Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First of all, this review will not show as a verified purchase since I bought it directly from Ninja at a lesser price. Since I already have 6 qt. and 8 qt. Instant Pots and a 10 qt.Elite Platinum Pressure cooker, I debated for a while whether it made sense to buy another pressure cooker just because it had a browning lid. When Ninja had a sale on them, I decided to bite the bullet and try this unit. I have had this cooker for a couple of months and am so happy that I decided to try it. It doesn't have all the preset buttons that the Instant pots do, but I never used them anyway. I find the controls on the Ninja Foodi so much simpler and more intuitive than the Instant Pots. You simply choose the method of cooking (pressure, steam, slow cook, sear/saute), the level of heat depending on the method of cooking, and the cook time. When using the crisping lid, you have the options of air crisp, bake/roast, broil, and dehydrate. For each cooking method selection, there are different options available for level of heat and cook time. There are a couple of features the Ninja Foodi has that I appreciate over the Instant Pots. I made a pork shoulder in the Foodi pressure cooker in the same time the Instant Pot has in the past, but I was delighted to find that the Foodi has 5 levels of heat for sear/saute vs. the 3 levels offered by the Instant Pot. When I pressure cook pork shoulder or roasts, I put onions, garlic and other seasoning in the water for pressure cooking. When the meat is cooked, I take it out, cover it with Reynolds wrap to keep it warm, and use a submersion blender to blend the onions and garlic into the meat juices for gravy. With the Foodi, I can keep the gravy cooking at a simmer and it doesn't boil. I have also been using the Foodi a lot for steaming. I have a couple accessory kits for pressure cookers, and I can steam more at one time in the Foodi than any other cooker I have. What I love is the simplicity - put food in a steamer basket, press steam, select the minutes to steam, and press start. What could be simpler?? The air frying function works beautifully for fries for two, fish, steaks, and a multitude of other foods. When I need to air fry larger quantities, I have a couple other appliances that I use, and have eliminated the NuWave Brio Air Fryer and the smaller Instant Pot. Although I normally prefer pressure cookers with stainless steel pots, I have to admit that this Foodi is spoiling me. I am a stickler about water spots on stainless steel, so all of my stainless cookware is cleaned with Barkeeper's Friend every time it's used. The pot in the Foodi has a safe non-stick surface, and cleans unbelievably easy. When I use it as a steamer, I need only to dump the water left in it and dry it while it's still hot. When pressure cooking foods, a simple soap and water cleaning is all that's needed. So far, there has been no staining and nothing sticks. The gasket does retain some odors from foods cooked, but this is common with all pressure cookers. This doesn't affect future cooking, and can be removed by soaking the gasket in soapy water, or a solution of baking soda and water. This cooker has earned a permanent spot on my counter on a cart in my kitchen to keep it handy as I have been using it so often. Keeping it on the counter won't work for most kitchens as there is not enough space to open the lids under cabinets. It could be pulled out on the counter to enable opening of the lids, but there is still the consideration of released steam when pressure cooking that could damage cabinets. I also prefer keeping it on my kitchen cart because it is lower than my counters making it easier for me to see the top of the lids and into the cooker. UPDATE 08/12/19: I have had this Ninja Foodi for a little less than 3 months, but it is used almost daily. I grow mushrooms outdoors and often have harvests that I steam for freezing in the Foodi. Today, the Foodi, and I, really got a workout. I harvested 3 different species of mushrooms earlier in the day that had to be steamed in batches. When this was done, I immediately set up the Foodi to pressure cook a brisket for dinner. After using the saute' setting on high to sear the brisket, I placed the seared brisket on a plate to saute' sliced onions and garlic. Then I added red wine, water, spices, and ketchup and brought this to a boil using saute' on high. Then I put the brisket back in the pot and set it to pressure cook on high for 50 minutes. When it was done, I removed the brisket and covered it with aluminum foil to keep it warm, and poured everything else in the pot into a gravy and fat separator with a strainer on top. Everything in the strainer went back into the Foodi pot, and the liquids in the separator were put back in the pot after the fats raised to the top of the separator. I used an immersion blender to blend everything in the pot until it was smooth and then added water with corn starch to thicken the gravy. This is where the 5 levels of saute' are so handy. You can use high to bring the gravy to a boil and then gradually turn it down to a simmer. This is something I could never do with my Instant-Pot. Since I have been using this Foodi almost daily, I can definitely highly recommend it. If the Kitchen Gods were to tell me I could choose only 3 kitchen appliances, this Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker would definitely be one of them. UPDATE 03/04/20: I found another use for this Ninja Pressure cooker that I had to share. Until recently, I have always sauteed the leafy greens that I grow in bulk with chopped onions and garlic with additional flavorings such as broth to prevent the the bitter aftertaste that leafy greens are sometimes noted for. This has been a laborious process as the stems had to be cooked longer than the leaves, and leaves had to be added to the pan in batches to wilt them. I grow a number of leafy green indoors and often have large batches of leaves to process before freezing. Tonight, I tried steaming a large batch of Tri-Color Swiss Chard I had harvested. The night before, my husband and I had cut the stems and leaves and didn't separate them as we normally would do so the stems could be cooked longer with the onions and garlic. Tonight, I filled the steaming basket with the combination of cut leaves and stems, and steamed them in the Ninja for 4 minutes. I have to admit that I was blown away when I found that all of the leaves were evenly cooked and the stems were tender, but still a little crunchy. The leaves were a bright green instead of the brown-green when I saute them, and the stems retained their color. The quantity of Swiss Chard I had was cooked in 4 batches, but I didn't have to stand over the stove for 30-45 minutes turning them. To my surprise, there was absolutely no bitter flavor - they tasted fresh and wonderful and with no added flavoring. I also noticed the stems of the tri-color Swiss Chard I use still had their color unlike the sauteed stems that lose all the color. I will never cook my leafy veggies any other way after this. I have added a picture of my steamed Swiss Chard. UPDATE 07/02/20: I recently discovered and bought the Ninja Foodi Skewer set for the 8 quart Foodi on Amazon. This has added a whole new dimension to the capabilities of this appliance. With this skewer set, you can bake kabobs, chicken legs and thighs, and chicken wings and then brown them with the crisper lid. I have used the skewer set to make BBQ'ed chicken wings that are to die for. You can bake and then crisp chicken parts without having to stir them to brown the ones on the bottom. My review for the Ninja Foodi Skewer set has pictures of the BBQ'ed chicken wings I make and explains how I do it. I hope this review was helpful for you and I will update this review if my opinion changes or I have additional helpful information.