Ninja made waves last week by launching its first ever propane grill. Following the success of its first outdoor appliances, the Woodfire range of tabletop smokers and pizza ovens, the brand has dropped a full-sized grill, the Ninja FlexFlame.
However, Ninja claims that this grill is a 'groundbreaking innovation' that 'combines five unique cooking methods all under one hood.' Unlike most grills on the market, the new FlexFlame claims to be a grill, smoker, griddle, and pizza oven all in one appliance.
We've yet to sample this new grill, but the specifications offer some interesting hints at how it might perform. Here's everything we know so far and how it measures up to the best grills on the market – at least on paper.
What's new?
The idea is that the new FlexFlame combines several outdoor cooking appliances into one; it's a grill, a smoker, a griddle, and a pizza oven. According to Ninja, the grill 'combines five unique cooking methods all under one hood.'
This seems like a huge innovation at first glance but it's smart to put this marketing in context. Most grills can be used to grill, roast, and smoke, especially Kamado grills and dedicated smokers.
Separating these into separate functions is a little disingenuous - it's like bragging that an oven can bake, roast, and steam. On top of that, the griddle and pizza stone aren't included as standard, so while they could be great features, it's not a 5-in-1 appliance straight out of the box.
You should also be a little wary of the claim that this is a 'revolutionizing outdoor cooking system.' Many other grills can be used in this way - most Kamado Joe and Big Green Egg grills can be fitted with smoker and pizza stone attachments, so while it's a first at this price point, it's not a new concept in the industry.
I'm also yet to use a good grill pizza attachment. I've tried several grill-top pizza attachments and grills don't get hot enough to cook the pizza, and there's no overhead flame to broil the cheese. This means that the pizza is far worse than in a true pizza oven. That said, this could be the grill to master it.
What's more exciting, however, is the inclusion of Ninja's woodfire technology. The FlexFlame seems like a larger version of the Ninja Woodfire electric smoker, which we loved when we tested it a few years ago. This tech genuinely lives up to the hype; our tester, Alex, found that it made an incredible smoked pork tenderloin. The Woodfire can live up to the standards of huge, professional smokers, and if the new FlexFlame uses the same tech, the grill could be worth it for this feature alone.
The convection fan is another great feature, also found in the Woodfire. It basically turns the grill into a big air fryer. This makes the FlexFlame much faster to heat up than a standard grill, with the brand claiming that the grill can reach 600°F in just seven minutes. Again, this isn't a huge innovation - grills with convection fans have existed for years - but combining it with an electric smoker at this price point is a first.
How does it compare?
The fairest comparison for the Ninja FlexFlame is against our pick for the best grill, the Weber Spirit II E-310, and the Ninja Woodfire, the Flexflame's predecessor:
The FlexFlame is Ninja's first propane grill and claims to combine grilling, smoking, and cooking pizza all in one appliance.
This is the best gas grill on the market. It's easy to use and made the best food in our rounds of testing, perfect for the average outdoor cook.
There's more detail in our full Weber Spirit II E-310 review.
This handy electric grill is better at smoking than some grills more than three times the size and cost. It's great for small families.
Alex's full Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Grill review has all the details.
You can see in the table above that it's a close-run thing between the FlexFlame and my favorite, but the Weber still has an edge on the FlexFlame.
First, the FlexFlame is expensive. Depending on sales prices and inflation, the FlexFlame will be roughly twice as expensive as the Weber, which is a big difference. It's as expensive as many top-line gas grills and Kamados
The Weber also has a much larger cooking area than the FlexFlame, so while you can smoke on the FlexFlame, you can't cook as many burgers or hot dogs at once.
The Weber also has a lower BTU rating than the FlexFlame. In a grilling context, BTUs (British thermal units) are used as a rough measure of a grill's efficiency; a lower BTU means the grill is more efficient, so on paper, it looks like the Weber uses less fuel than the FlexFlame. However, we'd need to test this for ourselves.
However, the FlexFlame should heat up faster than the Weber Spirit, and unlike the Weber, you can use it to smoke. While you can convert a gas grill like the Weber into a smoker if you make a smoke box, this is nowhere near as effective as a dedicated smoker like the one in the FlexFlame.
The FlexFlame also has a much bigger area than the Woodfire, but this makes the Woodfire easy to store. Though the Woodfire claims seven functions, like the FlexFlame, this is a little disingenuous. Of the seven settings on the Woodfire, air crisp, bake, roast, and broil are really just one function, air frying.
While we need to get hands-on with the FlexFlame, it looks like the Weber Spirit II E-310 is a better option if you just need a simple grill - it's cheaper and makes more food. However, the FlexFlame can smoke, which the Weber can't match, and it also makes more food than the Woodfire, so it's a better option for small families.
While the FlexFlame claims to do it all, there is a huge variety of grills to consider. We've ranked all of the best grills and best gas grills, and there are lots of pizza ovens that are specifically designed to make perfect pizza.
