Ninja Foodi (OP101) 5-Quart 7-in-1 Pressure, Slow Cooker, Air Fryer and More Reviews

Before I wax poetically about the joy and utility of this multi-cooker, let me cover the few minor cons:

- The air fry lid is permanently attached, and needs to stay in the up position while pressure/slow/steam cooking, so if overhead space is an issue that could be a deal breaker.

- Air frying in this is simple and powerful, but the top lift is less inviting and harder to rotate food than the tradition pull and shake air-fry baskets.

Okay that's it... everything else is AWESOME... you could make complex meals with one pot. Sear and then pressure cook, or pressure cook and brown with the air fryer... quickly air fry baked potatoes and then stuff/finish them, slow cook all day and if it's not tender enough finish it with a few minutes at high pressure. It's useful for almost any occasion. Air fryers have become my microwave replacement... anything sold frozen and mostly pre-cooked (egg rolls, pizza rolls, chicken strips, etc.) comes out crisp and wonderful in the convection style cooking of the air fryer. The steam option make the toughest broccoli tender and brings out it's natural sweetness. The pressure cooker of course works for making cheap stew beef a tender delight, but it also cook frozen fish perfectly in under 10 minutes, just put it in the inner basket with the liquid below. It can also slow cook and make yogurt.

As for the machine itself, it has a premium look and feel with nice responsive button and intuitive interface. If you close the air fry lid with the wrong setting, it will tell you to change lids, or if the outer pan is missing it will warn you as well. It's really very simple to get going and start trying new things out. The pressure lid is another part that you have to store, but it's very similar to a pan lid and I keep mine with them. Also this is the smallest Foodi that I believe they make, but it's still plenty big for most 2-4 person households.

Overall, I use it more than any other cooking appliance... including the microwave, oven or stove. If you need one appliance that can do anything Foodi's are great, air frying really makes this go from the once-in-awhile cooking to all the time cooking. I think the only things it doesn't really do are sous vide (but honestly all-in-ones that do aren't great since they don't circulate the water) and it doesn't provide traditional grilling (but it does broil and pan sear which are pretty decent substitutes).

WARNING- This is an IN DEPTH review of this machine to help you make an informed buying decision. If you prefer to have a summery see section marked THE BOTTOM LINE

=========================================

When I first got the Ninja Foodi in as an order, I was all excited. I was dancing around the house and ran smack into a wall of ," Well, what is so great about this stupid Ninja Foodie?" I stopped dead in my tracks. I didn't really even know. I mean, when I got to thinking about it, I was not even sure why I wanted one.

When it arrived in the delivery, I took it out and almost fainted at the size. It sat like a behemoth on my stove top (on a board) and I said to myself in regret, "What have I DONE?" I stared at this machine for a few days horrified. I looked at the book and was overwhelmed. My God HOW was I going to rationalize the presence of this monster to my very skeptical family.

If you are in that position right now, or perhaps afraid to get one, let me help you out..

WHAT IS THIS LIKE?

This is one BIG machine. It is like the large round crock pots before they started making them oval and larger foot print. It has a rack with an additional rack that attaches to it. There is an inner bowl that has a ceramic coating and then an air fryer basket. It also comes with a pressure lid. I will break this down in sections for you.

COOKBOOK

There are two books. One is a small instruction manual which has basic information to help you decide what to make and how. There is also a basic cookbook which helps you start with some basic recipes.

SIZE OF MACHINE

The first consideration is size. When deciding where to put this there are things to keep in mind. You will need 16 inches minimum circumference to put this on for the machine. you will need 19 INCHES OF WIDTH for when you have the top hinged cover open.

You will need 24 INCHES OF CLEARANCE FOR LID BEING OPEN. With the machine closed it is 14 INCHES HIGH CLOSED.

PRESSURE COOKING

When doing recipes, many of them will require you to put the pressure lid on which is not connected to the unit. You will pressure cook, release the valve, do something inside, and sometimes pressure cook again, or change to a broil setting which requires that you remove the pressure lid and place the hinged lid with the fan and heater on top to finish.

AIR FRYING

There is an air fryer basket that comes with this. It sits inside the ceramic pan so the air can circulate around.

BROIL

This is using the hinged lid and is often used to finish a recipe that requires crispy topping

SEAR

This is a simple task for meats etc but I prefer to use my stove for that as it is quicker for me and the machine takes longer to heat up.

STEAM, SLOW COOK, DEHYDRATE, YOGURT, BAKE

All of these settings require either of the lids and are pretty easy to do with the book.

HOW DOES THIS PERFORM?

Once I got the overwhelming appearance out of the way I decided to try something simple- frozen sweet potato fries. When I got them done, I was shocked. I have used a LOT of air fryers now and this was the best result I have gotten in any of them. There was a perfect balance of moisture and crispy when following instructions.

WHAT HAVE I MADE SO FAR?

After that, I got adventurous and decided to make other things. Here is a partial list of what we have done so far and a quick evaluation

SWEET POTATO FRIES- fantastic balance of moisture and crisp

PEACH COBBLER- peaches full of flavor and the crumble crust was fantastic

CHICKEN, RICE, VEGETABLE TRIO- it was challenging to do at first, but the result was worth it.

CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS- Absolutely the BEST I have EVER had and we have used a lot of different methods

CAKE- done perfectly

WHAT IS NEXT?

We plan to do yogurt soon although someone lost the book so I have to go search it out in the house somewhere (not bad for skeptics, eh? Now they all want to use it- HA)

GLUTEN FREE

I might want to add here that we have used this for quite a few gluten free recipes and paleo and it works beautifully.

STILL NERVOUS?

Don't do what I did and buy a few cookbooks. They all look like they were written by either A.I. or someone who barely speaks English with just typed out recipes. You would be better off looking around the internet for videos or other recipes.

AM I GLAD WE GOT THIS?

It is really big, I won't play that down. You have to have a lot of counter space and you also need to consider that you will have to be releasing steam from the pressure cooker. That means you can not have anything above the place you use it which will be damaged long term from steam being all over it.

We are going to be removing a food dehydrator after harvest season to put the Ninja Foodi in its place for the winter. It is really handy to have something which makes so many things so easily and with so much flavor. It is annoying to have to bring it out all of the time and put it away when done. It is very heavy and not easy to carry around.

So far I have to say that this is one of the coolest things we have gotten. So far, have one of the Ninja Coffee machines (which we LOVE and use CONSTANTLY) , a Shark Vacuum which is my favorite, and the original ninja chopper which we also use constantly. This is right up there with those in performance so far.

It takes up a lot of room, but it is worth it if you are cooking for two or three people max.

WARNING

I will warn you, make sure you ONLY USE WOOD OR SILICONE UTENSILS ON ANY OF YOUR PANS IN THE FOODI. This coating can chip pretty easily so you want to be sure to make it last as long as possible. Be GENTLE with it when putting the different racks and air fryer container in it.

CLEANING

The last topic I will address is cleaning. As you may guess cleaning this is not a snap, but it is not overly difficult. You have to take the time to do it AFTER EVER USE, however. The pans can be washed. The air fryer container comes apart for easy cleaning. The top grate over the fan/element has to be wiped down carefully once cool, making sure not to leave residue of soap lest it burn later.

The pressure cover has to be cleaned as well, wiping it down and removing and cleaning gaskets too.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Although this is large and is a bit overwhelming at first to learn, it is worth every moment. This is a fabulous unit and if you treat it carefully, you can get some amazing performance from it. Be sure to use care with utensils, read instructions, and clean it every use and you will be happy you did. If you have the room to put it, this is a great unit.

MY RATING

FIVE HUGE STARS. I love this stupid thing and am so glad I did not let the intimidation keep me from moving ahead. The food in this is so flavorful and quick to make too. All of the raving out there is true. This is a great appliance in the kitchen, especially in hot weather when heating the oven is too much. Also, having it in addition to the stove/oven for Thanksgiving and Christmas and other holidays is a plus and helps prepare such a huge dinner more easily.

We have evolved from a slow cooker to pressure cooker to air fryer to the Foodi. Our InstatPot was the closest thing to the Foodi. We loved it. And still do but... it doesn't do all that the Foodi will do. Yes it is larger, heavier and has a separate piece (the crisping lid) but we find it still more convenient than all separate appliances. I guess the drawback is if it breaks you likely loose all of those cooking options. We'll cross that bridge if that happens. For now, we will continue to enjoy the all-in-one Foodi.

The first thing I made was simple air fried sweet potatoes. Slice them up, shake up in a baggie with some olive oil, salt, pepper then drop them in the basket. Drop the crisping lid, follow the suggested cooking instructions and wait. You can check the progress by opening the lid. The timer/temperature pauses and restarts where you left off when you close the lid. Foolproof.

The next thing we tried was a frozen pork steak. There are many recipes online but all of the ones I found called for lots of ingredients. Vegetables, gravy mix, herbs, spices, etc. We just wanted to cook the steak to use in a shredded pork sandwich. So we kind of guessed at it. Since it was frozen we added some time and about 1 cup of water. They say add 50% more time if the meat is frozen. We set it on high for one hour, then let the pressure release (not the quick release) that took about 30 minutes and opened the lid. When the countdown timer reaches zero it begins to count up. The meat thermometer said 170* so we knew it was done. Perfect! Tender, moist and lots of flavor.

We also tried a small beef roast. First searing it in the Foodi, adding a little water, closing the pressure lid, pressing a couple buttons and waited. Again, it came out perfect. We cant' wait to try it for some more complicated recipes.

Cleaning is easy as many of the parts are dishwasher safe. The pressure lid is not but the silicone gasket is. The gasket does take on the smell of the food you cooked but a little soaking in soap and water took care of that.

This is a terrific all-in-one cooking appliance that should provide years of satisfaction. We have had the need to contact Ninja's customer service for one of their other products and they were very knowledgeable and responsive.

So, disclaimer: I love my Instant Pot. I've had the 6 quart for a really long time, and then got an 8 quart, too, for those larger servings for guests (or when I want a bumper batch for leftovers for the week).

So, with the introduction of this 6.5 quart Ninja Foodi, I was really interested to see what Ninja could bring to the table to compete. Turns out, they brought quite a lot to the table, and then some.

Pros:

1.) The interface on the Ninja is in a different league to the Instant Pot. It's simplified to the max. I really like this, as the Instant Pot has so many options that are really just the same thing. This really keeps it simple.

2.) Comes to pressure so much faster than my 8 quart Instant Pot, and even feels a little faster than my 6 quart Instant Pot, too.

3.) Easy-to-read timer, with much better contrast than even the newer Instant Pots.

4.) Pressure cooking and then air frying chicken breasts worked a treat. It feels magical, and means no oven mess, no oven heating up the kitchen etc. Great stuff.

5.) Brussel sprouts cooked the same way was amazing. Soft, yet crispy bits abound.

6.) Mac and cheese = win.

7.) The manual is detailed, and the color cookbook it comes with was a really, really welcome surprise.

Cons:

1.) It's a really large appliance. It takes up quite a bit of room, especially since the separate pressure cooker lid needs a home, too.

2.) Uses an older-style mechanism for steam release. I quite like the newer Instant Pots with a button away from the steam release that you press to release steam, rather than having to put hands in potentially harm's way to rotate the little steam mechanism. Not a huge deal, but something to bear in mind.

3.) Non-stick bowl. I debated as to whether this was a con or not. I tend to not like non-stick pans unless I have to use them (perfect for eggs). It makes cleanup easier etc, but... you know... chemicals and all that... It also means you can't use metal implements, - not that you should be anyway, since they trash even stainless bowls like on the Instant Pot.

4.) Non-removable air-fryer lid. This makes the unit quite bulky when using the pressure cooker part, as the lid of the air fryer just sticks up there like a roof shingle that wasn't nailed down properly. I'm guessing this was for safety, but still, it does make the thing a little unwieldy-looking on the counter. It also means if you store this in a cabinet, you can't remove the air fryer lid to cut down on height.

5.) The air fryer doesn't lock into place when closed. This hasn't been an issue, except when I was using it for chicken breasts. The breasts weren't that big, but the lid didn't quite close fully and the chicken was pressing against the underside of the lid grill cover a little. Not a huge deal, and nothing bad happened. Adding a lock mechanism would probably be awkward, so I can understand its omission.

6.) With the Instant Pot, when you remove the pressure cooker lid, it can sit in a little slot on the side of the Instant Pot itself, which is so, so, so handy. With the Foodi, you have to do a little hand gymnastics to place the lid face up on the counter when you remove it. The addition of the air fryer looks like it means there wasn't a good way to have a side-mounted holder for the pressure cooker lid. This is a sad omission.

7.) Heavier than the 6 quart Instant Pot. And more bulky (obviously!).

Overall, then, if you have to have just ONE appliance - either the 6 quart Instant Pot or the 6.5 quart Foodi, there's no question - get the Foodi. It's basically an Instant Pot taken to the next level, and that's about the highest praise I can heap upon it. If you NEED 8 quarts, though - then Instant Pot it is. For the most part, though, 6.5 quarts covers me perfectly, so I'll be using the Foodi 90% of the time. It's that good. It does more than the Instant Pot, and that is enough to offset all the cons listed above.

4.75 out of 5. Outstanding.

*EDIT October 26, 2018*

Just finished air frying some potatoes. I added a picture of them, and the whole procedure was so easy. Chop some potatoes, throw some oil and salt on them, dump then in the air fryer, stir them every 5-10 minutes for a second, and 25 minutes later I've got delicious fries, - all without roasting my kitchen with the oven on, or making an oven mess with trays etc. What a joy. The fries (well, more like mini-wedges) were cooked to perfection, and were absolutely delicious. Brilliant.

*EDIT October 26, 2018*

Ninja has now introduced an 8 quart Foodi. So if you can afford the money and size, no question - the Foodi is the one to get at either size.

There are 2 downsides that I've identified so I will list those first-

1. The machine can be side heavy. The air fryer lid stays on no matter what - and it causes the machine to be a bit side heavy when it is open and not in use. It won't be a problem if you keep it turned around backwards, but I had an issue when I was cleaning it. I turned it towards me and it fell off the counter and I got a nice big bruise on my calf. I thought it would be very dangerous if full of a hot liquid, but I don't think I'd ever put it in that position with it full. Still, I thought it worth mentioning. In use, I've always wanted it going the other way but to be doubly safe, I don't get it anywhere near the edge of a counter!

2.-The inner bowl is nonstick. I'd really rather it be stainless, but it does work very well and the nonstick is OK, it's what I call 'the good kind' - safe and long lasting.

This really does do everything. I pressure cooked some pork loins in it, drained them after cooking, added some sauce and used the air fryer top. Oh, it put a perfect sticky sweet sauce on those loins. The whole thing cleaned up in less than 3 minutes too when it was time to wash up. I've used it to steam buns with too - it comes with a steamer pan that you can put the buns in, and just a bit of water in the bottom of the pan. It sears, it steams, it slow cooks - it really does almost everything I need done.

The controls are easier for me to use than the Instant Pot. I have both and will probably get rid of my smaller Instant Pot. It doesn't take the place of the extra large one though because of sheer volume and canning.

It comes with a 'cheat sheet' that had me cooking once I got it washed up. It also has a very nicely done cook book with it.

I gave my "BIG BOSS" to my dad and my "Crock Pot Multicooker" to my sister. I will also be getting rid of my 'regular' sized Instant Pot, so I can definitely say that for me this takes the place of at least 3 small appliances. Now, if you have a BIG BOSS or large airfryer, know this is only going to do a smaller amount, but I never used mine for large amounts anyway. I keep most of my small appliances on a set of shelves and get them down as needed, but for this one, I cleaned off a permanent place on the counter.