Ninja Max Pro review: It’s a classic for a reason

In the event you’re on the lookout for the gold commonplace air fryer model, Ninja is a secure guess and a agency favorite right here at Tech Advisor. Nonetheless, some fashions (particularly these with twin drawers) could also be a bit expensive in your funds and aren’t essentially the best choice when you’re quick on countertop house, like me.   

Enter the Ninja Max Professional. This 6.2L/6.5QT air fryer is the best entry mannequin for most individuals, with easy-to-use settings, a smooth design with a stunning quantity of room in your meals, and stellar outcomes that can have you ever reaching in your frying pan and oven much less and fewer.  

Observe that in America, this mannequin known as the Ninja Air Fryer Professional XL 6-in-1, however the construct and capabilities stay the identical.  

Design and Construct 

• 6.2L capability
• Surprisingly compact
• No shake alert

The largest benefit of choosing the Max Professional over one thing just like the Foodi FlexDrawer is that it’s compact sufficient to slot in your kitchen with out taking on an unlimited quantity of house (it measures 30.5 x 28 x 36cm), however the 6.2L drawer has a variety of depth. You possibly can see the way it suits two rooster breasts reduce into strips throughout my testing: 

Hannah Cowton-Barnes / Foundry

For a pair, it’s the right dimension. In case your family is larger than that, then it will not be a direct oven alternative in your whole meals, however it’ll be best for sections, corresponding to your meat, carbs or veggies.  

Like many different air fryers from the model, it’s created from matt black plastic with silver accents, though there’s a model with copper edges when you want that end. It’s a trapezoid form, with a big deal with to elevate the drawer out and click on it again into place.  

The draw back of plastic is that it picks up smudges and marks simply and isn’t fairly as premium-looking as home equipment with metal panels. Nonetheless, it’s strong and I by no means found any jankiness throughout testing. 

Contained in the drawer is a single crisper plate, and relying on what orientation you’ve got it positioned, it’ll sit both larger or decrease within the drawer. The guide will instruct you which of them placement is most fitted for varied modes – I had it within the decrease place more often than not.  

The crisper plate is dishwasher-safe, as is the drawer. In the event you’re not eager on washing it after each single use, you should buy liners to maintain it freed from most unfastened grease and crumbs. I used paper ones for ease, however you may also go for extra eco-friendly silicone liners.  

Hannah Cowton-Barnes / Foundry

The management panel sits on the high of the Max Professional, with clearly labelled buttons for the facility, temperature and time. There are then six totally different settings to select from: Max Crisp, Air Fry (the button you’ll virtually actually attain for probably the most), Roast, Bake, Reheat and Dehydrate.  

All cooking settings bar one might be adjusted temperature-wise from 40°C to 210°C. Max Crisp, nevertheless, is ready to a a lot larger temperature of 240°C by default and can’t be modified. In the meantime, most cooking settings have a possible cooking time of 1-60 minutes, relying on which mode you go for. Dehydrate, for making dried fruit, jerky and yoghurt, presents as much as 12 hours.

In the event you’re uncertain of which cooking mode to make use of, the guide and recipe guides included within the field provide you with a good suggestion of timings and temperatures. Plus, many frozen meals nowadays embrace devoted air fryer directions. In the event that they don’t, Ninja advises to comply with the convection oven tips, however to decrease the temperature by 10°C. 

The display screen has a timer countdown as your meals is cooking, and the noise of the equipment isn’t too distracting – closing the door blocks most of it out. In the meantime, the little beeps reduce by means of sufficient to let you realize when cooking is full.  

There isn’t a shake reminder, and that’s essential to make sure even cooking for meals like chips – my husband sadly fell sufferer to this. Nonetheless, not many Ninja air fryers provide this operate, even the premium fashions.  

As there’s no viewing window, the one technique to examine in your meals is by opening the drawer. Thankfully, you are able to do this with no points, and the timer will resume routinely as soon as it’s clicked again into place.

There aren’t any compartments for cooking issues individually. You should purchase third-party wire baskets from Amazon if you wish to multitask, although these aren’t official Ninja merchandise, so proceed at your individual threat.  

Hannah Cowton-Barnes / Foundry

Efficiency and Options 

• Six cooking modes
• Prime quality outcomes

Whereas the Ninja Max Professional air fryer makes use of as much as 60% much less power than a conventional oven, it packs a punch on the subject of cooking.  

You’ll hardly ever must put it on the best temperatures, and it’s greatest to go for much less time after which add on extra minutes if wanted as a result of, like different Ninja air fryers, it’s highly effective. Issues will prepare dinner faster than you’re anticipating, as I found early on. 

As soon as I received the knack of it, the Max Professional produced wonderful meals. I had completely melted cheese sandwiches, well-cooked sausages and scrumptious selfmade rooster fillets, all on the usual Air Fry setting. Simply be certain when you’re cooking one thing like fries, you shake/flip periodically for an excellent prepare dinner.  

On the advice of our resident air fryer professional, I invested in an olive oil spray bottle. In the event you’re undecided whether or not you want it, Ninja’s information consists of suggestions for the way a lot oil to make use of.  

The Bake setting, which makes use of a slower fan pace, was helpful for issues corresponding to pastries and cookies, with golden and even outcomes. Whereas sure, there in all probability isn’t sufficient house for a big cake or a loaf of bread, you may adapt a recipe to slot in this drawer. The cookies took slightly trial and error, once more one thing you’ll study the extra you experiment.  

I used to be pleasantly stunned by the reheat setting, which I used for leftovers corresponding to takeaway pizza and rooster. Not like microwave reheating, I wasn’t left with soggy bases or tender outer skins – this tasted simply nearly as good as pan-frying to heat up your meals. 

The Max Crisp mode was a tad trickier to get on with. Because it’s simply the one temperature setting designed for frozen meals, you’ll must take a little bit of an informed guess as to how lengthy to place your meals on for. I attempted it out with a potato waffle, and whereas the consequence was as crispy as marketed, it did set off my hearth alarm within the course of, inflicting me a minor coronary heart assault.  

I attempted once more with some popcorn rooster sans baking paper, and that was an alarm-free expertise, so I’d advise avoiding liners when utilizing Max Crisp.

Hannah Cowton-Barnes / Foundry

Value and Availability  

The Ninja Air Fryer Max Professional is in the stores within the UK and the US. It has an RRP of £149.99/$179.99, however now, most retailers within the UK are promoting it for £129.99 – the US doesn’t have as many good reductions on the time of writing. This can be a mannequin we’ve additionally seen get some large worth slashes throughout gross sales corresponding to Prime Day and Black Friday.  

Within the UK, you should buy it from Amazon, Ninja, Currys and Argos. US readers can bag one from Amazon, Ninja, Finest Purchase and Walmart.

Contemplating the capability of this single-drawer air fryer, that’s a tempting deal, particularly for British readers. In the event you’re on the lookout for one thing extra compact, the Ninja Crispi is a modular air fryer you may preserve within the cabinet, and which is able to take up even much less house. You prepare dinner straight into glass containers, which makes maintaining a tally of your meals simple as pie. Plus, you may serve straight from them and use them to retailer leftovers. 

However the Crispi can’t prepare dinner practically as a lot meals: the most important container solely has a 3.8L capability. If neither mannequin is ideal for you, see our suggestions from the highest Ninja fashions in our round-up of the most effective Ninja air fryers and countertop cookers.

We’ve additionally received suggestions for the most effective dual-drawer fashions, the most effective air fryer ovens and the most effective air fryers total, so you may see how different fashions from the likes of Cosori examine.  

Hannah Cowton-Barnes / Foundry

Do you have to purchase the Ninja Air Fryer Max Professional? 

The Ninja Air Fryer Max Professional could be very simple to suggest. It cooks meals to a premium commonplace, doesn’t take up an excessive amount of house in your countertop, and is a breeze to make use of as well. 

I’d primarily suggest it for {couples} or smaller households. In case you have greater than 4 individuals to feed, you then’ll nonetheless get use out of it, however it probably received’t have the ability to prepare dinner your whole meal in a single go except you’re simply scoffing down a bowl of fries (and all energy to you if you’re). There are larger, dual-drawer fashions on the market that could be preferable, however these will price you.

I want Ninja would come with a reminder beep to shake/flip your meals, however you may get round this by splitting up your cooking time when you’re liable to forgetting. In any other case, it is a stellar air fryer that received’t allow you to down, and it’s a fantastic purchase – particularly throughout sale seasons.