In addition to throwing stars and committing stealth assassinations the term “Ninja” today is probably best used to describe the brand of kitchen appliances and its line of “bullet” blenders made for the production of smoothies and juices. But it is true that the Ninja Kitchen brand also makes many appliances, such as the all-singing and dancing Ninja Foodi Multi-Cooker.
Ninja Foodi Ninja Food offers eight settings including air frying, roasting, baking, sauteeing barbecue, slow-cooking pressure cooking, and a keep-warm function all in one device. In fact it’s among the top pots for instant cooking. Pot alternatives available on the market.
Due to the fact that it has so many functions It is a great choice for families. Ninja Food has a large 6L pot that comes equipped with the 3.2L disposable frying basket and grilling racks as well as two lids. One is fitted with a vent that can be used for pressure cooking and slow cooking and the second one for all other things. It also comes with an hour-long timer as well as the most efficient temperatures of any Air fryer we’ve tested at 200 degrees Celsius.
It is one of the most expensive multi-cookers in the market and is therefore more difficult to sell than other rivals.
Prices and availability
The Ninja Foodi’s Multi-Cooker can be purchased at the moment, and is priced at the RRP at PS199 or $249, but it is often marked down, with the Amazon Prime Day offer knocking $100 off the cost in the US during the summer of 2019.
On the surface with its extensive features, the cost seems to be sensible. However, keep in mind that there are a lot of similar products available that have similar features with lower prices. For instance, the Instant Pot Duo V2 for example might not have the air-frying feature however it does include several other features and comes at a significantly cheaper price.
Design
What you would think of from a gadget which is essentially an oven in miniature and a mini oven, the Ninja Foodi is a monster of a device that takes up much space on the countertop and looks industrial (read unpleasant) with its black and gray design.
Its heavy lid is hinged to the side and opens on hinges, which means it cannot be fully opened even when it is hidden under a kitchen cabinet and this, along with its massive size is nearly impossible to be able to fit into any space in a space that is limited.
The settings are managed via an upper panel that is located beneath the display that is digital. The controls for temperature and time are located on either side of the display. When cooking, the clock is displayed on the screen giving you a glance at the time of cooking.
Below the display is a selection among cooking alternatives: Pressure Steam Slow Cook Sear/Saute Air Fry, Bake/Roast and Grill. Its Keep Warm option is located on the bottom left, while the On button is on the right, and a large Start/Stop button is in the middle. Although the controls are clearly labeled, they can make up an intricate machine, and there aren’t pre-programmed settings like the ones you’ll find on other air fryers, for instance. Every single task requires you to choose the cooking method along with the temperature and time, and it requires some getting familiar with.
One of the benefits of having so many options, as well as the fact that it’s a massive machine is that it’s great to feed large families as well as gathering guests. It’s a large capacity, incredible versatility and is, in addition, silent.
Performance
In 2 months we put all the settings of the Ninja Foodi’s to the paces of cooking chips and chicken, in baking cake and baking potatoes, From slow-cooked sausage stew, and Chili Con Carne, to boiling vegetables and making risotto by pressure.
Airfrying
Among all the air-frying chickens I’ve tried, the Ninja Foodi did a superb job. The skin was crisp, as well as the flesh juicy. When it came time to air fry chips however the Ninja Foodi’s efficiency was not up to par. By manually setting the Foodi to the same temperature, and for the same duration as we cooked our own chips using our oven We were disappointed when the chips came out too cooked. The skin was too crisp and almost hard, while there was very little potato left in the interior. We’ve now tried these settings and , while the results have been superior, they aren’t comparable with the way it was cooked by the Foodi cooks the chicken or the way that the majority other Ninja Foodi’s Air fryers rival cook chips.
In our experiments during our tests, we twice cooked potatoes using the Bake/Roast option. The first time we made roasties from frozen using supermarket-purchased roasties, and the other by hand with fresh potatoes. In contrast to the disappointing results in air-frying chips, the two batches of potatoes tasted delicious. The smaller portion of frozen potatoes, due to the fact that their skins were cooked before being eaten, was a little prone to being too crisp, but the majority of them had soft centers within crisp cases. The fresh potatoes were among the best home-cooked roast we’ve cooked that had the perfect balance of texture and taste.
Utilizing the Bake/Roast feature that we have used, we made use of our Ninja Foodi to bake chocolate muffins on the grilling rack then a fudge cake in its cooker. Both recipes were made from packets, and tasted just like we expected, just as they would with a normal oven.
The drawback to making muffins in this manner is that there’s only enough space for grilling the rack in comparison to a conventional oven and therefore your muffins are smaller. One benefit to baking cakes using the Foodi is mixing all ingredients in the non-stick pan before baking. There is no need for mixing bowls or baking sheets or even lining the tins with grease, and not forgetting the fact that this reduces on the washing up. If you want your cake to have a particular size, you can put a tin for cake with the cake mix in the Foodi and bake it the same way the way you would bake it in the oven.
Slow Cooking, Searing and Sauteing
In to searing and then slow cooking. A lot of recipes require that you fry ingredients, like onions for curries and pieces of beef for stews in a fry pan before putting them into the slow cooker. It’s not like the Ninja Foodi. You can switch from sauteing or sauteing food items to slow cooking with the click of one button. Add the other ingredients, press Slow Cook and select your cooking time. Yes, you can “fry” ingredients in regular slow cookers, but they don’t reach a temperature that is hot enough to create that desired caramelized look and if you’re a slow cooker enthusiast, this Ninja Foodi feature is a game changer.
When the cooking timer for slow cooking has ended, the Foodi’s 30-minute Keep Warm function will kick in to prevent your food from rotting. Actually when you’re done with any cooking process, you can activate this feature to ensure the temperature is at a steady, low level until you’re ready to serve. If you do not use it, you’ll notice that the Ninja Foodi will simply beep and then shut off. This Keep Warm option, and the auto shut off feature, provide Ninja Foodi a significant edge over regular ovens.
So far, so good.
These features provide you with the Ninja Foodi far greater versatility and provide better value than different slow cookers and air fryers or mini ovens. The numerous settings available can be confusing, particularly when you’re trying to determine the best setting for what you’re planning to cook; however, when you approach the majority of meals cooked with this Ninja Food in the same way as you would with a traditional oven, it’s simple. The only thing that’s not so simple, however, is cooking with pressure.
Pressure cooking
If you’ve never tried pressure cookers previously, you should watch an instructional video or two about how it works. It is a way to take all the knowledge you have regarding cooking, and then throw it out the doorway.
First of all, it is a major mess with timings. A small-sized chicken can take approximately an hour and 10 hours to bake in the oven. The Ninja Foodi’s pressure cooker took only 15 minutes. It’s a roast chicken fully cooked within a half an hour.
Similar to cake bites that typically take around 20 minutes were at the edge of being too much in just six minutes, while bacon and pea-risotto that we usually struggle over for hours was made in less than 10 minutes. It is ideal for meals that are quick, but especially when trying to figure out the time it would be before these meals end up being ruinous.
In addition, you should take into account how long it will take for the large Ninja Foodi pot to achieve the pressure you want and how long you have to release the pressure after cooking. If you release pressure too slow, you can end up undercooking the food. If you release pressure too quickly, you risk undercooking your food. Recipes will provide advice on the timings for each, however, it took a significant time of experimentation and trial to get the results we desired as well, and unless you’re using recipes created specifically for Ninja Foodi, you’ll need to experiment. Ninja Foodi, you’ll need to play around with the recipe.
There’s also the lid. This Ninja Foodi’s regular Tendercrisp lid is fixed to a hinge, however the lid for pressure cooking can be removed or fitted when needed. It’s not difficult to use as it comes with an arrow that helps you determine where you want it to be – but it’s an inconvenience to have to swap it on and off. It’s also not compact, so it can be difficult.
When we’d found the optimal timings for each recipe cooked in pressure The quality of the food was excellent and the time-saving advantages soon exceeded any inconvenience we’d had in the process of getting there. We’ve made risottos with slow cookers as well as pressure cookers previously but they’ve never been as good as the ones we’ve prepared on the hob until the Ninja Foodi rice risotto. The rice was as if it was given the typical period of time needed to soak up the flavor and water. It had a pleasant bite to it, but without being overcooked or chalky. In the same way, considering the quick cooking times, we imagined the bacon and the peas would be chewy and lack texture, but they were not. They both had bite , and tasted fresh.
Grilling
While many of the other Ninja Foodi features give your normal oven a whack for its money, grilling functions don’t. It’s a great feature to have, however it’s not as versatile, and less efficient as compared to a traditional grill. First of all, due to the size of the Foodi, you’ll have a difficult time fitting at least two breasts of chicken on the grill rack. The rock’s height can also be a problem. It is not possible to put the food being cooked closer or farther away from the grill’s element.
Steaming
The option for cooking we tried the least, however worth mentioning is the option of steaming food items in the Foodi. It requires a grilling rack or similar accessories for the food items to be placed on. Then steam is created by placing water underneath it. It’s very effective. Like you’d expect, but unlike other settings, there’s not much concerning steaming the Food that distinguishes it from the traditional techniques. The only difference we’ll highlight is that it’s an easy method of making an a la mode bain-marie.
Verdict
Due to the price due to its industrial dimensions and its multi-purpose usage it is clear that the Ninja Food isn’t one for the faint of heart. It’s certainly not inexpensive, but it eliminates the need for an additional slower cooker, pressure cooker, and air fryer. Additionally, its dimension is less than having three of them on your kitchen counter. If you’ve got the money and space, this is a fantastic kitchen appliance to include at your disposal.
Each of the functions works perfectly in their own way. Some are better than others and are more user-friendly than others, but it’s the combination of them all in one location that makes it apart. Ninja Foodi apart from anything that we’ve ever tried. From roasting a whole chicken to being able to swiftly change to the air-frying function to crisp up the skin; to the ability to sear food items prior to switching to slow cooking, The Ninja Food has the potential to replace the oven you’ve been using. At a minimum, for most meals.
As we’ve been experimenting with the Foodi and have only made use of our cooker only a few times and that was used to cook poached eggs for Omelets. We don’t recall the most recent time that we didn’t make use of at least one component of our meals, and that indicates how amazing it is.
