Owning an air fryer in 2023 doesn’t make you any more different than owning a toaster or a kettle. Ever since the appliance started trending massively during lockdown, air fryers have remained one of the smartest investments for the modern kitchen since the food processor was invented.
And it’s not hard to see, or taste why.
The health benefits of using an air fryer have been documented heavily over the past few years, so in this Ninja Foodi Max review, I won’t be harping on about virtues of using less oil or cooking faster and saving time. Those are all caked into the deal when you’re purchasing a new air fryer.
The question is should you purchase the Ninja Foodi Max XXXL Smart Duel Zone Air Fryer over alternatives from the likes of Philips and Breville. Both of those brands are more widely recognised, yes, but Ninja has been emerging as quite the valuable label for kitchen appliances in Australia this past year.
Ninja’s wireless blender, the Blast, has been one of my favourite products of the year so I had no doubt I was going to be at least satisfied by this large 9.5L air fryer. I was, I am, and I have little doubt you will be too.
Here are the main features I think you should consider before investing in the Ninja Foodi Max Air Fryer.
Design
The Ninja Foodi Dual Zone is hefty and will require a great deal of counter space, unfortunately. Large air fryers inevitably take up space, it’s the deal you make.
Regardless, it’s a good-looking air fryer and doesn’t looking like a cheap bunch of plastic drawers sitting in your kitchen. It is blockier than I would have liked, but that just means if can fit more snugly under one of my shelving units.
The matter black, high-quality stainless-steel exterior looks premium and at 8.2kg, this thing has a good weight on it that makes it feel sturdy and faultless.
Set up is very straightforward, as is cleaning. Just remove the drawers and the plates and give them a nice scrub.
Below are three features I think make this air fryer particularly worthwhile.
Two Baskets
The Ninja Max XXXL Smart Duel Zone Air Fryer gets its biggest point of difference from its twin XXXL baskets so you can cook two dishes at once. Since one of the main benefits of having an air fryer is saving a massive amount of time, as they can heat up faster than a conventional oven, having two completely separate chambers is valuable.
I’ve been using this to cook up salmon in one basket and a bunch of fries in the other. The former pops up with a perfectly crisp skin and flesh that’s reasonably well caramelised. That’s all I needed to know that this air fryer did what it’s supposed to do. The fries were another test, of course, and the result was exceedingly generous with hot, crispy skin and piping hot, soft potato inside.
Foodi Smart Probe
Ninja has include a Foodi Smart Probe as one of its main features. As it sounds, it’s obviously a smart heat thermometer that can work with a companion app so you know the exact temperature of your baskets at all times.
Recipe Book
Ninja hasn’t treated its recipe book like a convoluted after-thought like some of brands I’ve tested out before. This is a quick, no-fuss collection of 15 easy-to-follow recipes, most with colour photography. And they aren’t trying to go over the top, getting you to use your air fryer in more creative ways.
These are recipes that most people would want to cook each night, and it’s mostly a matter of chopping and putting ingredients in the air fryer to allow the technology to do the rest.
FOUR AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Best Part: Very even cooking results
Worst Part: Heavy and bulky
$499 from ninjakitchen.com.au.
