Ninja’s outside climate proof electrical oven / grill / air fryer / smoker put to the take a look at
Put merely, there isn’t any simpler method to get cooking outside than with the Ninja Woodfire Professional XL. It is a jack of all trades that provides a giant cooking space, for an affordable worth, with an array of cooking modes together with air frying, roasting and grilling. However it’s undoubtedly the smoking component of the setup that impresses probably the most, making it tremendous easy for even probably the most novice of BBQ cooks to create tender, smokey meat with little or no prep or consideration wanted.
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Unbelievable smokey flavours -
So easy to make use of -
A number of cooking choices -
Weatherproof for all-year spherical cooking
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Lacks dehydrating, reheating and baking -
Pre-heating is kind of gradual -
Cannot dishwasher clear
Ninja Woodfire Professional XL: Introduction
When you’re already a fan of Ninja’s nice air fryers – such because the Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer – and / otherwise you’re trying to dip your toes into the world of American-style BBQ smoking, then the Ninja Woodfire Professional XL could also be simply the gadget for you.
Not like a standard smoker, the place the smokey flavour is achieved by burning wooden that additionally acts as the principle gas for the warmth, the Ninja helps you to cheat by including pellets to the combination, that are infused to offer you a spread of smokey finishes, mixed with dependable digital heating parts and a convection fan for even cooking.
Competitively priced at across the $400 / £400 mark, and following up on the success of the non-XL Woodfire, the Professional XL is an absolute beast of an out of doors cooking machine, with a plethora of cooking choices out there, and straightforward to make use of, for even probably the most unskilled cooks.
Learn on for my full Ninja Woodfire Professional XL evaluate to search out out simply why it has scored an ideal 5-star evaluate.
Design and construct
- Dimension: Cooking plate is 30 x 45cm
- In actual phrases: Can deal with two 3kg chickens
- Weatherproof: IPX4 rated with RCD plug
Getting technical earlier than we get into the main points, and the Ninja Woodfire Professional XL is offered either side of the pond, albeit with very slight variations.
The mannequin I had on take a look at for the needs of this evaluate was the OG850UK mannequin, readers primarily based within the US will likely be trying on the OG851HGY in the event that they’re going (nearly) like-for-like.
No matter variant you go for, you’re getting the largest Woodfire on supply. Nonetheless, though it’s 30% larger than its non-XL brethren, it has really misplaced a couple of options from the smaller authentic, particularly dehydrating, reheating and baking.
I feel that’s as a result of Ninja sees the massive boy of the bunch as a meat first machine, particularly with the addition of a inbuilt temperature sensor probe on board.
The XL, because the title suggests, is an absolute behemoth of an electrical cooker, weighing in at a whopping 18KG and measuring 41cm x 57cm x 51cm.
It’s in no-way a conveyable machine; when you’ve discovered a spot for it in your backyard you then’ll need to go away it there. And you may, secure within the information that it’s totally weatherproof, with its premium supplies designed to resist outside use and year-round cooking and it’s water-resistant to ranking IPX4.
Ninja does promote a canopy for it if you happen to do need to preserve it a bit safer and there are additionally leg and desk equipment that flip it right into a extra conventional trying grill.
As talked about, it’s fully secure to cook dinner outside with it in all parts; the plug itself is an RCD one, that has its personal weatherproofing and shut-down capabilities inbuilt. There’s additionally a bodily energy button on the again of the Professional XL, with a water-proof rubber cowl.
That huge bulk of the XL permits for loads of cooking; Ninja informs us that the 45cm x 30cm grill plate is able to dealing with as much as 10 burgers, 40 hotdogs, 2 full racks of ribs, 6 steaks, or two 3kg chickens. The crisper basket can air fry as much as 1.8kg of meals.
Options
- Smoke field and pellets present smokey flavour
- Grill, smoker, air-fry and roast modes
- Constructed-in BBQ thermometer
On the facet you’ll discover a smoker field that burns pure hardwood pellets, which is what offers the meals you cook dinner that BBQ smoke style.
Ninja gives a few luggage of pellets within the field, and a scoop to pour them in, and suggests you solely use Ninja-branded pellets with the Woodfire. A fast Google suggests some customers have taken that recommendation frivolously, with no ill-effects.
The bottom, with all of the controls, feels very Ninja-ish with the totally different cooking modes – grill, smoker, air-fry and roast – all out there to decide on through a dial.
There’s additionally a Woodfire Flavour button which signifies that it’s not simply the smoker mode that advantages from the pellet infusion.
By default, the smoker mode will ignite the pellets and create a smoke-based cook dinner, however all the different modes don’t – until you press this button. Which means you’re in full management of precisely what meals you need to smoke when cooking on different modes.
For longer cooks, the smoker could be refilled twice, you simply want to recollect to press the Woodfire Flavour button whenever you prime up, to restart the ignition course of.
A brand new addition to the Professional XL is the built-in BBQ thermometer; a digital probe you insert into your meals to maintain observe of ingredient temperatures. Conveniently saved on a tray that slides beneath the entrance panel, the probe plugs in like a pair of headphones when you want to use it.
You may clearly manually cook dinner with this probe, serving to you to attain precise goal temperatures however you may as well use Ninja’s Smart Cook dinner System to select from pre-set meals varieties, and choose your excellent end from uncommon to effectively accomplished.
Each the interior cooking temperature, and the temperature of the meals is displayed on the LED on the entrance and also you’ll additionally get messages when the cook dinner is completed.
The LED show can also be helpful in the course of the ignition modes of the smoke field and pre-heating; which is critical for all modes besides the smoker one.
Pre-heating is usually a bit gradual really however you’re knowledgeable of the progress on the LED show.
Efficiency
I’ve had the Ninja Woodfire Professional XL setup in my backyard for a couple of weeks now and over the Easter weekend I actually received an opportunity to place it by its paces by testing all 4 cooking strategies.
Let’s begin with the smoker as I feel that’s the largest promoting level of the Woodfire vary.
Clearly, the extra conventional meats for this facet could be brisket, pork butt, ribs and the like however, it being Easter, I assumed I’d put it by its paces by smoking a shoulder of lamb.
Ninja does provide a short cook dinner e book with the XL however smoked lamb shoulder isn’t precisely mainstream so I needed to take to Google to search out somebody who’d smoked a shoulder of lamb and supplied a recipe.
That was straightforward sufficient however that individual – an American with a powerful beard and a lumberjack shirt, natch – had accomplished his smoking the normal approach.
Nonetheless, that didn’t matter as all I actually wanted was steering on the cooking and goal temperatures to get the right cook dinner.
The great thing about the Woodfire Professional XL is that it’s so, really easy to each preserve a gradual temperature and hit your goal temperature. For the lamb, I cooked at 120°C (248 Fahrenheit) to attain a goal meat temperature of 94°C (201 Fahrenheit).
In case you are cooking extra conventional cuts akin to brisket or ribs then there are literally pre-set modes on the gadget itself that you should use, however for my cook dinner I used to be simply capable of set my cook dinner temperature after which manually choose my goal temperature, with the sensor accurately positioned within the meat.
My stereotypical American recipe information prompt this cook dinner would take round 4 hours and he was just about spot on.
And the outcome – a triumph. Smokey, tender, juicy meat with little or no effort on my elements. I mainly rubbed some oil, seasoning, garlic and rosemary on the lamb, shut the lid and let the Ninja do its factor for 4 hours or so.
I didn’t open the lid as soon as, as I wished to maintain that smokey goodness locked in, with the arrogance that the meat wasn’t going to be overdone, because of the interior sensor probe conserving me up to date with the meat’s present temperature.
Whereas the lamb was resting I replicated a dish that the Ninja skilled cooks had really demoed for me again on the launch occasion.
It was a easy grilled courgette and prawn starter and I requested the cooks on the time in the event that they’d marinaded or accomplished something particular to the elements earlier than cooking they usually assured me it was merely the smoke infusion offering the additional flavours.
And so they weren’t mendacity, I merely used the grill mode, with the Woodfire Flavour button pressed, and inside about 5 minutes, I’d just about replicated the dish.
Subsequent up, I used the roast mode, once more with the Woodfire possibility chosen and a few pellets inserted, to cook dinner some pigs-in-blankets and stomach of pork in a ‘oven’ type setup. Once more, I didn’t should do something and the extra-smokey flavour was current and actually added to the style.
My ultimate take a look at for the Easter cook dinner out was the air-fryer mode, and a few candy potato wedges. As you’d count on from Ninja, the air-frying was excellent and, once more, the additional infusion of the smoke flavour made an enormous distinction.
Throughout cooking – on all modes – the gadget makes a little bit of a hum, which might be most notable on air-fry mode, nevertheless it’s not precisely loud.
You additionally may panic concerning the quantity of smoke popping out, particularly proper at the beginning of a cook dinner, however that’s completely regular.
One draw back is that, as soon as you’re accomplished cooking, both by the grill plate or the air fryer basket, then you’ll have at hand wash these elements as they aren’t dishwasher secure.
The entire fats pours out a gap behind the grill and right into a drip tray. Ninja really provides disposable drip trays that match into the principle one, so you possibly can preserve all the pieces a bit cleaner; however I’ve simply been washing up the metal tray after each cook dinner, and it’s not a giant problem.
Ultimate thoughs
The Ninja Woodfire Professional XL is an outstanding, all-in-one, outside cooking machine meaning which you can obtain the prefect BBQ style in your meat, each time. However it goes past simply meat because the smoke infusion can even take grilled and roasted greens, and even air-fried meals, to the following degree too.
How we take a look at
After we publish our critiques, you possibly can relaxation assured that they’re the results of “residing with” long run checks.
As a result of we’re testing new gadgets all day, on a regular basis, we all know what issues and the way a specific gadget compares to options that you may additionally be contemplating.
Our critiques are complete, goal and truthful and, after all, we’re by no means paid on to evaluate a tool.
Learn our information on how we take a look at to be taught extra.
FAQs
Alternative 2lb / 900g luggage price £14.99 within the UK, $15.99 within the US.
There may be, however not within the field. You should buy this for $40 / £40.
Sure, you possibly can air-fry with the Professional XL however it could possibly additionally roast, smoke and grill.
Ninja Woodfire Professional XL: Specs
UK RRP | £399.99 |
US RRP | $424.98 |
Dimension (Dimensions) | H:41 x W:57 x D:51cm |
Weight | 18KG |
Launch Date | 2023 |
Smart home Ecosystems | N/A |
Modes | Grill Smoker Air Fry Roast |
Coating | Ceramic coated |
Temperature Vary | Thermostat as much as 240°C |
Grill Dimension | 45cm x 30cm |