Ninja Foodi - great possibilities
I've been watching the TV commercials for the Ninja Foodi for about a year, but on a fixed income could not afford the price. I recently did a search on Ebay and found a refurbished one at about 50% off, so I gave it a try.
The cooker comes with an air crisp basket, removeable inner liner and a reversible rack for broiling, steaming, etc. In addition, there is a separate pressure cooker lid. Although I am 74, I have never cooked with a pressure cooker, and was looking forward to new adventures in quick cooking. Unfortunately, there was no recipe book with this model, and I had to watch the cooker sit on the counter until my daughter got me a cookbook for my birthday!
The first thing I tried was roast chicken. About 22 minutes on pressure cook, then take off the pressure lid and lower the attached air crisp/broil lid, set on air crisp and about 15 more minutes to a perfectly cooked roast chicken. My husband said it was the best roast chicken he ever had, very moist and tender. The only drawback on the chicken is that I should have used the reversible rack instead of the air crisp basket as the cookbook said. There was not enough room for the bottom half of the chicken to get crispy in the basket. That was a cooking lesson.
We have also had a perfectly broiled porterhouse steak and air crisp fries. A helpful hint here is, have baked potatoes with the steak. By the time you crisp the fries, the steak is cold, and if you do the fries first, they will be cold.
My husband loves butternut squash and I hate to peel and cut it up. A friend suggested I try the Foodi - I peeled it, cut it in 4 pieces and pressure cooked for 12 minutes. It came out great!
The third meal I tried was ribs. Here again, not everything went as planned. I used boneless ribs instead of bone in . Pressure cook for about 20 minutes, then switch lids to the air crisp for 30 minutes and add the sauce. However, 30 minutes was way too much for boneless ribs and the temperature should have been lower also. After 10 minutes I should have taken them out and they would have been perfect. I followed the directions in the cookbook and turned them over after 10 minutes and checked after another 10 minutes - overcooked, but edible. I've already bought baby back ribs for next time and will pay more attention to the time.
It sounds like I can't cook (I can), but every new piece of equipment has a learning curve. I see great possibilities for the Ninja Foodi once we get to know each other better.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Refurbished