The Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer offers the best of both worlds, which will be a welcome option for those struggling to choose between a single or dual zone air fryer. As a home economist who's tried over a dozen air fryers, my experience with Ninja air fryers has always been a positive one, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this latest innovation.
They may be a new contender in the market, but dual-zone air fryers are some of the best air fryers around. They offer the flexibility to cook two foods at different temperatures, simultaneously. But, since the total cook space is split in two, the option to cook larger foods is often somewhat limited in these models.
To get over some of these limitations Ninja has developed the FlexDrawer. Not only is this the largest capacity air fryer from the brand, it’s probably one of the largest on the market. Better yet, it has the flexibility to transform from one spacious cooking drawer, into two completely separate cooking zones, simply by sliding a divider into the middle.
Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer specifications
- RRP: £269.99
- Dimensions: H:32.7 x W:49.6 x D:31.6 cm
- Modes available: Max Crisp, Air Fry, Roast, Bake, Reheat, Dehydrate, Prove
- Dishwasher safe? Yes
- Maximum temperature: 240°C Max Crisp/ 210°C Air Fry
- Maximum timer: Air Fry: 60 minutes/ Dehydrate: 12 hours
My first impressions of the Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer
Thankfully, I wasn’t presented with any non-recyclable packaging when I opened up the box. And despite being the biggest capacity air fryer I’ve reviewed to date, it was surprisingly lightweight and easy to lift onto the worktop. Apart from a handy recipe book and the instruction manual, there was nothing else in the box.
While it is larger than a lot of air fryers, its shallow depth means it’ll sit towards the back of the worktop leaving space in front of it. The large drawer has a full-width pull handle along the top. Inside there’s a metal dividing plate that slots into the centre of the drawer. Each side has a removable perforated crisper plate.
The control panel is so straightforward, it’s self-explanatory from the moment you look at it. The big dial scrolls through the seven cooking modes. The screen displays the cook time and temperature with corresponding up/down arrows on either side to adjust the settings.
To use it as one big cooking zone, you remove the divider from the drawer and press ’megazone’. Or, with the divider inserted, you can select ‘zone 1’ or ‘zone 2’ to programme each side individually.
Once you’ve set up one cooking zone, pressing ‘match’ will copy the selections to the second zone should you want it exactly the same. Alternatively, and more likely, you can make your choices and set up each side to cook at a different time and temperature, and then press ‘sync’ so they finish at the same time.
How does the Ninja Air Fryer AF100UK perform?
During the time I was reviewing this air fryer, I used it to cook a wide variety of foods from basic everyday options, to some more time-consuming recipes. First up, if you’ve ever tried air frying bacon, you’ll know it cooks brilliantly in an air fryer.
By taking out the central divider, I managed to fit six slices of back bacon side-by-side without overlapping them. This is a record for me, it’s rare that you can fit more than four slices in most air fryers unless you heavily overlap them, which can affect how well they cook.
The air fryer doesn’t have an in-built preheat stage, and according to the manual, there’s no need to preheat it. After just six minutes at 210C, the bacon was perfectly cooked, with crisp rendered fat.
Just like bacon, toasted sandwiches work surprisingly well in air fryers. So I made up two large sandwiches with chunky sourdough, and with the divider removed there was plenty of space to fit both into the basket, with room to spare.
I buttered the outside of the bread just like you would if using a toastie maker and the two sandwiches were cooked in just 10 minutes. I turned them halfway through to ensure the bread crisped up evenly, which it did. The cheese was oozing and melted, while the bread was crisp and tasty.
To test the separate cooking zones, I cooked a dinner of scampi and chips. Having cut up potatoes, I soaked the raw chips in cold water for 30 minutes, then dried them and coated in oil. I followed the guidance in the manual and set zone 1 to cook for 20 minutes at 200C.
Next I emptied a bag of frozen scampi into zone 2 and selected Max Crisp for 10 minutes, then used the ‘sync’ button again so they’d finish cooking together. The cooking drawer had more than enough space for the two portions of chips and bag of scampi, and I could easily have cooked 2-3 times the amount.
When the timer went off, the results were good, the chips were crisped, as was the scampi. My only slight grumble is that because it’s one big drawer, I couldn’t shake the chips to turn them during cooking, I had to use a spatula to lift and turn them. What’s more, even if you only need to check or turn the food in one zone, you have no choice but to open both sides since it’s all one drawer. However, for me this is a small niggle, that’s offset by all the benefits of having a large flexible cooking zone.
I decided to test out the ‘Bake’ mode and followed Ninja’s recipe for a blueberry and lemon loaf cake. And since the recipe was written for this particular air fryer model, it wasn’t surprising that when I followed it to the letter, I was rewarded with a fantastic loaf cake.
My loaf tin fit comfortably into the drawer, and the cake was as good as I'd bake in my usual oven, so I'd definitely make this again. Buoyed by this success I also used the bake mode to cook up a small batch of homemade granola, which was equally well baked.
Lastly, and mainly inspired by the marketing claims for this air fryer that it’s spacious enough for a 2kg leg of lamb, I attempted to roast a leg of lamb in the drawer. There’s a recipe for a Greek Style Leg of Lamb with Vegetables in the included recipe book which, thankfully due to the price of a leg of lamb, took away the guesswork.
The recipe was for a 2kg leg of lamb, and mine was 2.2kg, so it’s not a surprise that it took an extra 15 minutes to cook through. But the vegetables were cooked right on cue, so I had to remove them and set them to one side while the lamb continued to roast for the additional 15 minutes. Nevertheless, I can say with confidence that it is possible to roast a joint of meat in the Ninja FlexDrawer, if you’re so inclined.
How does the Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer compare?
Since the Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer is the biggest air fryer you can buy from Ninja, any others from the brand will be a step down in capacity. But the Ninja Foodi Max Dual Zone air fryer is only slightly smaller at 9.5 litres and is still a great buy with top performance. The benefit being that two separate drawers are easier to manoeuvre around the kitchen and clean, than the somewhat cumbersome FlexDrawer.
The equally good air fryer brand Instant, has also recently developed a model that can be converted from one large cooking zone into two independent zones, known as the Instant Vortex Plus VersaZone. I’ve tried it and it’s a top performer. It has a smaller 8.5 litre capacity that will still be ample for most households. And the sub £200 price tag is easier on the wallet too.
Should you buy the Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer?
The Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer is - in terms of air fryers - an investment. But, it’s a versatile bit of kit that has the potential to revolutionise cooking for a family. The six different cooking functions, combined with the option to convert it from two independent cooking zones to one large one, makes this the ultimate large-capacity flexible air fryer.
It cooks well, is easy to use, and though it’s big, the shape means it’ll push to the back of your worktop out of the way. On the whole, it’s pretty hard to fault, so if you need a big air fryer and you’ve got the budget for it, this is an investment you’ll be glad you made.
About this review, and the reviewer
After completing a Home Economics degree, Helen went on to work for the Good Housekeeping Institute and has been reviewing home appliances ever since. She lives in a small village in Buckinghamshire in the UK. She is now freelance and draws on her wealth of experience to review a huge variety of home appliances.
Helen used the Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer Air Fryer at home for over a week to cook tasty meals for herself and her husband.
