GE JVM1790SK Convection/Microwave

Our biscuit colored microwave broke and so we decided to join the stainless steel revolution. We first tried a KitchenAid product but the rear of the microwave was 3 inches taller than the front (fooled me !) so it wouldn't fit our regular sized hole. We then bought this GE JVM1790SK Convection/Microwave. It cost $560 on sale at Brandsmart in September 2008.

Installation was relatively easy as we were replacing rather than doing a fresh install. The hardest points were marking the wholes in the underneath of the overhead cabinets. In the end I glued the pattern to a piece of poster card board, cut it to the right size and then glued it to the underside of the cabinet and drilled right through it (then unglued it and pulled it down). Also you do need two strong adults to lift the appliance into place.

Part of the install said to put in the 'carbon filter'. But it wasn't supplied. We called Brandsmart but they don't sell them. We called GE and they said it was $35 for just one and they need to be replaced every 6 months or so. It does still work without it though.

The look of the product once installed is A-plus . We just love it.
It is shiny and has a see through quality so that you get a reflection off the inside of the oven. It looks awesome with wood cabinets.

The product works pretty much as I expected. We have cooked frozen pizza and brownies so far with the convection option. We have defrozen macaroni and cheese and warmed milk with the microwave.

It generates more heat than I expected as the extractor fan seems to pour heat into the room (not good in a warm climate) but it is much, much less heat generating than a traditional oven.

The dial style time setter is very easy to use. My index finger is really tired of pushing buttons on the front of a traditional microwave so this is a very nice feature. The only problem with it is that it increments in 15 second intervals. Ideally I would like to heat a cup of milk for 65 seconds so I have to do one minute, then when it finishes dial in another 15 seconds to get a bit more and judge when to cancel it. However I still prefer that to pushing the buttons of a regular style interface.

The heat seems a bit 'off' on the convention option. When cooking brownies we found it hard to get the heat just right and the brownies came out a bit too guey. Twice. That may just be a case of getting used to how it works. I am prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt so far. It seems to have a convention oven "offset" programmed in that reduces the real temp you want to match it to a convention oven. You can turn this feature off and then get the true temperature you want.

When microwaving it has a rattle. I have a feeling (more of a hope really) that once we install the carbon filter this might go away.

Overall I like the product and am happy with it.

Update 10/31/2008 - my family agrees that frozen pizza is better in this new GE convection oven than in our regular oven.

Update 11/03/2008 - We did our first microwave popcorn. I don't know how it knew but I just pushed the popcorn button and the machine cooked it the right amount. I didn't have to specify the weight. Pretty cool.