I've always been a fan of multi-purpose devices, and this outlook also extends into the kitchen. Home appliances can get pricey, and you really shouldn't skim on quality if you can afford it. Oftentimes, cheaper kitchen appliances have a lower quality build or utilise a weaker motor to run. This can lead to a much shorter lifespan or even operation troubles.
Whether your reason is to save money on eating out or you want a minimalist kitchen, cooking especially with multi-cookers will be advantageous. These kinds of cookers often come with multiple presets which is handy for beginners. You simply activate autonomous cooking with just the touch of a button, all with little to no monitoring needed.
I have to admit that cooking isn't a heavily invested hobby of mine. But I have a tendency to experiment with simple recipes when it comes to learning new dishes: the easiest curry recipes, best soup stock ingredients ratio, condiment combinations and whatnots. With that, it was a big reason why I was very excited to review Ninja's Foodi™ Multi-Cooker.
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What's so special about the Ninja Foodi™ Multi-Cooker?
Compared to many other multi-cookers, Ninja Foodi reviewers attest that it executes its '8-in-1 functions' pretty well despite the high price, especially when it comes to crisping food perfectly. Mind you, multi-cookers will usually excel in pressure cooking, regular stewing and likewise.
But air frying, crisping or baking? For any kind of 'dry' food, even with the presence of just an additional 5ml of water (whether trapped or not), it can change the texture of foods in its entirety.
Ninja's Foodi Multi-Cooker can cook in 8 different styles:
- Pressure
- Steam
- Roast
- Bake
- Air crisp (air frying)
- Grill
- Slow cook
- Sear/Saute
Ninja Foodi™ Multi-Cooker & accessories:
Not going to lie; I had trouble getting decent photos of this cooker because it is SO HUGE! Not only that, but the cooker is heavy and will take up a lot of space on its own (I had a spare desk to place this cooker on). The delivery box was a whopping weight of 11kg.
In the box, you get:
- 1400W Foodi™ Ninja Cooker - with the hinged Crisping Lid attached
- 6-litre Cooking Pot - protected with non-stick ceramic coating, imprinted with a measurement guide
- Pressure Lid
- Reversible Rack - for steaming and grilling
- 3.7-litre Cook & Crisp™ Basket - with a detachable diffuser, also protected with non-stick ceramic coating
- Chef-created Recipe Book - 15 recipes + cooking/operation guides
The cooker has this industrial look to it and will be quite a challenge to blend into a minimalist-perfectionist' kitchen. But you can easily overlook this feature, given that the cooker is quite high-quality in its build, being very sturdy no matter where you place it. You will definitely have no worries of accidentally breaking this cooker just because you left the heavy lid open all the way...for the night.
Ninja Foodi™ Multi-Cooker features:
As mentioned, the cooker is able to cook in 8 different ways and does it all at up to 70% faster than traditional cookers. Users can prepare an immeasurable amount of recipes, even if they require multiple cooking preparations, in just this single cooker with the correct use of the interchangeable lids:
- Pressure Lid: Think of it as the lid to use for all cooking styles that requires water. There's your pressure cooking, along with slow-cooking and steaming. Browning is also possible with this lid on.
- Crisping Lid: Use for anything that will not be drowning in sauces, stock or liquids. You'll be able to air crisp (air fry), bake, roast and grill with this lid.
- No lid: If you need to do your searing/sauteing in the middle of a recipe or quickly, you can do so without the lid. This is possible thanks to the cooker's flexible temperature settings.
Speaking of the temperature, a big advantage to this cooker over the rest is its adjustable 150-200°c temperature range. Not forgetting, there's the adjustable timer that lets you cook for as short as 1 minute on low-pressure, all the way into 12 hours of slow cooking. Last but not least, there's also a "Keep Warm" function which is automatically activated after any timed-cooking (except for the dry-cooking styles) is done.
In my tests, the cooker was very easy to clean whether we were making thick soup (red bean stew, anyone?) or frying crispy wedges. If I were to compare it to my home's pressure cooker (a local brand whereby the name starts with a 'P') which was also easy to clean, Foodi's non-stick surface and exterior seem to be even smoother in texture. It's definitely a cinch to clean with whatever cooking setting was done in the cooker.
I do have to note that proper cleaning should be done as soon as you can. At the time of writing this review, a faint smell from a preserved-veggie stew had lingered on the removable 6-litre cooking pot, which is required to be inserted for all cooking settings. But this did not affect the taste of food cooked after, as evident in my baked peanut butter cookies.
Ninja Foodi™ Multi-Cooker tests/review:
Even though this is not a cheap item, I found myself wanting this multi-cooker in my future home. Still, there were some minor hiccups when operating the machine:
- Soft notifying beep/sound that indicates completion of cooking - I initially thought that this cooker didn't have one. Turns out, the beep was just really soft. As a busy bee even in her own home, it would've been perfect if it was louder or even ring several times (my former cooker does this). Some recipes do suggest you 'quick release' air pressure and I've missed this action several times.
- Attached Crisping Lid - I feel that this is an odd choice in terms of design. So far, I don't have an issue with it but I can imagine that some people will find it an easy obstacle especially when you want to sear or saute with the lid open.
- Short cord length - Because the cooker was so big, I had to have it placed in an area isolated from most of the other appliances. Ninja does not recommend using an extension with the cooker, so my review unit was awkwardly angled just so I can use it with a universal adapter plug.
Despite those flaws, I was still very amazed at what this cooker can do...
Pressure Cooking
Funny story; we were in the midst of cooking a big pot of Kimchi stew (about 3 litres worth). After layering each ingredient nicely, my mum was horrified to find out that the stove was out of gas.
"Oh good, then we can use the Multi-Cooker!", I told her happily.
With 3 litres worth of Kimchi stew (with meat) which would normally take half an hour to cook, the Foodi Multi-Cooker did it in 20 minutes (including the time to build up pressure). Even compared to our own home pressure cooker, the recipe would've been done in nearly half an hour too.
My mum was a little upset that we had to pour the uncooked ingredients - which were layered nicely - all into the pot messily. That was forgiven because the multi-cooker cooked everything perfectly (including the right stew thickness) within such a short time.
Steam
I was intrigued by the steaming function for this multicooker. It utilises super-heated steam to quickly cook your food. And you use the pressure lid here, but no need for building any pressure. Wow, can this cooker really cook fast without the help of hot air pressure?
At first, I wanted to steam some fish here. I soon realised that the pot was not big enough to fit a large plate. So I proceeded to poach an egg according to the cooking chart in the recipe book.
This is where I got annoyed with the soft notification beep/sound. The poached egg was supposed to be done in 3 minutes, but I had let time slip and the cooker automatically went into "keep warm" for another 3 minutes. Having it stayed with heat trapped inside, the poached egg was overcooked.
Not satisfied, I moved on to test the steam function again with homemade dumplings (250ml water and 8 minutes of steaming). Thankfully, the results I'd gotten were lovely; dumplings that have tender, juicy meat, wrapped around with dumpling skin that's soft and slippery.
Air Crisp (air fry)
Claimed to offer TenderCrisp™ meals, this is one of the most celebrated functions that had earned the Ninja Foodi Multi-Cooker high ratings, so my expectations were high. We have an old Japanese-brand air fryer that does the job alright, but food debris can get stuck onto the frying basket's metal gauze bottom.
The Air Crisp function requires the Cook & Crisp basket with a detachable diffuser at the bottom to ensure better and even flow of air, resulting in food browning evenly. Without any oil, I tried 'air frying' some frozen meatballs and 300g of sweet potato chips (pressure-cooked for 3 minutes).
Not only did my food cook evenly, but there was no sticking of food debris at all! The best part is that the pot and basket didn't feel as greasy as my Japanese air fryer, making it more comfortable to clean. Now, this is quite a feat!
Bake/Roast
If you think that you can only bake limited goods (such as rice cooker cakes), think again. Aside from your usual cookies, Ninja says that the Foodi Multi-Cooker can also bake bread! As I am not talented enough to bake bread, I proceeded with some easy 3-ingredient peanut butter cookies.
Not surprisingly, the cooker baked the cookies to perfection, being lightly crisp on the outside, and the insides slightly soft. For those who are looking to roast foods, the pot is big enough to fit a whole chicken weighing about 2.5kg.
Obviously, the restrictions here would be what baking mould accessories can fit in it. For your reference, the pot is wide enough to fit an 8-inch pan. If you rather just pour your entire batter in without a mould to maximise the cooking space, I would suggest laying down some wax baking paper first.
Grill
This was truly one of the most unique features my mum and I really like. Before reviewing this cooker, we were only able to grill via our convection oven. Meats from there tend to take over 10-15 minutes, and they usually come out tougher than we'd like.
The grill function for the Ninja Foodi Multi-Cooker really impressed me as you can cook healthy meals way faster. Just place your rack into the pot/over semi-cooked carbs, and have your intended choice of protein onto the rack for just 10 minutes (honestly, I did 8 minutes for my thin chicken breast).
Despite not using any additional oil, my chicken breast came out juicy, covered with natural oil from it. The chicken was really soft and tender, with the insides reminding me of fresh grilled fish.
Slow cook
Prior to reviewing this multi-cooker, my family have been pressure-cooking red bean soups. So it was natural that I'd tested pressure-cooking 5L worth of red bean soup with this cooker, which was done within an hour (including pressure release).
But, the typical Chinese red bean soup is best slow-cooked for a richer, thicker stew. Pressure cooking would've yielded a similar result but the texture of the beans can still be quite rough. With this multi-cooker, I was able to achieve a richer-tasting stew, whereby the beans mashes nicely for a thicker consistency. And the soup can be done in as fast as 4 hours of slow cooking (best results are generally at 8 hours).
Sear/Saute
Searing or sauteing with this cooker is pleasant as you seriously do not need any oil. This is truly one of the best ways to cut down on your oily food consumption. I noticed that food debris or burnt bits were really easy to come off with just a splash of water. That fact alone seriously makes cooking in the pot much easier and that it saves water.
Why I like the Ninja Foodi™ Multi-Cooker:
After my two-week-long adventure with the cooker, I can comfortably say that I truly enjoyed the cooker's capabilities in executing almost all of its functions with near-perfect results. Yes, there were some minor flaws that annoyed me, such as the soft sound or buzzer to notify completion, as well as the short power cord. But nothing beats receiving food that was cooked with the right outcome in such a short time.
Another feature that I highly commend on the multi-cooker was its adjustability in temperature and timer settings for precise cooking. Thanks to the reliable cooking chart that's featured in the cookbook, I also learned how to use the cooker with ease, enabling me to comfortably cook recipes outside the cookbook.
Who is the Ninja Foodi™ Multi-Cooker for:
A downside to the whole multi-cooker is the fact that there aren't any one-touch cooking presets to enjoy. This include being able to set-ahead timers.
Therefore, this really isn't a fitting cooker for those who are learning to cook for the first time. Both my mum and I (she cooks every weekend, often with a pressure cooker too) found it intimidating to use at first. With patience in reading the guide, we naturally got the hang of using the cooker.
With that said, I'll confidently recommend this cooker to those who:
- Likes to cook different kinds of food
- Likes to experiment with new recipes and different cooking methods
- Have limited space for big kitchen appliances
- Meal-prep with limited time available
- Wants a low-maintenance and reliable cooker that will achieve the right results
Do take note: We were given the opportunity to review a unit from Ninja Kitchen Singapore. At the time of this review, the Ninja Foodi™ Multi-Cooker is not available for purchase from any local online merchants.
After some research, we found out that the easiest, cheapest and fastest way to get the Ninja Foodi™ Multi-Cooker, is to directly buy from Ninja Kitchen Singapore's online store.
