Hundreds of searches every month are directed to my site looking for

GE Advantium oven information. The search terms are simple:
GE Advantium oven. I have an older page and review in 2004 about it
here.

In any case, I’ll do a bit of an update after you read the other page
if you haven’t already.

One question you might ask me, now 4 years after buying one: would
I buy one again?

Yes, I would buy one again or something similar if I needed to. I
find it very handy for a number of things and would sorely miss it if I
didn’t have it available.

It’s the simple things that it can do: warm a large frozen muffin in
the morning to a nice temperature that tastes like it just came out of
the oven, without giving it that microwave taste (2:00-2:15, U=6, L=6,
M=4, black metal tray).

I can make awesome garlic bread recipe in about 4 minutes:

• Using 4 slices of French bread sliced from 1 – 1 ½” thick
  partially frozen to thawed, use a drizzle of olive oil on each
  (about a teaspoon), spread around the top (or use melted butter or
  margarine if you prefer, Olive oil though is likely the best for
  your health according to what I’ve read)
• Sprinkle liberally with garlic powder and any other favorite
  toppings. We have a large tub of frozen Parmesan cheese from Sam’s Club –
  I usually add a pinch of cheese to the top of each and spread around
  (or even from a green can is OK).
• Optional: For extra yummy, use canned diced tomatoes (or fresh
  if you have them) and add to the top of each slice of bread before
  cooking.
• Pop it in the Advantium (4:00, U=10, L=8, M=2). If the bread is
  thawed completely, you can usually lower the microwave setting to 1
  or zero (and sometimes you’ll want to reduce the time a little bit).
• I often use a ‘sub-sandwich’ loaf of bread the same way with
  great results.
• (Also, you can coat the bottom in olive oil the same as the top,
  and use the black metal tray with the grill ridges to get a subtle
  grill effect on the bread).

A good slice of garlic bread can even make a lame bowl of
Spaghettio’s better.

We still use it for frozen pizza all the time. I add a bit of extra
cheese to the typical cheap frozen Tombstone pizza, and a few extra
spices and let it go its course on the normal setting. I use the
black ridge grill tray with pizza to crisp the crust in a subtle but
tastier way.

Mac and cheese can also be kicked up a notch:

• Make a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (I usually leave out the
  butter/margarine and substitute light Velveeta for a cheesier
  ‘cheese’ – about ½” slice)
• Optional – add ¼ cup of corn meal and stir well to give it a
  more ‘gritty’ cheese texture that couldn’t be matched by starting
  with boxed mac and cheese.
• Add the results of draining 6-8 ounces of yogurt and making
  yogurt cheese to the mac and cheese at the end. Stir in till it’s
  well absorbed.
• Add about ½ cup of shredded cheese (preferably cheddar of your
  choosing) and stir again till melted.
• Divide into oven safe dishware. Top with more cheese on each.
• Put it in the Advantium on the metal tray: 5:00-7:00, U=8, L=5,
  M=1. It’s done when the cheese on the top has started to brown and
  melt completely (if you use a low fat cheese, this may never happen,
  so just watch it and decide when it looks decent).
• Careful – the dishware will be
  HOT!
• Sprinkle with fresh herbs or chives and serve (with the garlic
  bread would be very yummy).

Back to the GE Advantium review.

The thing still bugs us the most is that it’s so loud!

It’s great though at adding a quick ‘browning’ to things that would
have required a long wait in the oven for the same effect (no
preheating). I often finish off foods using the Advantium, melting
toppings, etc. that I couldn’t easily do with the microwave. I like the
fact that I can heat the plate I’m serving on which makes the food seem
more “restaurant-served”, and keeps the food warmer a bit longer.

If the question is: Should you buy an Advantium oven?

That’s tougher, as each person and family is different. Read my first
impressions on the page referred above. I know there are two power
levels for the oven – 120 and 240 volt. We have a 240 volt oven. It
cooks things a lot faster than the lower powered one. I’d highly
recommend getting the higher powered one if it’s an option for you as
part of the benefit of having a specialty oven like this is that it is
designed to help you cook faster and easier. Check out the buying tips
from GE here. If you have children, especially young children, this
appliance needs to be respected more than a microwave. Not only can the
food get hot, but the entire interior and plates can be scalding hot.
Getting a pizza out of the oven after it’s 10 minute cycle (for a frozen
12″ pizza) is definitely a hot pad experience. The tray and interior are
hot.

I hope this helps those of you stopping in for information about the
GE Advantium oven.

One cook book that I’d highly recommend that isn’t specifically an
Advantium cookbook, but has more than a thousand great recipes (many of
which can be cooked in the Advantium with some tweaks) is:

The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook Revised Edition: Featuring
More Than 1,200 Kitchen-tested Recipes, 1,500 Photographs And
No-nonsense Equipment And Ingredient Ratings.

I’ve definitely enjoyed it — there’s a lot to learn and many product
ratings.