Ninja’s latest air fryer has a genius new design – and now it’s at its lowest ever price ahead of Black Friday
The Ninja DoubleStack XL has rearranged its dual baskets to save oodles of space – get one before Black Friday and enjoy a healthy discount
Thanks to their rapid cooking speeds, energy efficiency and the fact they require little-to-no cooking oil to achieve great results, air fryers have become a must-have appliance in recent years. Among air fryers, dual air fryers, which add a second cooking basket to the standard design, have been some of the most impressive options I’ve tested.
These air fryers offer plenty of cooking space, extra versatility afforded by two cooking zones and often add further features beyond standard air frying. Impressive dual air fryers we’ve tested include the Instant Vortex Plus, a great all-rounder, and the Ninja FlexDrawer, a capacious and versatile option. However, one problem all these models share is that they take up a tremendous amount of countertop space.
The Ninja DoubleStack XL, arranging its baskets vertically instead of horizontally, is aimed squarely at people who have concerns about this issue. And, ahead of Black Friday, it’s back at its lowest ever price, with a solid £40 being shaved off its launch price.
Why am I recommending the Ninja DoubleStack XL?
As noted above, the primary draw of the Ninja DoubleStack XL is its space-saving design. By arranging its two baskets vertically, the DoubleStack reduces its width to just 28cm, compared to the 41cm span of the Foodi Dual Zone and the 50cm footprint of the FlexDrawer. This set-up makes it perfect for smaller kitchens and crowded countertops.
Another boon of the DoubleStack is that despite its space-saving design, you don’t have to compromise on capacity. At 9.5l overall between its two baskets, the Double Stack exceeds the 7.6l capacity of the standard Ninja Foodi Dual Zone and comes close to the 10.4l capacity of the massive Ninja FlexDrawer. Thanks to this roominess, each of the DoubleStack’s twin drawers can fit a 1.2kg chicken comfortably. It also uses this space effectively, with the wire racks included in the box allowing you to split each cooking drawer into two levels, creating four layers of cooking space.
Outside of its clever new design, the DoubleStack XL offers six cooking modes: Air Fry, Roast, Bake, Dehydrate, Reheat and Max Crisp – the brand’s signature feature, which boosts temperatures to 240ºC to achieve quick, crispy results on frozen items. Our reviewer was broadly impressed by the DoubleStack’s cooking ability, finding it performed well on air fryer classics and foods like crispy potatoes and coated tofu.
Are there any drawbacks to the Ninja DoubleStack XL?
Due to the air fryer’s fans being positioned at the back of the appliance rather than on top, a necessity of its stacked design, the airflow in the DoubleStack XL was a little more uneven than we’ve seen when compared with its Ninja stablemates. This led to some uneven browning in our tests, similar to what you might see in a standard fan oven. While giving items a stir or a shake during cooking can mitigate this issue, it’s still a bit of a disappointment.
Which brings me to my next point. With a full price of £270, disappointment is something the DoubleStack XL can ill afford. At full price our reviewer found that, in their opinion, the DoubleStack was a little too expensive, even if its ergonomic design was very impressive.
Should you buy the Ninja DoubleStack XL in the Black Friday sale?
With a solid £40 Black Friday discount taking the DoubleStack XL back down to its lowest-ever price of £230, I think this Ninja air fryer becomes a very worthwhile buy. It seems that air fryers are here to stay, as they offer a quicker and more energy efficient alternative to oven cooking, and so picking up a quality, versatile model that fits neatly into a wide range of kitchen setups is a no-brainer. Throw in a Black Friday discount, free delivery, a free set of silicon tongs and an apron, and you’ve got a pretty cracking deal.