Ninja Foodi Max Health Grill & Air Fryer (AG551UK) Review

At a look

Skilled’s Score

Execs

• 6 cooking features in a single
• Massive grill plate
• Vast temperature vary for air frying
• Good Cooking System & Digital Probe

Cons

• Very cumbersome, takes up quite a lot of room
• 3.8L capability is small in comparison with some air fryers
• Costly and exhausting to come back by

Our Verdict

The Ninja Foodi Max Well being Grill & Air Fryer is a formidable little bit of equipment that’ll doubtless exchange your typical oven, boasting six methods to prepare dinner together with an intuitive Good Cooking System that can assist you get the proper meat. It’s a bit on the cumbersome aspect, and it’s costly, nevertheless it’s properly value the associated fee.

Value When Reviewed

$259.99

Finest Costs Immediately: 1

$259.99

The Ninja Foodi MAX Well being Grill & Air Fryer (AG551UK), often known as the Ninja Foodi Good XL within the US, seems to be to be the one-stop store for not solely air frying however correct grilling, baking, roasting, dehydrating and even reheating, and imagine me once I say that you simply’ll very hardly ever use your typical oven with this round.

It’s good too, with a Good Cook dinner System boasting a spread of presets for various meats, and the digital probe permits you and the system to observe temps in real-time, prompting you to take away your meat when it’s simply proper.

It is perhaps on the cumbersome aspect, and it’s definitely a premium product at £250, nevertheless it’s additionally so well-liked that it’s exhausting to come back by on the time of writing – and after utilizing it for the previous month or so, I’m not stunned in any respect.

Design & construct

To say that the Ninja Foodi Max will take up a little bit of house in your countertop could be an understatement. It’s truly a lot greater than I used to be anticipating when researching the hybrid on-line, measuring in at 270 x 390 x 410mm.

That doesn’t take the truth that there must be a little bit of clearance on the rear to totally open the lid, making it really feel prefer it takes up much more house. It may be pushed again to the wall when not in use, in fact, however its presence is at all times instantly noticeable.

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It’s most likely a very good factor that this is likely one of the better-looking grill and air fryer combos in the marketplace, with a silver and black physique that appears premium even in comparison with Ninja’s commonplace Foodi.

Open that enormous lid and also you’ll discover the primary cooking pot with a 3.8L capability, together with a crisper basket particularly for air frying, although it’s value noting that that is smaller than the usual Foodi and its 5.7L capability. When you’re shopping for the Foodi particularly for air-frying, the usual Foodi often is the higher possibility.

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What the usual Foodi doesn’t supply, nevertheless, is a a lot bigger 229 x 334mm heavy grill plate with loads of house to prepare dinner steak, hen wings, sausages and the like. The truth is, I discovered I might comfortably prepare dinner three 6-8oz steaks or six burgers directly on the grill, rivalling small out of doors grills.

All three inserts are each dishwasher-friendly and anti-stick for a surprisingly straightforward cleansing course of (even with burnt-on bacon fats remnants), and there’s a stiff brush included within the field for these significantly cussed stains. The one problem is that you could solely put two of the three within the Foodi Max for storage, that means you’ll must discover a place for both the crisper basket or grill plate to reside when not in use.

Whereas the usual Foodi makes use of buttons and knobs for management, the Ninja Foodi Max ditches bodily buttons for digital alternate options that disappear when not in use. It’s a lot cleaner, and in contrast to some touch-capacitive buttons, those on the Foodi Max are very conscious of the contact.

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Paired with the digital show, it’s the place you’ll management each side of your cooking expertise. You’ll be able to set your perform, from grilling to air frying and even reheating day-old pizza, and intuitive controls make it a breeze to arrange. There’s additionally a button that’ll allow you to skip the pre-heating course of for fast cooks, although I’d suggest letting the Foodi Max come as much as warmth earlier than including your meals.

There’s a small compartment on the aspect that homes a thermometer to maintain observe of the interior temperature of meat as you prepare dinner, and it allows good cooking performance too, however extra on that in a bit.

Ninja features a recipe e book with cooking charts tailor-made to the Foodi Max, supplying you with a choice of dishes to organize and a fantastic guideline on time and temperature choices for primary meals and meat.

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Options & efficiency

The Ninja Foodi Max Well being Grill & Air Fryer is among the many most succesful countertop home equipment you’ll discover in 2022, boasting six methods to prepare dinner – Grill, Air Fry, Roast, Bake, Dehydrate and Reheat – in a single system.

To place it merely, the Foodi Max has all however changed my commonplace oven and grill for the previous month or so, opting to prepare dinner all the pieces from steak and burgers to chips and roast potatoes with nary a grievance.

Let’s begin with the cooking ranges. The air fryer might be set at temperatures between 150-240°C; for roasting it’s 120-220°C; you possibly can bake at 120-210°C; you possibly can grill at as much as 260°C and reheating ranges from 130-210°C. The dehydrate perform, as you may count on, makes use of decrease temperatures of between 40-90°C, however requires longer prepare dinner occasions.

That’s a greater temperature vary in comparison with some extremely rated air fryers just like the 82-205°C Instant Vortex Plus, the present best choice in our air fryer chart.

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In the case of the air fryer perform, it really works as anticipated. You faucet Air Fry, choose your temperature and time and anticipate it to preheat. Whack the chips, spring rolls or no matter else you’d wish to air-fry within the crisper basket and shut the lid. You’ll get an alert when it’s time to shake the basket, and one other as soon as the time has run out.

Like most air fryers, the Foodi Max cooks a lot quicker than a traditional oven, that means I might get crispy bacon in as little as 4 minutes and chips hardly ever took greater than 10 minutes to develop into golden brown, making it the perfect equipment for a fast snack once you’re feeling peckish. I’ve had extra bacon rolls up to now few weeks than I’d wish to admit!  

It’s an analogous story when utilizing the bake, dehydrate and reheat choices; merely enter the temperature and time and prepare to prepare dinner your meals. The Foodi Max cooks evenly because of Ninja’s cyclonic air know-how that circulates temperatures contained in the chamber for even warmth distribution.

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It’s value noting that, regardless of depictions of a full hen on stickers for the Foodi Max temperature probe, it’s too shallow to correctly roast a hen.

The place the Foodi Max really stands out is relating to the grill, particularly should you’re not that assured when cooking meats like steak the place timing is all the pieces.

That’s all the way down to a mixture of two issues; Ninja’s ‘Good Cook dinner System’, which is basically a (pretty exhaustive) checklist of preset meats, and a digital cooking probe that screens the interior temperature of your meals whereas cooking. The latter actually is a game-changer, as when paired with the Good Cook dinner System that allows you to not solely choose that you simply’re cooking beef (i.e., steak) however how properly you’d prefer it cooked internally.

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You merely insert the thermometer into the thickest a part of the most important little bit of meat you’ve got, put it onto the grill plate and shut the lid. You may count on there to be quite a lot of smoke when grilling indoors, however the mixture of a built-in splatter guard defending the heating aspect and a cool-air zone on the prime of the grill means there’s little or no smoke when in comparison with utilizing a skillet.

Not solely that, however as a result of the distinctive design of the grill plate and the cyclonic air know-how work so properly at offering an excellent temperature, you don’t have to flip your steak. You’ll be able to in order for you the signature grill marks on each side, nevertheless it’s not a needed step when utilizing the Foodi Max. You’ll be able to actually shut the lid, work on different meals prep and take away it when it hits the precise temperature.

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As soon as at temperature, there’s a particular ‘relaxation’ timer that’ll monitor the interior temperature of the steak whereas cooling, once more alerting you to when it’s able to eat.

Steak is one factor I’ve at all times struggled to get simply proper – it’s both barely undercooked or too properly performed for my medium-rare liking – however the Foodi Max delivered completely medium uncommon steak each time. It’ll be exhausting to make use of the rest going ahead if I’m being sincere.

It’s not simply steak both; the grill might help you prepare dinner virtually any meat from hen wings to beef burgers, pork joints to fish fillets, to absolute perfection. When you’re not that assured within the kitchen, the Foodi Max actually might open up a complete new world of culinary potentialities past easy air frying.

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Value & availability

The Ninja Foodi MAX Well being Grill & Air Fryer isn’t an affordable little bit of equipment – however what Ninja tech is?

With spectacular efficiency on supply, it shouldn’t come as an excessive amount of of a shock to study that the hybrid will set you again £249.99 within the UK, whereas the an identical Ninja Foodi Good XL will set you again $259.99 within the US. Which will appear costly, however when you think about how a lot the Foodi Max can do, it’s fairly decently priced.

The large drawback (for us, not Ninja) is that it’s so well-liked that it’s exhausting to come back by, particularly at a time when shoppers are turning to air fryers and different small home equipment to interchange the expensive-to-run oven. With Ninja’s claims of saving as a lot as 45% on power prices, it’s very a lot an in-demand possibility.

That being stated, retailers together with Best Buy, Kohls and HSN within the US and Ninja, Amazon and John Lewis within the UK do inventory the Ninja Foodi Max – you’ll simply must hold a watch out for when inventory replenishes.

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Verdict

The Ninja Foodi Max Well being Grill & Air Fryer is little doubt a premium little bit of equipment at $260/£250, nevertheless it nonetheless manages to supply nice worth for cash. It combines a number of features in a single, together with air frying, roasting, dehydrating, baking and grilling, with impressively even cooking temperatures and a scarcity of smoke, nevertheless it’s the good cooking system that’s most spectacular.

The power to not solely choose the meat however how properly performed you’d like it’s nice for these not that assured relating to grilling meat, be it steaks or bigger beef or pork joints. Even when not utilizing the preset features, the digital meat probe may be very helpful, particularly for bigger cuts of meat.

It’s easy too, with air sturdy air circulation that means you don’t have to flip meats on the mid-way level – although you possibly can in order for you the normal grill marks.

There’s additionally the good thing about being power environment friendly, with Ninja claiming it makes use of as much as 45% much less energy than a traditional oven.

So sure, whereas it’s an enormous equipment that’ll take up a good quantity of room in your countertop, it’s one thing you’ll end up utilizing greater than you may count on.

Ninja Foodi Max Well being Grill & Air Fryer specs

• 270 x 390 x 410mm
• 3.8L capability
• Principal cooking pot, crisping basket, grill plate
• 229 x 334mm grill plate
• 40-260°C
• Six features (Air Fry, Grill, Bake, Roast, Dehydrate and Reheat)
• Good Cooking System
• Digital meals probe
• 10.2kg
• 2460W
• Non-slip ft
• Cool wall exterior
• 1-year assure
• Dishwasher-safe and anti-stick equipment