Ninja 6-in-1 XL Air Fryer Pro

I’m late to the air fryer game – this is my first. But after using this Ninja “Air Fryer Pro XL 6-in-1 with 6.5 QT Capacity” model for a few days it’s already become integral to my cooking with its many operational modes. (I’ll refer to it as “Ninja” going forward. It’s a true 5-star product. If this model is lacking anything it would be a glass window to see the food cooking like a regular oven or toaster oven. As it is you have to pause and slide out the cooking basket. Also, the dehydrating function is more for show than it is practical.Much of what kept me away was the name – “fryer” doesn’t align with my eating preference, and I assumed it was just speed fryer that still required a heap of oil. But that isn’t the case – it has more in common with a convection ... MoreI’m late to the air fryer game – this is my first. But after using this Ninja “Air Fryer Pro XL 6-in-1 with 6.5 QT Capacity” model for a few days it’s already become integral to my cooking with its many operational modes. (I’ll refer to it as “Ninja” going forward. It’s a true 5-star product. If this model is lacking anything it would be a glass window to see the food cooking like a regular oven or toaster oven. As it is you have to pause and slide out the cooking basket. Also, the dehydrating function is more for show than it is practical.Much of what kept me away was the name – “fryer” doesn’t align with my eating preference, and I assumed it was just speed fryer that still required a heap of oil. But that isn’t the case – it has more in common with a convection oven than a fast food fryer – so I decided to try this one out, especially because it does so much more than “air fry.”There is another other reason I was reluctant to get one – appliances take up counter space, which I lack. Physically, the Ninja does take up considerable counter space, especially in-depth, but I tolerate that because of its usefulness. If you want to store it under the counter or in a panty though it’s surprisingly light and easy to move around. I parked mine on the countertop next to my oven in what is dead space anyway.The front control panel is clean and intuitive. Right out of the box I understood how to use it. It’s a minimalist layout with buttons for power, start/pause, temperature, cooking time, and cooking mode. The various buttons have a nice bouncy tactile feel to them. To operate just set the cooking mode then time and temp. That’s it. One quirk I found is that you can only change the temperature and cook time when cooking, and not when it’s paused.The cooking modes on this model are max crisp, air fry, bake, roast, reheat, and dehydrate. Max Crisp as a separate mode, to me, is a marketing gimmick, as its just air fry at a higher temperature than you can set air fry to. Functionally all the modes are similar with the difference, I think, being the amount of air that is circulated. The heat source is an electrical element, visually similar to an electric stove, at the top of the unit.There are three parts to the Ninja, the main cooking unit, a 6.5 qt. food basket with handle, and a crisper tray that sits inside the food basket. For most cooking the food sits on the crisper tray at one of two levels inside the basket. Both the food basket and crisper tray are dishwasher-safe and ceramic coated to prevent food from sticking – no nasty PFOAs here.After set-up I focused on the performance of three modes vs both my regular and toaster oven: air fry, bake, & roast, plus I also was intrigued by the dehydrate mode. I felt duty-bound to break in the Ninja with regular french fries so I poured what would be a fast food “medium size” portion of Alexia “Crispy Rosemary Fried with Sea Salt.”In my toaster oven this amount of fries would take 18-20 minutes to cook and even then some fries closer to the front usually end up half-baked. So I was stunned the Ninja cooked them perfectly crisp, but not crunchy, in just 10 minutes (including 3 minutes of pre-heating). They were less greasy too, probably since they didn’t have to sit on a solid aluminum foil sheet like when cooked in an oven or toaster oven. I also noticed the cooking temperature was lower too. I used 400F where I would use 450F in an oven.Before moving on to another mode I decided to try something more tricky – sweet potato fried. These have always been a challenge for me to get them crispy before burning. I found the Ninja didn’t change that initially…but after some trial and error I did find the “sweet” spot, so to speak, between time and temperature. Unlike the regular fries, these did come out greasy at first, but after blotting with a paper towel and letting them drain for a minute they were crispy and delicious. But the lesson here is if you first fail, try gain. There is a learning curve with some foods.Transitioning to different foods is definitely easier in an oven or toaster oven where you just have to change the pan or aluminum sheet. The basket and crisper tray are greasy were nasty looking after making fries so I felt compelled to clean them in the dishwasher before moving on. As I got more comfortable with the air fryer though I started just putting a dab of dishwashing liquid on them and handwashing. Takes about 5 min, though uses more water this way.Once out of the dishwasher I was ready for round 2, roasting. Time for something healthy.I soaked some whole (frozen) Brussels sprouts in a mix of olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and ground pepper for a few minutes. Then I drained the mix and dumped the sprouts onto the crisper and let them bake for about 8 minutes at 375F They came out as expected for roasting – very slightly crisp on the outside but otherwise moist. Especially for cooking for one or two people this is a huge time and energy saver vs doing this in a regular oven. I look forward to trying out meats soon, especially for making chilis and stews.After a quick handwash, I was ready for dessert, which I don’t always have. But in the name of testing, I bought a package of refrigerated cinnamon roll dough for the baking test. Here I placed the crisping plate at the middle level of the basket, and preheated at 375F for 3 minutes. Then put four rolls in for eight minutes. Checking in on them just six minutes later they were already burnt. Lucky I still had four for a do-over.I lowered the crisping plate to the bottom and reduced the heat to 350F and set the timer to eight minutes again. This time the rolls came out with a nice light brown coloring and soft flaky texture. Yum. This was more convenient that using a big oven and the cooking was more even than a toaster oven. I was really surprised an electric element could do such a good job.I saved the best (in my mind) for my finale – dehydrated fruit. The results were great, but I was disappointed by the low volume of fruit made. Stacking food in this mode isn’t allowed to I could barely fit half an apple and one strawberry on the crisper. Studying the cooking process here though, it looks like the fruit shrinks enough after an hour where you could add more fruit every hour, assuming you are home.Having never dehydrated anything before I went by the instructions which recommended seven hours. My batch, however, was done in about 3. The apples were in between chewy and crispy but the strawberry was as crisp as a fresh cracker. Temperature is very low, about 135F, so I don’t think there is any risk of burning here if you leave it in longer.My thought on the dehydration feature is, it’s a fun feature, but because of the low volume it produces, not an integral one. If you want to dehydrate food buy a dedicated dehydrator.

As a family of two, an air fryer would be helpful for us in making small meals or heating leftovers. The problem is, we don’t really have the counter space for another appliance. The Ninja Air Fryer Pro XL solves this problem by providing a large capacity appliance with a small footprint.Unpacking the Ninja, I was surprised at how small it was. It fits easily on our counter with minor re-arranging. There are only three parts to the unit, the main casing, the cooking tray, and a crisper sheet. The entire thing is easy to assemble and disassemble. It also cleans up easily – so long as you don’t overdo it with the oil. While the crisping sheet is dishwasher safe, I found it was quickest to just hand clean it after each use – that way it’s ready to use whenever you ... MoreAs a family of two, an air fryer would be helpful for us in making small meals or heating leftovers. The problem is, we don’t really have the counter space for another appliance. The Ninja Air Fryer Pro XL solves this problem by providing a large capacity appliance with a small footprint.Unpacking the Ninja, I was surprised at how small it was. It fits easily on our counter with minor re-arranging. There are only three parts to the unit, the main casing, the cooking tray, and a crisper sheet. The entire thing is easy to assemble and disassemble. It also cleans up easily – so long as you don’t overdo it with the oil. While the crisping sheet is dishwasher safe, I found it was quickest to just hand clean it after each use – that way it’s ready to use whenever you need it.The Air Fryer Pro XL offers multiple pre-sets, allowing you to air fry, bake, reheat, crisp (called ‘Max Crisp’), roast, or dehydrate with ease. The basket is large enough to reheat half a sandwich and a side of fries, or up to five pounds of frozen French fries. It takes some trial and error to get the times and temperature correct, so plan on some experimenting before preparing a dish in the Pro XL. In general, in takes much less time at a lower temperature to prepare food than a conventional oven, or even a toaster oven.The only feature that didn’t work for me was dehydration, something I wouldn’t be likely to use even if it was perfect, As is, there’s not much room for fruit here, and the instructions recommend seven hours of dehydration time, Given the amount of time it would take to dehydrate a single snack, I’d rather just grab the dehydrated items at the grocery.Otherwise, all functions worked great and were intuitive to use. Build quality is top notch, and my other Ninja appliances have held up very well to repeated use.An excellent product, and one that I highly recommend.

Ninja continues to make excellent small appliances and this new 6.5qt air fryer is no exception. I have many of their products now and they always impress. The controls are easy to use with a bright screen, real buttons rather than touch sensitive panel, and it makes cooking fast and easy. On our old air fryer, we would have to pull the batch of fries halfway through cooking and rotate them, but on this one we can leave the batch in from start to finish without having to do that anymore and they always come out evenly cooked and perfectly crispy. It is much larger as well which allows for more cooking options. It is very nice looking with the black, dark grey, and silver finish, and heat vents out of the top instead of the sides making it easier to avoid overheating ... MoreNinja continues to make excellent small appliances and this new 6.5qt air fryer is no exception. I have many of their products now and they always impress. The controls are easy to use with a bright screen, real buttons rather than touch sensitive panel, and it makes cooking fast and easy. On our old air fryer, we would have to pull the batch of fries halfway through cooking and rotate them, but on this one we can leave the batch in from start to finish without having to do that anymore and they always come out evenly cooked and perfectly crispy. It is much larger as well which allows for more cooking options. It is very nice looking with the black, dark grey, and silver finish, and heat vents out of the top instead of the sides making it easier to avoid overheating anything nearby while it is operating. Its also lightweight so it can very easily be carried from a cabinet or pantry to the counter if you want to store it out of sight while not in use. The power cord is pretty short so you do have to have an outlet close by to use it but the intention is for it to be sitting on your counter so that generally won’t be an issue. Overall, it is well put together, works wonderfully for our French fry consumption, and if it is as reliable as all my other ninja appliances have been it’ll be flawless for years to come. I definitely recommend it for quick and easy cooking.