Ninja Foodi

[TC-P]

Has anyone used one of the multi cooker such as Ninja Foodi or other brand? My oven died ages ago and since it is just me I have never bothered replacing it. I had a cheap air fryer but hated it as it was difficult to clean. I have the same issue with my hydrogen cooker. It functions like an oven which I like.

Now that my beloved Crockpot died I need a new one and thought a multipot might be ideal. I might get some counter space back.

I would appreciate any thoughts. I wish not to spend more than £150.00 and have slower cooker and baking ability. Might be nice to try my hand at making yoghurt and dehydrating food.

 

[Lifeguard Hermit]

I cook in my job quite a bit and you can replace the croc pot as well as buy like a convection oven for baking at a waaay lover cost than $150.

I honestly have never used the ninja pots nor have anyone I know that owns them so I have no opinion on them other than being weary of any "cooks everything" kitchen device.

On the other hand I see ppl abandoning the nuwave cookers in thrift shops now. Those always worked great, but we're inordinately expensive, seeing them for 50 bucks at a thrift store is a steal.

 

[TC-P]

I cook in my job quite a bit and you can replace the croc pot as well as buy like a convection oven for baking at a waaay lover cost than $150.

On the other hand I see ppl abandoning the nuwave cookers.

Thank you for both suggestions.

 

[salvuserit]

I have an instant pot that I am really happy with. It can make a lot of food while still being hands off and faster than a crock pot. It does not do slow cooking as well as a crock pot. I don't have the air fryer top though.

 

[Mordecai "3 Finger" Brown]

I have this Ninja 6-in-1 (I know you are interested in the multipots, not just the air fryers like this one). Actually the button layout in the stock photo is a little different, but very similar.

We are very happy with it, but the drawers are way too small (tons of wasted space because the drawers are so deep but the instructions explicitly state that you can only load them with a single layer of non-overlapping food to cook properly). The portion sizes for proteins and starches it can hold would not satiate a family with children of any size.

The cooking times are fairly quick, in general quicker than your standard oven. Your recipes though will often need to reference air fryer-specific instructions or learn through experimentation.

It's great for reheating food where texture matters (pizza, fried chicken). The air fryer feature works well too for things like homemade fries, pork chops, chicken, etc.

It's a huge mofo though and takes up a ton of counter space. It also wouldn't easily be hidden away in a cupboard.

It also supposedly needs clearance above the top of the unit because that's where it vents air. So technically it's not supposed to be operated beneath overhead cupboards (We pull ours out to the edge when active).

It's also noisy as fuck which takes some getting used to.

 

[TheOtherSideofMakeBelieve]

I use my instant pots 2-4 times a week, they're legitimately fantastic. I actually have two, the lux mini (6 cup/2 quart, very small) and Ultra (idk but it's huge, the mini would probably fit inside cooker and all) and sometimes I'll have them both going at the same time. My new thing that I love to do in the lux is chicken fajitas. Sear some boneless thighs, dump in the lux mini with some seasoning and however much water the seasoning recommends, 12 minutes at 12psi (only temp on the lux, low pressure on the ultra), saute some bell peppers and onion while that's going on, dump all the chicken into the frying pan and simmer until it thickens. Then you can just dump it back in the pot once you're done eating, put a lid on it, and stick it in the fridge

I'm a big fan of the Ultra because it will do 15 PSI cooking so it's safe to use for long term canning of non-acidic food (most only do 12 PSI unless they specify otherwise which isn't hot enough to kill botulism) and in Ultra mode you have complete control over what it's doing, you can set a specific temperature for 3+ days which I use for sous vide steaks and brisket (135F for steaks seared on nonstick pan, smoke brisket for flavor and then 202F for three hours then 175F overnight/until time to serve for fall-apart brisket)

The lux mini is very entry level but very serviceable as long as you aren't canning (and it's too small for canning, really). A few different preset modes but mostly you'll just want to figure out the best time for whatever you're doing. The two big ones I use it for are 12 minutes for shredded chicken, 4 minutes+10 minutes rest for rice

I haven't tried the Ninja pots but their other products that I've tried have been really good so no reservations on recommending them. Just check the features so you know what you're getting. The IP Ultra was definitely worth the $160 or so I spent on it, there's basically no feature it doesn't have that I'd want to add. I think you can get an air-fryer lid for it but I've already got an air fryer (which also gets tons of use, but yes you have to deal with them having polymerized grease buildup that you can't just clean off)

 

[AbyssStarer]

I have one, it's a few years old at this point but the slow cooker doesn't work well even if you remember to use the pressure lid. It takes way too long to heat and the low heat basically does nothing. Real slow cookers have more functions and more capacity too.
Every other function is great though. Definitely better to have around than not. The recipe book that comes with has some good stuff.

 

[ZipDisk]

Thrift shops are full of these fucking things if you're looking to keep the price down. I have an irrational hatred of the foodi and it's lid because of Scalfani.
Like, the lid opens to the side like a retarded hinge instead of just unscrewing like every other instant pot on the market. Plus, it's stupidly massive.