What Do the Different Functions on the Ninja Foodi Smart Dual Heat Air Fryer Do?
The Ninja Foodi Smart Dual Heat Air Fryer is a powerful multi-functional machine. With 13 preset function modes in one device, it can handle pretty much any kind of food you throw at it.
In this article, we’ll go over each of these functions and explain what they do so that you can start using yours right away.
Air fry
Air fry is the default function of the Ninja Foodi and it’s great for cooking anything that’s usually supposed to be fried in oil. The good thing is that you’ll need little to no oil at all.
As a general rule, you can expect food to cook faster in air fry mode than it would in convection or grill mode, but you also have less control over the temperature.
Air fry mode is also the most versatile function because it allows you to cook everything from steak to chicken tenders and even fish.
If I had to pick one favorite thing about air fry, though, I would say that it works well with battered foods like fish and chicken tenders (and potatoes!).
Air roast
The air roast function can be used to cook a variety of foods, especially meats. The air roast function is ideal for cooking chicken, beef, pork, and other tender cuts of meat.
Air roast mode is a great way to cook full-sized sheet pan meals and other thick proteins. It can also be used with veggies and other foods that need to roast for a longer time period.
In air roast mode, the Ninja Foodi Smart Dual Heat Air Fryer circulates hot air around the food to help it cook evenly on all sides.
The temperature of the air is kept lower than in standard fry mode, so you can achieve a crispy outside and perfectly cooked inside for your favorite roasted recipes.
If you are looking to cook something that is not very tender such as steak or brisket then this would be the perfect method for cooking it in the Ninja Foodi Smart Dual Heat Air Fryer.
When using this mode on your air fryer make sure that you do not add too much oil or grease because this will prevent the food from browning properly as well as cause smoke when cooking tougher cuts of meat.
The key thing to remember when using this specific mode on your air fryer is that moisture drips down into the bottom heating element which helps create more steam than standard air frying does due to its direct heat source coming from below rather than above so don’t worry about steaming vegetables by accident!
Broil
Broil is the highest temperature setting in your Ninja Foodi Smart Dual Heat Air Fryer. Its function is to get to that high temperature as quickly as it can.
It’s also one of the most commonly used preset functions, and it’s frequently used by users to make their favorite foods crispy on the outside while keeping them moist enough to be considered healthy.
The broiler is capable of reaching temperatures up to 480 degrees Fahrenheit, which means that you can use it to make anything from grilled cheese sandwiches and baked zucchini fries to crispy chicken wings or steak fajitas.
Broil mode allows you to cook meat and fish with the tops of casseroles.
You can also use broil mode to brown the top of a pizza crust. This is a great way to add flavor to your pizza without having to spend too much time in the kitchen.
Bake
The bake function is a great way to cook dishes that need to be cooked at a lower temperature, like muffins or casseroles.
You can also use the bake function for cooking at a higher temperature, like when you’re making pizza.
The bake function allows you to set the temperature from 200 degrees Fahrenheit up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
The whole idea of the baking function is to help heat up your food while at the same time keeping the environment as moist as possible.
As opposed to regular air frying, bake mode reduces the movement of air in your Ninja, allowing moisture to stay as long as possible.
It’s best to bake at lower temperatures.
The low setting cooks food more slowly than the high setting but tends not to brown your food as well.
Bagel
The bagel function cooks and toasts with consideration to the shape and thickness of bagels.
The bagel setting will air fry your bread to make it crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, just like any traditional bagel.
The Bagel function takes about 3 minutes for one side of your toast, but you’ll have to flip it over for another 2 minutes or so.
Because this is an air fryer and not a microwave, there are no hot spots or microwaves, so you won’t get unevenly cooked toast!
It’s recommended that when you cook bagels in the Ninja Foodi Oven use, separate the top and bottom portions, and place the insides facing up in the middle wire rack.
Ninja recommends that you put the wire rack in the middle rails.
This feature works best for thick pieces of bread like English muffins or thick slices from larger loaves (not whole loaves).
Toast
The toasting function on the Ninja Foodi Smart Dual Heat Air Fryer is perfect for those who love their bread and bagels slightly crispy.
You’ll notice how I added bagels to this mode even though there’s a dedicated bagel mode. The reason being is that Toast mode gets to the right temperature a little faster and that’s a good thing if you want a really crispy outside.
Similar to bagel mode, the Ninja team recommends placing using the wire rack for this function and placing it in the middle rail.
You’re probably wondering what’s the difference between toast and bagel mode.
The brilliant team at Ninja discovered that in order to cook either one properly, you have to consider the thickness and standard cook times of bread, bagels, and muffins.
You can toast bread into a desirable level of darkness, so they don’t turn dry and hard.
This function cooks the bread evenly throughout, so it’s not too dark in some places and not enough in others. It also takes very little time to achieve this result. Just push down your desired choice on the display, press the dial knob and you’re done!
Dehydrate
The dehydrate function is for drying and dehydrating food.
The dehydrate mode on the Ninja Foodi Smart Dual Heat Air Fryer allows you to maintain a temperature as low as 135 degrees Fahrenheit for several hours!
It’s great for fruit, vegetables, and meat. You can even dry your herbs on the trays instead of in the oven to preserve their flavor and aroma.
Reheat
If you’re wondering what reheat mode does in the Ninja Foodi Smart Dual Heat Air Fryer, here’s the scoop: It’s designed to gently warm leftovers without overcooking them.
You can use reheat mode to revive leftovers that are slightly dried out or have lost their crunch.
The heat will gently and evenly warm the food so it’s ready to eat again without adding any extra moisture or leaving it soggy from condensation.
This function is perfect for reheating leftovers, rewarming frozen meals, and bringing soups back to the right temperature. It gently warms your food without drying it out, so you can enjoy all your favorite foods again.
Sear crisp
This function is best used for searing meat and fish. It cooks the meat quickly, sealing in the juices while retaining moisture.
Sear crisp mode is a setting that allows you to sear larger cut proteins (such as steaks) and vegetables. It requires preheating of the specially designed non-stick SearPlate.
When using this function on max heat, make sure that your meat is already cooked through. Otherwise, it will be charred and even dry out on the exterior before it’s done cooking on the inside.
The Sear crisp function is not recommended for raw or smoked meats such as steak or salmon fillets since they tend to be more delicate than other protein sources.
The sear crisp mode should also not be used for cooking fatty proteins because it would burn easily due to its high-fat content and you will have ruined a perfectly good piece of meat!
Rapid bake
The rapid bake function is a preset function that heats up your doughy foods faster than normal baking without sacrificing moisture.
You can even use the SearPlate to make sure the food is also cooked well at the bottom where the heat might not be able to reach in normal baking.
This can be useful if you want to cook your food while it’s still hot from being cooked in the air fryer.
Griddle
The griddle is perfect for cooking pancakes, eggs, bacon, and other items.
This mode requires the SearPlate and focuses all the heating power on the SearPlate instead of the air. This results in a really hot plate that you can cook straight on.
This means you can use it to cook bacon and eggs, pancakes, French toast, and hash browns. You can also use the griddle to make grilled cheese!
Fresh pizza
Ninja Foodi’s fresh pizza mode makes it easy to make homemade fresh pizza from thin to thick crusts from scratch.
The mode allows you to cook a variety of pizzas, from thin and crispy to thick and chewy.
It also offers an option for cooking homemade pizza dough for a short period of time, so you can enjoy freshly baked pizza at home without spending hours in the kitchen.
Fresh Pizza Mode also allows you to customize your pizza by adding your favorite toppings.
Frozen pizza
If you have a frozen pizza that you want to cook, use the Frozen Pizza function. This mode is for cooked pizzas only.
It’s not meant to cook uncooked pizza dough like for fresh pizza mode.
The main difference between fresh pizza and frozen pizza mode is the focus on moisture control. With the fresh pizza mode, the air fryer will lower its fan, preventing the heat from drying out the top of the pizza too quickly.
But with frozen mode, it will run the fan a little higher to help to give you that crispy end result.
Which function is the most common for users?
I’ve taken a look at the most common functions used by users.
This can help you decide which functions to use more often, or which ones you might want to try out.
The most common function is Air Fry. And this is probably due to the fact that the Ninja Foodi Air Fryer Oven is automatically set to Air Fry mode the minute to press the dial know to wake it up.
Second, on the list is Air Roast and Broil, followed by Reheat, then Bake, Sear Crisp, Toast, Bagel, and Dehydrate.
What are the general differences between all of these preset functions?
Air fry, air roast, and broil are three common preset that you’ll see a lot on the Ninja Foodi. This is because they’re super easy to use and can be used for almost any food!
The difference between these functions is that they all do different things.
Air fry uses hot air to cook food quickly while air roast lowers the fan strength to keep moisture in the chamber and to cook food slowly.
Broil is similar to conventional roasting but uses more heat than usual which makes it ideal for cooking meats with a high-fat content (like pork belly).
Bagel, toast, dehydrate and reheat are also very common presets on the Ninja Foodi because they’re great if you want something simple like bagels or toast without having to wait too long before eating them!
Bake is another one of my favorites presets because it allows me to make quick bread like banana bread so easily! It basically turns down the fan to a minimum so that moisture is at its maximum levels in the air fryer.
This keeps your baked goods moist inside and out.
Will I get the same result if I accidentally use Fresh pizza mode over Frozen pizza mode?
Yes, you probably will. The Fresh pizza mode is programmed to use a little more power than the Frozen pizza mode and will therefore cook faster, while the Frozen pizza mode uses less power and cooks slower.
The main thing to remember is that it’s important to follow the instructions given in each preset function when cooking different foods.
This is because some foods are all about how long they take to cook (like frozen pizzas), while other foods need shorter durations (such as fresh vegetables).
Other things that are considered are how quickly something needs to get to a certain temperature.
And finally, how much moving air can change the texture of the food. If the fan is running hard, chances are, the heat will be pushed everywhere and it will likely cause the exterior of the food to cook and dry up more quickly.
What’s the default function when you just want to start using the Ninja Foodi Smart Dual Heat Air Fryer?
The default function is Air Fry. With this setting, the Ninja Foodi Smart Dual Heat Air Fryer uses a combination of super-hot air and convection heat to cook your food.
This results in crispy, golden brown crusts without any oil or grease that can be used to deep fry foods.
Air Fry is a great way to cook a variety of foods from chicken wings to steak fries (think: healthier versions of French fries).
You can also use it as an alternative method for cooking pizzas, breaded fish sticks, and donuts!
Conclusion
Hopefully, this article has helped you understand how to use the Ninja Foodi Smart Dual Heat Air Fryer.
We do recommend that if you are new to air fryers and don’t have any experience with them, start out with one of the preset functions like the defaulted Air Fry mode before attempting anything else.
This will give you a better idea of what to expect from your new appliance and how it works!
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