Ninja Foodi MAX Dual Zone Air Fryer AF400UK Review

Introduction

The problem with most air fryers is that once you come to love what they do and become used to them, you then have to work out how to cook different items at the same time. Last year’s Ninja Dual Zone Air Fryer AF300UK solved that issue by including two individually controlled drawers. Now, we have the larger model the Ninja Foodi MAX Dual Zone Air Fryer AF400UK, presenting even more cooking room.

Effectively, this model delivers all the great features of last year’s model, only with a 9.5-litre total capacity. For larger families, or simply for cooking bigger items, this is a great fryer – provided you have the room to store it; if you don’t, then the Ninja Double Stack XL 9.5L Air Fryer SL400UK might be a better choice, as it has the same capacity and cooking options, only with the drawers stacked vertically so it takes up less counter space.

Design and Features

• A huge air fryer with large-capacity drawers
• Clever cooking controls
• Lots of modes

There’s no getting around the fact that the Ninja Foodi MAX Dual Zone Air Fryer AF400UK is a beast of a model. Measuring 325 x 415 x 270mm and weighing 8.8kg, you’re going to need a fair amount of space to store it, or give up a lot of counter space.

For many people, then, the newer Ninja Double Stack XL 9.5L Air Fryer SL400UK is a better choice, as it has takes up less counter space, but has the same cooking capacity.

Of course, the benefit of the AF400UK’s size is capacity. In total, this air fryer offers 9.5 litres of space, split evenly between its two 4.75-litre drawers. That’s almost a litre of extra space per drawer than the smaller AF300UK model.

According to Ninja, that’s enough space for 1.4kg of chips per side or even a 2kg chicken. The drawers are fairly narrow, so the overall size of your chicken, rather than pure weight, will determine if it will fit in.

As the heating element is above the drawer, you can’t cook on two levels per drawer as you can with the Double Stack SL400UK. There are some caveats with the SL400UK’s two-layer cooking, put any additional flexibility is good.

As with the older model, the AF400UK excels for cooking options. Each drawer can be controlled individually, with a choice of Max Crisp (240°C heat for crisping up chips, for example), Air Fry, Roast, Bake, Dehydrate (perfect for saving herbs) and Reheat. You can control the temperature for each mode and select a cooking time. 

If you want to use the two drawers together, you have a choice of two modes: Match and Sync. Match applies the same settings to both drawers, letting you double-up portions. Sync allows individual settings, but the AF400UK ensures that both drawers complete cooking at the same time.

Food cooks best in air fryers if you give it a shake mid-cooking, resulting in an even finish. With many models, you’ll need to dig out a pair of oven gloves to do this. The AF400UK makes this simple by including handles on the outside of its drawers. Pull one out and the air fryer stops (both drawers stop in Sync or Match modes), so you can shake away and reinsert.

Ninja provides a handy cookbook in the box, which provides rough cooking times for raw and frozen ingredients, plus a few recipes with which to get started. As a rough guide, I usually reduce oven cooking times listed on items by around 20%.

Everything here can be cleaned in the dishwasher once you’re done, meaning there’s very little clearing up to deal with.

There’s also a two-year warranty, provided you register the appliance within 28 days of purchase.

Performance

• Cooks thoroughly
• Drawer space means items are crispy
• Max Crisp helps boost frozen food

I started by cooking some chips in the air fryer, using the 200°C setting. Although I had to shake the contents of the drawer two or three times during cooking, it’s all the interaction the AF400UK required.

At the end of cooking time, my chips were perfectly cooked – evenly crisp throughout, without any sign of being burnt or overcooked.

To accompany the chips, I cooked some sausages. Using spray oil to give them a light coating fat, I placed them in the AF400UK at 180ºC with the timer reduced by 20% compared to the cooking instructions. After the time had elapsed, the sausages were perfectly cooked: crisp and browned evenly all over.

To give the Max Crisp function a go, I used it to cook frozen hash browns – which all too often come out of a regular oven slightly soggy. Although they’re supposed to be cooked in the oven for around 20 minutes, I set the cooking time to 11 minutes because of the high 240ºC temperature.

At the end of the cooking time, the hash browns were super-crispy on the outside, yet evenly cooked and still fluffy on the inside. This is a vast improvement over cooking them in the oven.

Reheating food items in the air fryer works brilliantly, too, particularly for pizza. Rather than a soggy mess, you can maintain the crisp base.

Some people have found that this model cooks more evenly than the Double Stack, presumably because the heating element is above, rather than behind, the drawers. However, I’ve not noticed a difference, as I regularly turn the food to ensure even cooking.

Should you buy it?