So many of you have asked us to recommend a smaller and more economical air fryer. We had the opportunity to try the Ninja Foodi Digital Air Fryer Toaster Oven with Flip Away Storage. It has 8 functions, air fry, air roast, air broil, bake, bagel, toast, dehydrate and keep warm. It takes up 50% less space when you flip it up against the back splash when it’s not in use. We also made a video showing you the features and how to use the control panel.
It will accommodate a 13 inch pizza pan or toast up to 9 slices of bread at the same time, all without heating up your kitchen the way a full size oven does. I love that! It also heats up in about a minute – that is super fast.
It includes a wire rack, a dishwasher safe air fryer basket, a removeable crumb tray, and a nonstick 13 x 13 dishwasher safe sheet pan.
Dimensions; 19.7″ W x 7.5″H x 15.1″D.
When flipped up: 19.7″ W x 15.1″H x 7.5″D. It takes up to 50% less counter space when you flip it up and away to store against your backsplash. A removeable back panel allows you to easily access the interior for easy cleaning which is pretty neat.
I prepared a meal for two in the Ninja Foodi Model SP101. Air fried Yukon Gold Potatoes, corn on the cob, frozen homemade veggie burgers and asparagus.
The food turned out great – just as good as the Breville Smart Oven Air. The potatoes were nice and crispy, the corn was hot, the asparagus and the veggie burger were perfect.
I also tested it’s baking capabilities with a batch of my favorite Chocolate Cherry Brownies. They came out delicious. The baking pan is closer to the heating element then my Breville Smart Oven Air. Because of that, I felt like the chocolate chips became a little hard after baking. So next time I would add the chips on top, towards the end of the baking cycle or add them after taking the pan out of the oven. There is not an option to lower the baking rack – it has only one position. I do wish the Ninja was just a little bit taller so everything wasn’t so close to the heating elements.
When the unit has cooled down enough to be placed in the stow away position the screen displays “FLIP” and at this point you can flip the unit up closer to your back splash. It is quite the space saver. This feature is awesome for people with small kitchens or crowded counter tops.
Pros
It has a smaller foot print than many other air fryer toaster ovens.
It is less expensive than other air fryer toaster ovens.
It flips up when not in use and takes up 50% less space in that position.
It heats up fast – 60 seconds and it’s ready to cook.
It has a removeable crumb tray.
It has an accessible back panel for ease of cleaning inside.
It has 8 functions including, air fry, air roast, air broil, bake, toast, bagel, dehydrate and keep warm.
It has a Stainless Steel exterior.
Cons
There is not much clearance between the air fryer rack and the top of the unit. My corn on the cob just barely fit. If you are only air frying smaller more flat foods not a problem.
The rack positions are not adjustable – they are fixed. The air fryer basket only slides in at the top position. If there was a little more clearance that would be nice.
It does not accommodate a 9 x 13 baking pan or a regular size 12 cup muffin pan. You have to purchase their muffin pan from their website or use a 6 cup muffin pan and bake muffins in 2 batches. This may not be a draw back depending on your intended use.
Summary
Overall we are impressed with the Ninja Foodi Digital Air Fryer. The bake and air fry functions have been awesome. We thought we would give the unit to a family member after doing our review but we have actually enjoyed having two toaster oven – air fryers in the kitchen. We are often cooking for our extended family and it has come in so handy! Some nights we have both air fryers going at the same time and it sure saves time. Since it has the stow away feature it doesn’t take up a big foot print on our counter when it’s not in use.
We will be posting a video comparing the Ninja Foodi Digital Air Fry Toaster Oven and our Breville Smart Oven Air. We will also check out the Ninja toaster function for toasting bread and see how it does making Tom’s oil free corn tortilla chips.
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Hi,
Regarding the Ninja air fryer, do you think you’d be able to fit whole potatoes in there to cook? With your corn on the cob just fitting I’m thinking potatoes would be a problem too? Thanks!
Hi Kathy,
If I was going to bake whole potatoes I would put them on a tray on the lower rack to bake them. I wouldn’t be putting whole potatoes on the air frying rack. I hope that helps!
Happy Cooking, Tami
Does this air fryer (or the Breville) have a protective cover over the bottom heating elements. If not, how do you protect them?
Hi Verna,
You can always put a baking sheet underneath anything that you think is going to drip. There is not any protective cover over the bottom heating elements.
Happy cooking,
Tami
I LOVE my Ninja Air Fryer (the one in the review). Yes, the only downside is the height – it doesn’t accomodate larger items – but for what I use it for, that doesn’t matter. We had a Breville (which costs 3X as much, BTW) which blew a fuse after 9 months of use and fixing it would have cost more than the Ninja (and the part had to come from Australia – we live in the U.S.! Wish I had read more reviews on the Breville before I bought it.
My comparison with the Breville: Ninja heats up WAY faster, cooks just as well, is MUCH easier to clean (the bottom flips down to get at the bottom and sides) and the flip-up function is great if you have limited counter space.
I will never buy another Breville, sorry – it was great while it worked, but I want something that has repairability.
Hi Colleen,
Thank you for your comments about the Ninja. I still love my Breville -it would still be my first pick but I do think the Ninja is a good appliance.
Happy Cooking, Tami
Hi, Tom & Tami! I have this air fryer & agree with your pros & cons wholeheartedly. I hate clutter on counters & love that it tucks up, but sometimes I need to cut the big potatoes in half to get them to fit.
Hi Jackie,
Thank you for your comments about the Ninja. Overall it seems like a good appliance!
Happy Cooking,
Tami
Great review, Tami! Can you please tell me which of your veggie burgers recipe you used for the ones you show here in this video? They look fantastic. Thanks!
Hi Kim – the veggie burger in the video was one that I was testing for someone’s cook book so I can’t share the recipe. However we really like this recipe http://nutmegnotebook.com/posts/smokey-black-bean-burgers/
Happy Cooking!
I have this Ninja air fryer and I do like it. My cons are that despite easy cleaning ability, it gets so baked on that even with Brillo I have difficulty getting the basket clean after air firing. Anyone else have this problem. Would love a solution.
I just bought the 9 in 1 air fryer oven yesterday and this post showed up in my Google News feed. I’ve got a lot to learn, but I wanted to tell you that we have the exact same tile backsplash! Great minds think alike! 😀
Hi Sue,
That is cool that we have the same backsplash! Good taste for sure!
Enjoy your new kitchen appliance!
Tami
I have a ninja the same one you demonstrated and I do love it i cook for one so its great I love the flip feature to give me ample space to use the counter while prepping . Thank you for the demo
Hi Rivka – it is a good little machine and the space saving is awesome!
Is there a simple way to clean? We lost our manual when we moved, we enjoy using this air fryer, but it needs a good cleaning
They have a video all about that! I just use hot soapy water and it cleans up nicely. https://youtu.be/JZb6321wYvE\
We have had the foodi for about a year and my wife hates it nothing turns right, makes me wider she is great cook and your machine frustrates the heck out of her need some help here
I bought the breville based on your reviews and it’s now sitting in my garage. It is extremely loud, heats up the whole house, does not work as. Toaster, and I was underwhelmed by its air frying capabilities. It’s basically an oven.
Hi Chris,
Hi Chris, I am sorry you don’t like your Breville Smart Oven Air. Our experiences with it have been the complete opposite of yours. It is an excellent air fryer – you must make sure you have the setting set for Super Convection when using the air fryer option. That is a mistake that many people make. All air fryers have a high powered fan that will make noise but we have never thought the Breville was too loud.
We live in a very hot summer climate and the Breville does not heat up our kitchen much less the rest of our house so we love being able to use it instead of our built in ovens. Ours does toast bread but not as fast as a stand alone toaster, but we have shared that the Ninja Toaster Oven Air Fryer does a better job of toasting then the Breville.
I also have used the dehydrating function and it works great. Tom likes the bread dough proofing setting as well as the pizza setting. We have had our Breville for going on 5 years this coming May. We use it every day, multiple times a day and can’t imagine not having it. I bake and roast in it weekly.
We have hundreds of people who have purchased it and written to us about how much they love it. You are the first person to say you don’t like it and have boxed it up. I wonder if you got a defective oven? We do stand by our recommendation of this appliance as it makes our plant based cooking easier and delicious. We are sorry your experience was not what you had wished it would be. Breville has excellent customer service perhaps you should contact them and share your concerns about it or return it where you purchased it.
Live well,
Tami
Dear Tami, Hi this is Melissa. Big fan of your website, and am enjoying your recipes! I found this a very useful post! it brings up a question for me. I saw you had the Breville tucked up under your counter. Is that where you use it to cook, or do you bring it out onto your island to use it, and just store it under your cabinets. My understanding is that the Breville needs a lot of clearance around it when it is in use.
Thank you so much!
Hi Melissa, Thank you for your kind comments! We do keep our Breville under the cabinets and have had it there for almost 5 years with no problems at all. It is far to heavy to move it to the island when in use – it’s a big heavy oven. We have marble on two sides of that area and plenty of clearance above it. Here is a video I made a few years ago about the Breville. https://youtu.be/sIInWWVYvSA If you do a search on YouTube for Breville Smart Oven Air Nutmeg Notebook you can see all of my videos. We also did a recent in depth video on Amazon Live showcasing the Breville and the Ninja that you might enjoy. https://us.amazon.com/live/channel/73283054-e178-4cda-aff4-4827027c463f
Happy Air Frying!
Please send me directions on the use of the Nija Air Frye5
I don’t have directions on the use of the Ninja Air Fryer but if you google the model you have the manual should be available for free online from Ninja.
Can the inside of my airfryer be the same way a stove oven can?
I’m not sure I understand you question. I don’t know what brand your air fryer is. I have a toaster ovens that also have the air fryer function. Stand alone bucket style air fryers are just air fryers not ovens. Hope that helps.