Ninja's Dual Air Fryer is the best gadget I own and it's now £152.99
I finally gave into the air fryer hype and I'm so glad I did.
Air fryers almost need no introduction, they have become a much talked about gadget since the cost of living crisis begun. In fact, air fryers are now used by four in 10 adults in the UK. In simple terms, an air fryer allows you to create tasty meals in the fraction of the time a traditional oven usually takes. This not only gives you back valuable time in your day, but also is more energy efficient to run.
Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer
£153£220Save £67 with codeNinja Foodi Max 9.5L Dual Zone Air Fryer with Smart Cook
£200£270Save £70Ninja Air Fryer 3.8L
£99£149Save £50Ninja Air Fryer MAX
£99£189Save £90Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer AF500UK Air Fryer, 10.4L
£269
However, with so many models now up to grabs, it can be tricky to know which one to purchase.
While the initial upfront cost isn't cheap, Ninja, who are the best-selling air fryer brand in the UK sell options between £100 and £270. In the long run, they can save you money on your overall energy consumption, with Ninja stating that you can save up to 75% on your energy bill with one of its dual-zone models.
On average, an air fryer costs around 17p a day to run, in comparison to electric cookers, which come in at around 87p a day (it's worth keeping in mind that prices will vary depending on your energy tariff).
Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer: Quick overview
🛍️ Product reviewed: Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer
⏰ Tested it for: Two months
⭐ Rating: 5/5
💸 Reasons to buy: It cooks food quickly, is energy efficient and incredibly easy to clean
✋ Reasons to avoid: Due to its dual drawer design (that can cook for up to eight people) it's quite large and you need a good amount of kitchen countertop space
💰 Best deal we've found: The cheapest we've found it is at Ninja where it's currently £152.99, reduced from £219.99.
The popular £219.99 air fryer is currently reduced to £169.99 on Ninja. If you use the code EXTRA10 you can get an additional 10% off, which takes the total to £152.99. Plus, there's free shipping.
Still deciding whether you should join the air fryer fan club? I have spent the last two months trying out the Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer almost everyday to make breakfast, lunch and dinner.
My conclusion? I now totally understand the hype and it's a kitchen essential I wouldn't be without (I have no plans to use my oven anytime soon). Here's the lowdown on why I think it's worth the splurge.
💸 Reasons to buy
I'm not the biggest fan of cooking. The idea of slaving away for hours in the kitchen doesn't interest me much, I prefer to make meals that are all in the oven, or in one pan, and take maximum half an hour.
The Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer has completely changed my outlook.
When it first arrived, it looked daunting, with numerous buttons and cooking settings to pick from - there's six functions in total; air fry, max crisp, dehydrate, roast, reheat and baker.
However, the accompanying quick start guide is extremely thorough, with easy to follow instructions and lists of how long different foods take to cook on various settings. It also comes with recipe guide (created by a chef) with tons of helpful meat, fish and veggie dishes to follow. And who doesn't love a bit of dinner inspiration?
On just the air fry setting alone you have endless meal options - a few of my favourite things to make have been:
Mango and chilli chicken with Mexican fried rice
Potato, pepper and bacon hash with fried egg
Bacon, egg and cheese bagels
Cod tacos with an avocado puree
Spicy chicken skewers
All these meals were hugely quicker to cook in the air fryer and with a lot less cleaning up at the end too (which is always a bonus).
For example, you can cook perfectly crisp bacon in just eight minutes. Chicken takes as little as 15 minutes, cod fillets even less at 10 minutes, and roasting potatoes just 15 minutes.
The sync and match settings are also incredibly useful.
Sync allows you to cook two different foods using different functions, temperatures and cook times, but regardless of the settings, both drawers will finish cooking at the same time.
Match on the other hand, cooks the same food in each zone on the exact same settings (which is ideal for batch cooking).
Cooking a whole meal, such as chicken and potatoes is so much simpler, as you're not constantly watching the clock or dealing with moving around scalding hot baking trays in the oven.
You can still take the drawers out midway through cooking to turn meat or toss veggies and the device automatically pauses cooking and restarts once you put the drawers back in.
£152.99 £219.99 at Ninja John Lewis - out of stock £169 £219.99 at Very £169 £219.99 at Argos Amazon - out of stock
Lastly, cleaning the air fryer was a breeze. Both drawers and the plates are dishwasher safe, however they can take up a lot of room inside the dishwasher, so I often hand wash them and find the non-stick design easy to scrub off grime and grease, even when left overnight.
✋ Reasons to avoid
The only gripe I have is the ginormous size of the Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer. Given it has two drawers and a join capacity of 7.6L (which is able to feed up to eight people) that's not surprising.
However, for my small kitchen counter, it does take up a lot of space. You can buy smaller models for under £100, but they cook for only two to three people.
While initially I was annoyed at the amount of room it took up, I've now become so reliant on it for most of my meals that I'm happy to compromise on counter space, but it's something to keep in mind.
💰 Best deal we've found
While the Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer doesn't come cheap, costing £219.99 when full price, it's now discounted on a number of online stores thanks to the spring sales.
At most stores, such as John Lewis, Very and Argos, it's currently reduced to £169.
However, directly through Ninja right now you can get an extra 10% off if you use the code EXTRA10 at the checkout, which takes the total to £152.99. That's £67 off - plus, postage is free.
Shop it now: Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer | £152.99 (Was £219.99) from Ninja
Shop at Ninja Shop at Currys Shop at Very Shop at Argos Shop at John Lewis Shop at Amazon
Other great Ninja air fryer options
If you're after a larger option than the 7.6L Ninja, this 9.5L is slightly bigger and can cook for up for eight people.
Boasting four cooking functions, the Ninja Air Fryer can air fry, roast, reheat and dehydrate everything from chips to veggies, steak and chicken.
It has a 3.8 litre capacity, which customers say is perfect for a two or three person household.
You can cook food straight from frozen, too. And thanks to the variable heat settings and two fan speeds, every meal is cooked to perfection.
Boasting five cooking functions, it can air fry, roast, bake, reheat and dehydrate. If you hate the time it takes to cook a meal, an air fryer just may be a game changer for you, as it can cook food up to 50% faster than fan ovens.
An upgrade on Ninja's best-selling Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer, this clever piece of kit promises to transform dinnertimes and is the most versatile model from the cookware brand yet.
It has been designed to allow users to use it as a traditional two drawer air fryer, or converted into one extra-large MegaZone drawer by removing the divider insider. This means you can easily cook an entire roast dinner in one handy pan.
Boasting seven cooking functions, including Max Crisp, Air Fry, Roast, Bake, Reheat, Dehydrate and Prove, it's perfect for larger families, and can cook meals for up to eight people, all while using 45% less energy than a conventional oven.
