I have the Monogram Advantium. It's a multi-purpose oven. It can act as a convection oven - basically just a second oven and it can also broil. I use this for anything small where there's no point in heating up the big oven. Mine can hold a 9x13 pan of lasagna. It's also a regular microwave oven. The speedcook part combines microwave, convection and high powered halogen lights top and bottom. There's an onboard computer that decides how much of each to use for a particular food. The convection and halogen brown, broil or roast while the microwave speeds up the cooking process. We use the speed cook part all the time and we absolutely love it. Browned crispy fish sticks and fries in 4 minutes, crescent rolls in 2-3, etc. It does the best baked potatoes ever. The oven also can act as a moist or dry warming oven which I've used several times but the problem is that when it's warming it can't be doing another cooking job. So I'm getting a new Kitchen Aid warming drawer with my remodel that also does slow cooking like a crock pot. It has a few other features like proof that I use when setting dough to rise and melt or soften for butter. All in all, it's like a swiss army knife. It's the most expensive thing in our kitchen and was worth all the money I saved up to buy it. We absolutely love it. We're glad we got the 220v version too. My mom has the 110 and there isn't enough power. I tried out the different models available at a local appliance store. The Electrolux was nice but the controls were confusing. The Advantium controls were the easiest to use of all the ones I tried with the most features.

My worry is that if one component breaks, we have to replace the whole thing Why would you have to replace the whole thing? I guess we live in such a throwaway society at this point nobody considers repairing things anymore. However, one component failing earlier is a risk to take into consideration. I went with a KitchenAid convection microwave/wall oven combo and it's worked fine for 8 years, so I can't say I regret the decision. Speed ovens seem finicky to me, and I'm not sure we really need it There are no true speed oven/wall oven combo units. That KitchenAid does not have a speed oven on top, it's just a convection microwave. The closest you'll get is the GE Profile Advantium/wall oven combo, and I'm not a fan of that because the Advantium part is only 120V, which takes longer and gives lesser quality results than the 240V Advantium. I think the best option for you is to get a speed oven or a steam oven with a separate single oven below. That way if one component fails you don't have to replace both. You will need to redo the electrical though.

We had a combo unit, and one did experience an early demise. We were a little annoyed with the extra expense of buying another combo unit however what we discovered is that would have been a deal compared to what actually happened. Nothing on the market at that time would fit the cabinet we had, so we needed to replace that tall cabinet. Matching existing cabinetry is difficult, and we were getting no help there. In the end, the dead appliance morphed into a complete kitchen remodel. This time, we're doing our ovens as separate units, and we're making sure that the oven stack is made with separate components, so that they could be unassembled and remade in another size. What we had before was one tall cabinet, floor to ceiling, that was impossible to alter without destroying it because of the way it was constructed.

Is there any reason to have both a microwave and a speed oven? What do people use steam oven's for? There are so many "oven" options... its a little confusing. thanks! I have three ovens, a full sized "regular" oven, an Advantium speed oven, and a combi-steam. I do not have a separate microwave. Is there any reason to have both a microwave and a speed oven? Yes. Besides the reasons Hvtech gave, there's the price difference between a Costco countertop special and a built-in speed oven. As you use a microwave the magnatron degrades. If you use a microwave to do heavy lifting, daily, you might want to save the speed oven and use a cheapie. You'll know if this applies to you if you've ever had to buy a new microwave. I mostly use my microwave for quickie heating on a sandwich or other grab and go food, and occasionally for a quick defrost. It does get used several times per day, but not for very long. By the time I get to where all ovens are full, I'd better not need a microwave! I don't use it for cooking/steaming, or making hot water, or anything like that, so overlaps aren't a concern. I put the Advantium in in such a way that it's in the position a countertop microwave would sit in, and there's no room for another. Be sure that you want the speed features. I did when I planned and installed it, but shortly thereafter I really lost the need for speed. There are some things that are best accomplished this way, but the main reason for speed really is to get it out faster. What do people use steam oven's for? There really isn't anything that you can do with a steam oven that you can't achieve another way in the kitchen. People use steam all the time, whether it's wine in the roaster pan, a squirt of water under a dome on the griddle with the burger, a petal steamer full of vegetables in a pot in the microwave, a pan of ice under the bread baking in the main oven, the bamboo box in the water filled wok with all the veggies inside, the colander over the stockpot with the towels and tamales, or the garlic bread wrapped in foil in the warming drawer. You can do all those things in a steam oven. The one thing that's easier the "real" way is the burger, which only wants a blast of steam at the end. You can get some Modernist Cuisine aficionado to come explain "wet bulb" vs. "dry bulb" cooking. I don't care. I just cook. Oh, and the combi-steam is the best for blanching and poaching. Several times a month I have a blanch-fest of asparagus, green beans, squash, etc. I'm allergic to fish, but I do poach chicken for chicken salad. If you don't have an automatic egg steamer, the combi-steam is the perfect way to make hard "boiled" eggs. Maybe soft ones too. Almost every week, I do a roast chicken and veg in it. Today I made custard bound strata in it--layered in a double ramekin, somewhere between a quiche and a casserole. Turkey parts for the holidays. Dim sum. Crusty bread. It goes on and on. The best trick, found on the Gaggenau and maybe others, is "regenerate". You can do this is a regular oven, too, but not so elegantly. Plate up a meal, put in on regenerate mode, receive perfectly warmed meal with none of the bits gone funny. My big test on it was leftovers from a restaurant: slab of potroast, broccoli and mashed potatoes with potroast gravy. Everything was pleasantly heated through, nothing was overcooked, hard, charred or even additionally browned, etc. I've also used it to reheat casseroles, especially small ones. They don't dry out and get hard. This is only the very most obvious stuff. There's lots and lots more. You don't need a combi-steam to do it, but it's oh, so convenient!