Air fryers - is Ninja really worth it?

[MoonKiss]

Planning to buy an air fryer in the next couple of days but haven’t got a clue what I’m looking for other than it needs to be dual and simple looking. Bamboozled by Ninja claims of 15-in-1 function, don’t think I need anywhere near this complicated.

Anyone got a Tefal? Or Cosori? Tower seem to be cheapest, any good?
Or should I just go for a Ninja at double the price?

Just bought a Tefal. Very pleased with it so far.

My Ninja is 10 in 1 I think.

I use it for air fryer, slow cooker and pressure cooker in fairly equal.measure.

Yes it's worth it but I needed a new slow cooker and wanted an air fryer. Since buying I've discovered pressure cooking.

I have used the saute function a handful of times but wouldn't bother about having it. My son's used the dehydrate function because he could, again perhaps useful for the very odd occasion.

I think the new ninja has one lid, whereas ours is old and has two. One should be i
much better as we have to store our spare lid and its pretty big!

All in all, probably not worth it for just an air fryer, but definitely worth it of you'll use some of the other functions and it doesn't have a variety of lids to find storage for.

I have the dual it is brilliant.

I have the dual Ninja, was very sceptical and didn’t really want it, but yeah it’s brilliant. Ideal if you have children and want to check on a few fish fingers at a time. I use it all the time. Saved so much time in the evenings. Must be more cost effective than cranking up the big oven.

I have a Ninja - I love it and would recommend it to anyone, but must admit I only ever use 2 settings, and one of them quite rarely!

I have the ninja AF400. It's brilliant. Did the chicken and the gammon joint in it for Christmas. Also done cakes, biscuits, pain au chocolates and part-baked rolls in there. Highly recommend.

I really want something uncomplicated as it’ll mainly be the kids using it, plus a few dinner sides like garlic bread or spring rolls. Met progress to more complex stuff in time! I only ever use one setting on our microwave and tumble dryer, despite multiple other options.

I know a few people who started off with a cheaper one but upgraded to a Ninja, so I’m trying to avoid that but also conscious of the outlay. The Tefal ones are really nice looking, likewise Lakeland.

I've got more ninja gadgets than their warehouse! I love them, they do exactly what they say they'll do and do it well. They also last. The only function on two of them that I don't use is the dehydrator thingy!

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1486630

We have this, Cookworks. Have had it 6 months and it's bloody brilliant. One drawer is big enough for a whole, large chicken. The entire drawers slide out and go in the dishwasher, no faff at all.

• Edited to add - it's really simple. Even 7 year old ds knows how to use it for a toasted cheese wrap (with supervision). Teens regularly use it independently.

Had a non-ninja. Thought it was great. Got a Ninja when I needed a bigger one. I now know that the non-ninja was NOT great.

So yes, worth it. But you probably wouldn't realise without having it if you see what I mean!

Suspect Ninja best if you want to do more complicated things but it takes a bit of work/effort to keep your investment clean. If kids are going to be using it effectively as a deep fat fryer, for chips and breaded products, I think a cheaper one is fine. Let’s face it, anyone except you will probably skimp on the cleaning (even with liners) and it may annoy you if it’s left greasy. Any air fryer I’ve seen that’s freely-used by teens/men or for deep fat fryer-type food never looks like anything I would want to use without scrubbing first!

A friend started out with a Cosori and upgraded to Ninja 10 or 12 in 1 (or something like that) and loves it, but doesn’t let anyone else cook in it as they would make a mess of it 🤷‍♀️

i had a cheap air fryer to see how i got on with it, replaced that with a smaller ninja, and then upgraded and gave that one to my daughter.

i can honestly say in the 2 or 3 years i've had an air fryer now i rarely use my oven! i think christmas was the first time in about 6 months it had been switched on!

I have a two drawer Ninja (AF300UK) and now only use my big oven occasionally (Christmas lunch, big cakes, that sort of thing). This is a the only air fryer I’ve tried but I’ve been really pleased with it and have been pretty impressed by everything I’ve bought from Ninja.

There are settings I haven’t used but I use bake, air fry and max crisp regularly.

I bought the Tefal but wish I had spent a bit more and got the Ninja. I think because of the extra crisp setting the Ninja has but also my Tefals second drawer is definitely under powered - no where near as hot as the big drawer although the temps are the same.

I got a reconditioned Ninja from their eBay shop for about £60. It looked brand new and unused and has been going strong for a good few months.

I think if you put it in your basket but don’t buy they’ll send you a reduced price offer.

www.ebay.co.uk/str/ninjakitchen?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=fO_qLg1bQc6&sssrc=3418065&ssuid=1piV50BiTKW&widget_ver=artemis&_sacat=185033&media=COPY

I had a cookworks one, thought was good, then I was given a tefal one and was better and then in Black Friday sale got a ninja and realised the others are crap compared to this

I have a ninja duel, and love it but never had another to compare it to.
Got mine during a Black Friday deal. If there are new years offers on you might get a deal.

I'm like you, OP. I just want one to cook rubbish oven chicken for DS (19) as he rarely eats what we eat. I will continue to use my 2 ovens a couple of times per week for the whole family (5 adult portions). I want something fairly small and inconspicuous.

I love my ninja air fryer!! Yes worth it. You can get fully certified refurbished ones off the ninja store on eBay for a huge discount too

I have the Tower T17076 and love it. I bought the T17039 for my brother and my daughter and they love them. Absolutely perfect for teens. Simple to use, and easy to clean.

Love mine
11 year old uses it more than me, to be honest. It turns itself off so not much risk there. Great for quick meals. I roasted some veg in it for Christmas dinner

I have the Ninja 15 in 1 but I mainly wanted it to replace a couple of gadgets (air fryer and slow cooker) so we got back some counter/cupboard space! No complaints with the air fryer part and the pot being dishwasher safe is great. The steam meals function on it is good too.

I think you are talking about some kind of ninja multi cooker, but they also do dual air fryers.

I have a Tefal with 2 different sized drawers and it’s great. Was £99 on prime day.