Even if the extent of your culinary ability starts and ends at the microwave, the ubiquity of the air fryer cannot be refuted.
The unassuming machines have taken over, from endless online memes and genius recipes to excited whispers between owners. While loads of home appliance companies have their hand in the air fryer game, ask the truly obsessive and they’ll tell you - there’s nothing like a Ninja.
The Montreal-founded company makes the best air fryers around with 16 models to choose from. Some offer multi-cooking ability, while others offer only the air fryer function, making it easy to pick and choose the right option for your wallet and your household.
Being a market leader means that prices are, understandably, higher than its competitors too. That’s why the clever home cook waits until Black Friday to make their move.
Ninja has offered incredible discounts on its machines over the Black Friday sales, chopping RRPs by up to half in some years. With D-Day drawing ever near - this year, Black Friday started on November 29 - the brand has released some early Black Friday exclusive offers for those who don’t or can’t wait for the official start gun.
The brand’s line of rose gold air fryers is up for grabs, with four machines offering air fryer capability. There are double drawers, double stacked, the air fryer Max Pro and our pick of the bunch: Ninja Deluxe Black & Copper Foodi MAX 15-in-1 SmartLid Multi-Cooker.
This one machine will send your other cooking appliances into early retirement - bye-bye oven - and it uses less energy than traditional methods - all while cooking food faster too (up to 70 per cent, according to the brand).
There are 15 functions including air frying to choose from, and it comes with a slew of accessories to help you make all kinds of meals and snacks, from guilty pleasures like chicken wings and chocolate chip cookies to healthy dishes such as steamed salmon with veggies and hearty winter stews. You can even make a spag bol from start to finish in one appliance, making cleaning up a breeze.
The machine comes with an apron, silicone tongs, a 7.5L cooking pot (which is dishwasher-safe), a digital cooking probe, a two-tier rack, a Cook & Crisp basket, plus a recipe guide so you’ll never get bored of dinner.
Right now, you can save £90 on this mother of all air fryers in Ninja’s early Black Friday sale.
Buy now: Ninja Deluxe Black & Copper Foodi MAX 15-in-1 SmartLid Multi-Cooker 7.5L OL750UKDBCP - was: £319.99, now: £229.99
Ninja Foodi MAX 15-in-1 SmartLid Multi-Cooker with Smart Cook System 7.5L OL750UK
Best for: never using any of your other kitchen appliances again
Welcome to the Starship Enterprise. Well, not quite, but in kitchen gadget terms - almost. This beast of a machine will leave your other kitchen appliances weeping in the dust because it does everything. From a range of steam cooking methods (including steam roast!) to specialist baking settings and even making yoghurt, the Foodi MAX makes master chefs out of the most rudimentary home cooks.
The 7.5L pot, coated with nano-ceramic for easier cleaning, is big enough to hold a 3kg chicken, which means you can keep your oven free for the trimmings. Activate steam roast, and the bird will be ready in around half an hour. Compare that to standard cooking times, and you’ll soon see how investing in this multicooker can save you a wedge of cash in the long run.
It can grill burgers and whip up the bread buns to encase them in too. Fancy coming home to a ready-cooked dinner? Turn on the slow cook mode before you leave the house or get hearty meals on the table quicker by getting familiar with the pressure cooking feature.
Granted, this machine looks a little daunting on your countertops, but once you learn how to use it, you’ll never want to be without it. Just make sure you’ve plenty of space for it and its accessories before purchasing.
Was: £319.99
Buy now £229.99, Ninja
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Ninja Air Fryer AF100UK
Best for: multifunctional
It’s nice to be reminded that you’re cooking something, but when an air fryer is so loud you can barely hear it over the TV - it’s a problem. Thankfully the Ninja is only as noisy as a fan-assisted oven and its sleekness means we could tuck it away on our worktop without it looking oppressive.
It’s so simple to use that we barely had to pick up the instruction manual - and you can mix up the typical air fryer function and switch to the roast setting to crisp up roast potatoes, or dehydrate to make fruit and vegetable snacks.
A light brush of oil cooked chips from scratch perfectly, while no oil was needed at all for steak or sausages – keeping things super healthy. If you want a machine that does more, opt for Ninja’s multi-cookers which offer slow cook, pressure cook, saute and steam options alongside air frying.
Also available at Amazon, Currys, and Very
Buy now £59.00, Argos
Ninja Foodi MAX 14-in-1 SmartLid Multi-Cooker 7.5L OL650UKDBCP
Rose gold is pink's older, glamorous cousin, making it a perfectly fitting choice for homeowners and renters who want to bring grown-up Barbiecore to the kitchen. This multicooker will render the rest of your kitchen appliances practically obsolete: it can pressure cook, air fry, steam, slow cook, bake and grill, plus do plenty of other clever tricks under the hood.
It cooks up to 70 per cent faster than the usual methods, which means lower bills and faster dinners.
Was: £309.99
Buy now £199.00, Amazon
Instant Pot Vortex 4-in-1 Air Fryer
Best for: intelligent communication
While it may sound contradictory, this device manages to be both big and compact. This air fryer is similar to some of the other models with a pull-out basket and touch screen buttons.
The air fryer cooks fish quickly and crispy without any oil, and sweet potato fries with just a dash of low-calorie spray, while its other pre-set smart programs mean you can roast, bake and reheat too.
We loved its intelligent communication, informing you how long to preheat for, when to add in your food and also when it’s time to turn your food over.
Cleaning was easy too, taking out the basket for a quick wash. The only slight downside is the noise – it sounded like a noisy air-conditioning unit.
Buy now £54.99, Amazon
Ninja Air Fryer MAX AF160UK
Best for: families with small kids
To revel in total air frying glory, Ninja’s family-sized machine is the one to get on your countertop. The relatively small machine still offers plenty of bang for your buck, with six functions: Air Fry, Max Crisp, Bake, Roast, Dehydrate, and Reheat all with clearly marked buttons so you know exactly what you’re pressing.
Max Crisp is a great feature to use when you’re cooking straight from frozen, and there’s no need to pre-heat like you would with an oven either. In fact, it’s up to 50 per cent quicker than an oven and uses up to 75 per cent less fat than traditional deep frying methods.
The 5.2L pot can be removed for washing or stuck in the dishwasher for the ultimate in convenience. Less time slaving over a hot stove means more time doing other, more fun stuff - and that can only be a good thing.
Buy now £99.99, Amazon
Philips AirFryer XXL
The name gives it away. This is not a small air fryer, but it isn’t actually as large as some of the others on the market. However, with its hefty price tag, we were disappointed to find that it didn’t come with more instructions on how to set it up.
The model has five digital pre-sets for cooking foods such as fish and meat, so there’s no faff in knowing how long or what temperatures they should be cooked at. One of its standout features is its slide out drawer, which unlike the other clunky drawers feels sturdy and secure when you’re rotating chips or meat. Plus, we were amazed at the speed of the cooking – with very little oil, it took just 20 minutes for meat and 15 minutes for chips.
We weren’t as amazed at the washing up afterwards though – we love that it helps to reduce the fat content of your food, but it leaves a black tar-like residue, which we found pretty hard to scrub from the three parts of the machine.
Was: £299.99
Buy now £180.00, Amazon
Ninja Foodi Health Grill & Air Fryer AG301UK
Best for: health-conscious city slickers
This downsized health grill is ideal for people living on their own or couples, combining air frying technology with the health grill to whip up lip-smacking dinners with practically no effort on your part.
Air frying means, when the lid is closed, your meat and veggies will get 360 degrees of searing, eliminating the need to flip midway.
This means you can simply add your ingredients, add the timer and function and let the Foodi Health Grill get on with its thing, coming back to a perfectly made dinner, like magic. The grill function is perfect if you don’t have outdoor space for a BBQ, giving that delicious flame-grilled taste straight from frozen.
You can even make desserts in this thing, much to the delight of anyone with a sweet tooth. From apple tarts to tasty bakes, it’s yours for the taking.
Buy now £199.99, Currys
Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer- AF300UK
Best for: picky eaters in the same household
There’s no second place here; Ninja’s double compartment air fryer allows you to cook your dishes in two ways but finish at the same time. Or you can make double the food at once and feed your friends and family all in one go, particularly helpful for parties and big events like Christmas dinner or summer BBQs.
Buy now £97.00, Amazon
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