Verdict
The Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer Air Fryer 10.4L AF500UK has an enormous capacity once you simply have to prepare dinner lots of meals, however can break up into two for once you wish to prepare dinner two totally different meals directly. Technically, you’ll be able to prepare dinner in simply half of the drawer, though you continue to have to clean the whole factor when achieved.
Execs
- Straightforward to make use of
- Wonderful outcomes
- Huge quantity of cooking area
Cons
- Total drawer needs to be washed, even when you use half
-
Cooking areaThere’s a complete of 10.4-litres of area, which an be used as one giant compartment, or divided into two smaller cooking areas. -
Cooking modesMax crisp, air fry, roast, bake, reheat, dehydrate and show are all obtainable.
Introduction
I’m a giant fan of Ninja’s dual-drawer air fryers; they provide flexibility when required and double up on capacity once I merely have to prepare dinner extra. Properly, the latter is true to a degree: the scale of things is restricted by the drawer measurement.
With the e Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer Air Fryer 10.4L AF500UK, there’s one huge drawer with an non-compulsory divider that successfully turns this into two air fryers.
If you happen to want the only zone with an enormous capacity, then it’s a superb alternative.
Design and options
- Single giant zone
- Intelligent controls based mostly on one-zone or two-zone cooking
- Straightforward to make use of
There’s not a lot between the Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer Air Fryer 10.4L AF500UK and the Ninja Foodi MAX Twin Zone Air Fryer AF400UK. Each are roughly the identical measurement, however the brand new AF500K has a barely larger total capacity at 10.4 litres, in comparison with 9.5 litres of area within the twin drawer mannequin.
That’s all the way down to the design of the AF500UK, which has a single giant drawer that pulls out the entrance; the AF400UK’s dual-drawer design means some area is misplaced to have a divider between the drawers, and the drawers themselves take up room.
Pull out the massive drawer, and there’s area for 2 crisper plates on the backside. I may then both use the whole area in a single, which provides greater than sufficient room for a big rooster and accompaniments, or I may use the supplied divider to separate the area into two particular person zones.
Doing the latter turns into helpful for flexibility, because it’s attainable to prepare dinner two totally different dishes on the similar time, utilizing totally different settings and timings.
As with Ninja’s earlier dual-drawer efforts, the AF500UK focuses on making issues easy, aided by the superb quick-start information that lists really helpful cooking modes, instances and temperatures for widespread dishes.
Cooking modes embrace air fry, roast, bake, reheat, dehydrate and show, all of which then provide you with a temperature setting and timer. There’s additionally the Max Crisp mode, which cooks at 240C, giving super-crispy outcomes on meals that want this stage of warmth, reminiscent of hash browns.
With no divider in place, the air fryer operates in its Mega Zone mode: consider it as only a very huge air fryer.
With a divider in place, the zones will be handled solely independently, functioning as their very own air fryers (and saving vitality if you’ll want to prepare dinner on one aspect solely), or you need to use the dual-zone controls.
Sync makes certain that the 2 zones end cooking on the similar time, permitting you to prepare dinner totally different meals at totally different temperatures in every zone, but have an entire meal at a selected time.
Match simply synchronises the 2 zones in order that they use the identical settings. This function is beneficial on a real dual-basket one, the place each drawers are loaded with the identical meals (say, doubling up on chips). Right here, it feels superfluous. Why not simply take the divider out and use all of the area when you merely have to prepare dinner extra of the identical?
There’s no pre-heat on this mannequin, with it warming quick. As with all air fryers, the meals must be agitated whereas cooking to ensure it cooks evenly. Usually, a drawer makes this simple, as you pull it out and shake. With the very giant drawer right here, that’s a bit more durable, so utilizing silicone tongs to maneuver meals round made extra sense.
I did discover that the divider shouldn’t be an ideal insulator. After cooking in a single zone solely, the empty zone was very heat. In follow, it didn’t make any distinction to the standard of the cooking once I had totally different meals on both aspect.
On the finish of a prepare dinner, the drawer and crisper plates will be washed down, or you’ll be able to stick them in a dishwasher for comfort.
Efficiency
- Distinctive, crisp outcomes
- Even cooking
- Very versatile
Max Crisp mode on the Ninja AF500UK signifies that it might prepare dinner at a really excessive temperature, which is ideal for meals that must be cooked rapidly with a crisp exterior, reminiscent of hash browns. To me, the right hash brown has a crisp exterior and a gentle and fluffy inside, and the Ninja AF500UK delivers.
Subsequent, I moved on to cooking a complete meal within the air fryer, cooking chips on one aspect and a rooster breast on the opposite, getting them each to complete on the similar time.
My chips got here out completely: crispy exterior, fluffy inside and evenly cooked all through the whole batch.
I used to be happy with my rooster breast, too, cooked on the roast setting. It’s simple to get rooster incorrect and have it dried up and horrible, however the Ninja AF500UK did an awesome job, cooking by however leaving the breast moist.
I completed up dehydrating the final of my backyard’s herbs earlier than the chilly climate set in and so they all died.
Newest offers
Do you have to purchase it?
You want capacity and adaptability
The one giant drawer means you’ll be able to prepare dinner an enormous quantity of meals in a single go, whereas the divider means you’ll be able to prepare dinner two totally different objects concurrently.
You largely prepare dinner totally different meals or smaller parts
A standard two-drawer air fryer could also be extra helpful, significantly for smaller parts, the place you solely want to scrub one basket. Take a look at the Ninja Foodi MAX Twin Zone Air Fryer AF400UK if that’s the case.
Remaining Ideas
Straightforward to make use of, highly effective and producing wonderful, even outcomes, the Ninja AF500UK is one other winner from the corporate. Whether or not it’s best for you will depend on what you’ll want to do. If you happen to largely want most capacity, with the choice for flexibility, it’s an awesome alternative; when you largely prepare dinner smaller parts or two totally different meals varieties, the prevailing AF400UK and its twin baskets could swimsuit you extra. In any other case, take a look at my information to the most effective air fryers.
How we check
We check each air fryer we overview totally over an prolonged time frame. We use trade customary exams to match options correctly. We’ll all the time inform you what we discover. We by no means, ever, settle for cash to overview a product.
Discover out extra about how we check in our ethics coverage.
Used as our predominant air fryer for the overview interval
We prepare dinner actual meals in every air fryer, making chips, frying sausages and cooking frozen hash browns. This lets us evaluate high quality between every air fryer that we check.
FAQs
A divider splits the primary drawer into two, and every half can be utilized independently.
Sure, the drawer and crisper plates can go into the dishwasher.