention to how long it takes to preheat, but it is a 120v device which means that the heating element won't be much more (or less) than a hair dryer (1000w).

A 240v Advantium will have a bigger heater. It's also more flexible. Microwave power should be about the same.

But I can buy 4 Sharps ($400) to one Advantium ($1800).

The Advantium is both a convection microwave and a speed oven. For the latter it uses a halogen heat/light source. As a microwave, it works very well and has a very large capacity. I bought it because I didn't have space for a 2nd oven plus a microwave, but wanted the option of a 2nd oven for holidays, etc. I rarely need to use 2 ovens at once, but wanted the option I use it mainly as microwave, so in that sense I prob spent a lot of money for something I don't use that much. But it was worth it to me for the flexibility. If you're on a budget, it's prob not worth it. You're better off getting a large convection countertop toaster oven like the Breville to use as a 2nd oven.