By Joy Kraft
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Convection ovens. Microwave ovens. Conventional thermal ovens.

They all have a place in today's updated kitchen. But who needs - or wants - three ovens, or even two?

With trash compactors, blenders, juicers, toasters, wine drawers, coffeemakers, computers - and sometimes two dishwashers - popping up in some homes, space is getting tight.

As a result, appliance wizards have come up with refrigerator/computer combos, a range from Whirlpool (the Polara) that holds food chilled up to 24 hours before programmed cooking starts, and refrigerators, dishwashers, washers and dryers (from GE) that communicate with each other.

Among the "smart" new kids in the kitchen is a General Electric oven that combines microwave, convection and thermal cooking in one oven.

No defrosting in one oven, transferring to bake or roast in another.

No rotating food.

No rearranging cookie sheets for even browning.

The GE Profile oven with Advanced Cooking Technology, (they're tossing around a "catchier" name), scheduled to hit the market in September, seemed too good to be true at its unveiling late last month in Louisville.

But the old adage "seeing is believing" held up when Alton Brown, Food Network chef/host of Good Eats, took the stage.

The food whiz, who knows his way around the science side of food and cooking, first pulled out two whole juicy chicken roasters, luscious-smelling and beautifully, evenly browned (even the sides that were almost touching), that had been cooking side-by-side in the same pan.

They had cooked in about about 40 minutes - no rotating, basting or adjusting.

The roasters were followed by three casseroles - different recipes and different-shaped containers - again all browned evenly, cooked through without adjustments in 15 minutes.

Three trays of cookies, evenly browned on bottom and top - without changing rack positions - in six minutes.

Testing has shown that the speed modes allow foods to cook up to five times faster than a conventional oven. Roast a turkey in half the time. Bake breads in a third the time..

All this quick-cooking power comes across standard circuitry using two Calrod burners on the bottom, traditional radiant Calrod broilers on top, a "precise air" convection fan that moves the air in two directions for even browning and a microwave-assist function.

"I like to call it a turbo-charged oven," says Mr. Brown, who has been GE's kitchen consultant on the new oven.

"We all cook a lot of food that doesn't profit from long cooking times, like chicken, turkey, even pizza," he says. "Speed cooking of certain foods is to their betterment.

"One of the best things is that you can get a piece of food done at the desired temperature, and it's much juicier. It's the long, delayed cooking times that dries out your chickens and roasts."

But this isn't one of those ovens that only handles certain tasks with its new combo talents.

It has a "proof" function for baking bread, a "defrost" function for warming frozen foods and, when your food is finished, it has a "keep warm" function.

You don't even need to alter recipes. The oven will do it for you.

To cook grandma's chicken casserole, you assemble as usual. Then you select speed cook, bake, convection or broil. Assuming you choose speed cook, the oven "asks" if you want to speed bake or speed broil, then gives six food categories (milk, poultry, seafood, baked goods, etc.) and asks what temperature and time grandma used.

After a quicker-than-normal preheat, the oven alerts you to put in the food and press "start." Then the auto recipe conversion takes over, calculating the new cooking time, applying the right combination of energies to get things done in 1/3 to 1/2 the time. No rotating, turning, moving up or down on the racks.

And, if for some inconceivable reason, you want to take your time and cook conventionally, it will do that as well.

"It's like a really good Swiss Army knife for the kitchen," says Mr. Brown.