Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer Review: The Best Ninja Air Fryer

Price upon review

$149.99 (MSRP $179.99)

Best prices today: Ninja Foodi FlexBasket

$149.99

$149.99

The FlexDrawer isn’t Ninja’s newest dual-tray air fryer (that’s the Double Stack XL), but it is one of the brand’s best models. I could say that this is the best model that the brand has produced.

It’s a unique twist on a two-basket air fryer because you can remove the dividing wall between the two cooking areas to create one ‘mega zone’.

You get all the flexibility of a traditional model, as you can use the two 5.2 liter cooking zones independently of each other and program each individual cooking mode.

But you can also use the entire 10.4 liter space for preparing large pieces and baking cakes and bread.

If you are in the US, there is a slightly different model available. Instead of the FlexDrawer you can buy the FlexBasket. It is a smaller 7QT model and lacks the proofing setting of the British model, which you can use when making fresh bread. It also has slightly different controls than the UK model: it works with buttons only, while the UK model has a dial to choose the cooking mode. Other than these differences, it’s designed and works similarly, so you can read this review to get an idea of ​​whether it’s a good fit for you.

Design and construction

• Temperature range 35°C-240°C
• 7 cooking modes
• Easy to use digital display

The FlexBasket is made mostly of plain, matte black plastic and thanks to its size, there really is quite an expanse. It will certainly not be the prettiest device on your countertop. With its curved corners and simple exterior, it resembles a giant bathtub with a lid. But it’s solidly built and its simple exterior makes it easy to keep clean.

It is also a large device, measuring 32.7 cm high, 31.6 cm deep and a whopping 49.6 cm wide. It takes up a huge amount of space along your countertop, but because it’s not very deep, it gives you plenty of room to prepare food and pull out the drawer.

Although I have a small kitchen and had to rearrange my countertops to find room for it, I found that it actually seemed to overwhelm the available space less than the Double Stack, a much deeper air fryer that extends beyond the line of other countertops. appliances.

There is one pull-out drawer with a removable divider. It comes with two dishwasher-safe non-stick crispy trays (although you can’t put the tray itself in the dishwasher). The cooking space is enormous at 10.4 liters and can fit a piece of meat, chicken or cake.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

The FlexDrawer has seven cooking modes: maximum crisp (for frozen foods), fry, roast, bake, reheat (for leftovers), dehydrate (for jerky and dried fruit), and rise (for dough). Choose one and a suggested time and temperature appear on the easy-to-read digital display. You can then adjust it to your liking. The controls are intuitive and clear and you are unlikely to need to refer to the manual.

Nevertheless, the included manual is extensive and contains a number of recipes and a cooking schedule for the Airfryer with suggested times and temperatures for popular dishes.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

There are no settings for specific types of food, such as fries, that you find on other air fryers. But the cooking mode is easy to determine. It is then best to use the time and temperature suggested by the mode and adjust them if necessary.

Time and temperature are adjustable for each cooking setting (within certain limits – i.e. if you set too high a temperature, you will not dry out fruit or meat, but roast it).

The FlexDrawer has a minimum temperature of 35°C and a maximum temperature of 240°C and the cooking time is between 1 minute and six hours, again depending on the cooking mode. This means you can cook almost anything in it, except dishes like stews, pasta and rice, which won’t come out brilliant even if you use a silicone liner. If you cook that often, we recommend the Ninja Speedi or the ProCook Air Fryer Health Grill.

The FlexDrawer has all the features you would expect to make cooking in the two-basket air fryer easy. There is a match function, with which you copy the cooking program from one drawer to another, and a synchronization function. With Sync you set two separate cooking programs, but ensure that they are ready at the same time. So you don’t have to keep one dish warm while you wait for the other to be ready.

It is also worth saying that it is a very civilized kind of air fryer. Like all newer Ninja models, it greets you with a “Hello” on the screen when you turn it on, and a “Goodbye” when you turn it off. Additionally, the alert sounds are loud enough to be heard from the next room (though probably not over the sound of the TV), without being piercing or long lasting.

Performance and features

• Powerful model (2,470 W)
• No shaking alarm – but we didn’t miss it
• Big enough for a loaf of bread, but not for a supermarket pizza

The FlexDrawer is a powerful air fryer. It’s a 2,470W appliance, which means it’s more expensive to run than the average air fryer. You can use an online energy calculator to find out how much it will cost. You’ll get the most accurate reading if you know your rate.

But what I would say about the FlexDrawer is that it does So powerful that you’ll use it for a shorter time and at a lower setting than rivals, which will offset the cost somewhat. And if you can avoid your oven for most of your cooking, you’ll definitely save money.

When I first used the FlexDrawer, I had a tendency to overcook everything. My tip for using it would be to set the temperature 10°C lower than the usual air fryer setting and see how it performs. But once I got used to its power, everything I cooked came out great: crispy toasties with gooey melted cheese, crispy fries and potatoes, chewy gnocchi.

I loved the larger size and abandoned my oven almost immediately. The capacity allowed me to roast a whole butternut squash for soup.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

I thought the lack of a shake warning would be an issue, something I discovered with the Double Stack, but if you place food on the crisper plates and take care not to overfill the tray, it cooks so evenly that you doesn’t. need.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

However, there’s one thing even the FlexDrawer can’t find room for: a large supermarket pizza. You can only prepare one half at a time, although there is probably enough room for two mini pizzas.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

The real revelation with the FlexDrawer was baking. I had never quite mastered baking in the air fryer, but since the FlexDrawer has more than enough space for a large loaf pan, I thought I’d give it a try. On a first attempt, the cake failed to rise properly because the outside cooked and crusted before the inside, so while it was edible it was dense.

The secret turned out to be lowering the temperature to just 140°C (the recipe called for 160°C in a fan oven or 180°C in a regular oven). Since preheating was not necessary, I had a perfect lemon cake in 25 minutes – in my oven it takes 40 minutes.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Price and availability

The FlexDrawer has an RRP of £269.99, but is now available everywhere for £219. You can buy it from AO.com, Argos, Amazon, or directly from Ninja. At the time of writing it’s £50 less than the Double Stack. However, if you don’t think you’ll make use of the ‘megazone’, Ninja’s latest Foodi double-drawer model is a better buy.

In the US, the smaller 7QT FlexBasket is available from Ninja, Best Buy, Walmart and Amazon for $149.99, down from $180. Again, this makes it an attractive option compared to other new Ninja models, although the cooking capacity is significantly less than the UK version.

Pronunciation

The FlexDrawer is without a doubt one of the best air fryers I have tested. It doesn’t give you as many cooking options per food type as combination models like the Ninja Speedi or the ProCook Air Fryer Health Grill, which can grill and cook pasta and rice, but its capacity and flexibility make it the best oven replacement among double ovens. -drawer models.

If you’re looking for even greater capacity, check out our round-up of the best air fryer ovens we’ve tested, and if you’re not sure which Ninja model is right for you, check out our round-up of the best Ninja air fryers . The best air fryers we tested, of all brands and types, are in our overview of the best air fryers.