At a look
Professional’s Score
Professionals
- Big cooking space for baking and roasts
- Versatile cooking
- Crispy, even outcomes
- Sturdy and straightforward to make use of
Cons
- No shake alert
- No viewing window or choice to open a single drawer to examine on meals
Our Verdict
That is, fairly merely, among the best air fryers we’ve ever examined. It’s simple to make use of and highly effective – which implies fast cooking. And it cooks evenly with out the necessity to pause and shake up your meals. However its key benefits are its flexibility and large capability, which you should utilize for baking and roasting.
Worth When Reviewed
$149.99 (MSRP $179.99)
Finest Costs As we speak: Ninja Foodi FlexBasket
$149.99
The FlexDrawer isn’t Ninja’s newest dual-drawer air fryer (that’s the Double Stack XL) nevertheless it is one of many model’s greatest fashions. I would say it’s the very best mannequin the model has produced.
It’s a novel twist on a dual-basket air fryer, in that you would be able to take away the divider separating the 2 cooking areas to create one cooking “megazone”.
You’ll get all the flexibleness of a standard mannequin, as you should utilize the 2 5.2L cooking areas independently and programme separate cooking modes in every.
However you can even use all the 10.4L house to cook dinner giant joints and bake desserts and bread.
In case you’re within the US, a barely totally different mannequin is obtainable. As an alternative of the FlexDrawer, you should purchase the FlexBasket. It’s a smaller, 7QT mannequin and lacks the UK mannequin’s proving setting, which you should utilize when making contemporary bread. It additionally has barely totally different controls to the UK mannequin: it’s button operation solely, whereas the UK mannequin has a dial to decide on the cooking mode. Other than these variations, it’s designed and works in the identical manner, so you’ll be able to learn this evaluation to get an concept of whether or not it’d be a superb match for you.
Design and Construct
- 35°C-240°C temperature vary
- 7 cooking modes
- Straightforward to make use of digital show
The FlexBasket is essentially made from plain, matt black plastic and due to its dimension, there’s actually fairly an expanse of it. It actually received’t be the prettiest equipment in your countertop. With its curved corners and plain exterior, it seems to be like a large, lidded tub. But it surely’s sturdily constructed and its unfussy exterior makes it simple to maintain clear.
It’s an enormous equipment as effectively, with dimensions of 32.7cm excessive, 31.6cm deep and a whopping 49.6cm large. It is going to take up an enormous quantity of house alongside your countertop, though because it’s not very deep, you’ll have loads of room in entrance of it for meals preparation and to drag out the drawer.
The FlexDrawer’s controls are intuitive and easy and it’s unlikely you’ll have to consult with the handbook
Though I’ve a tiny kitchen and wanted to rearrange my counter to seek out room for it, I discovered that it truly appeared to overwhelm the obtainable house lower than the Double Stack, which is a a lot deeper air fryer that protrudes past the road of different countertop home equipment.
There’s a single, pull-out drawer with a detachable divider. It’s fitted with two non-stick, dishwasher-safe crisper plates (though you’ll be able to’t put the drawer itself within the dishwasher). The cooking house is large at 10.4L and might match a joint of meat, rooster or loaf cake.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
The FlexDrawer has seven cooking modes: max crisp (for frozen meals), air fry, roast, bake, reheat (for leftovers), dehydrate (for jerky and dried fruit) and show (for dough). Select one and a advised time and temperature will seem on the easy-to-read digital show. You’ll be able to then modify it as you would like. The controls are intuitive and easy and it’s unlikely you’ll have to consult with the handbook.
Nonetheless, the equipped handbook is complete and consists of a variety of recipes and an air fryer cooking chart with advised instances and temperatures for fashionable meals.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
There are not any settings for particular meals varieties, like chips, which you may discover on different air fryers. However the cooking mode is simple to determine on. Your greatest guess is then to make use of the mode’s advised time and temperature and tweak it as wanted.
Time and temperature are adjustable for every cooking setting (inside sure boundaries – ie, for those who set too excessive a temperature, you received’t be dehydrating fruit or meat, you’ll be roasting it).
The FlexDrawer has a minimal temperature of 35°C and a most temperature of 240°C and the cooking time is between 1 minute and 6 hours, once more relying on the cooking mode. This implies that you would be able to cook dinner virtually something in it, aside from dishes like stews, pasta and rice, which received’t come out brilliantly even for those who use a silicone liner. If that’s the type of meals you cook dinner usually, we’d suggest the Ninja Speedi or the ProCook Air Fryer Well being Grill.
The FlexDrawer has all of the options you’d count on to make two-basket air fryer cooking easy. There’s a match operate, which lets you copy the cooking programme from one drawer to the opposite, plus a sync operate. Sync helps you to set two separate cooking programmes however ensures they’ll end on the similar time, so there’s no have to hold one dish heat whilst you watch for the opposite to complete cooking.
It’s additionally price saying that it’s a really civilised kind of air fryer. Like all newer Ninja fashions, it’ll greet you with a ‘Hiya’ on the display screen while you swap it on, and a ‘Goodbye’ while you flip it off. Plus, its alert sounds are loud sufficient to be heard from the subsequent room (though in all probability not over the sound of the TV), with out being piercing or extended.
Efficiency and Options
- Highly effective mannequin (2,470W)
- No shake alert – however we didn’t miss it
- Massive sufficient for a loaf however not a grocery store pizza
The FlexDrawer is a robust air fryer. It’s a 2,470W equipment, which implies that it’ll be pricier to run than your common air fryer. You need to use a web-based power calculator to seek out out what it’ll price. You’ll get essentially the most correct studying if you recognize your tariff.
However what I’d say concerning the FlexDrawer is that it’s so highly effective that you simply’ll be utilizing it for shorter durations of time and on a decrease setting than you’ll rivals, which is able to offset the associated fee considerably. And for those who can keep away from utilizing your oven for many of your cooking, you’ll actually lower your expenses.
The actual revelation with the FlexDrawer is baking
When first utilizing the FlexDrawer, I tended to overcook all the pieces. My tip for utilizing it might be to show down the temperature 10°C beneath your regular air fryer setting and see the way it performs. As soon as I bought used to its energy, nevertheless, all the pieces I cooked got here out effectively: crunchy toasties with gooey melted cheese, crispy fries and potatoes, chewy gnocchi.
I cherished its bigger dimension and deserted my oven virtually instantly. Its capability meant I may roast an entire butternut squash for soup.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
I believed the dearth of a shake alert can be a problem, which was one thing I discovered with the Double Stack, however for those who place meals on the crisper plates and ensure to not crowd the drawer, it cooks so evenly that you simply received’t want it.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Nevertheless, there’s one factor that even the FlexDrawer can’t discover house for: a big grocery store pizza. You’ll solely have the ability to cook dinner one half at a time, though there would in all probability be sufficient room for 2 mini pizzas.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
The actual revelation with the FlexDrawer was baking. I’d by no means fairly mastered air fryer baking earlier than however because the FlexDrawer has greater than sufficient house for a full-sized loaf tin, I believed I’d give it a go. A primary try noticed the cake fail to rise correctly as its exterior cooked earlier than its inside and crusted over, so though it was edible, it was dense.
The key turned out to be dropping the temperature to only 140°C (the recipe referred to as for 160°C in a fan-assisted oven or 180°C in a daily oven). Without having to preheat, I had an ideal lemon drizzle cake in 25 minutes – it takes 40 minutes in my oven.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Worth and Availability
The FlexDrawer has an RRP of £269.99 nevertheless it’s now broadly obtainable for £219. You should purchase it from AO.com, Argos, Amazon, or direct from Ninja. On the time of writing, it’s £50 lower than the Double Stack. Nevertheless, for those who don’t suppose you’ll make use of the ‘megazone’, Ninja’s newest Foodi dual-drawer mannequin is a greater purchase.
Within the US, the smaller, 7QT FlexBasket is obtainable from Ninja, Finest Purchase, Walmart and Amazon for $149.99, down from $180. Once more, this makes it a horny choice when in comparison with different new Ninja fashions, though its cooking capability is considerably lower than that of the UK model.
Verdict
The FlexDrawer is definitely among the best air fryers I’ve examined. It received’t offer you as many cooking choices by meals kind as mixture fashions just like the Ninja Speedi or the ProCook Air Fryer Well being Grill, which may grill and cook dinner pasta and rice, however its capability and adaptability makes it the very best oven substitute amongst dual-drawer fashions.
In case you’re searching for a good bigger capability, take a look at our round-up of the very best air fryer ovens we’ve examined, and for those who’re unsure which Ninja mannequin is best for you, see our round-up of the very best Ninja air fryers. All the very best air fryers we’ve examined, throughout all manufacturers and kinds, are in our greatest air fryers round-up.