If you’ve ever used an air fryer or anything that requires preheating, you know it can be frustrating when the timing is off. You end up having to cook the whole meal all at once, but then you have to wait forever.
Enter the Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer. Two basket let you cook two things at once. For example, you can roast mixed veggies while your chicken leg quarter remains unburnt.
Setting Up the Zones
A clean moddern interface that just sat on the counter. To prep your food, you put a raw piece of chicken (in this case a leg quarter) in a plate and drop it into the unit.
There is separate buttons for each zone, allowing you to program different times/temperatures independently. And yes, the AutoSear Technology is branded on the side because the components was built to withstand heavier loads.
It’s a piece of equipment that seems to want to get down to business.
No matter what the appliance, prep is always identical. For the veggie side, you’ll have a potato, a carrot, some broccoli, and maybe some mushrooms.
Cut them up. Smaller is better; it cooks faster and more uniformly. Don’t be afraid of small bites, big chunks will be hard in the middle by the time the outside has cooked through. You aim for bite-sized bits that fit comfortabley in the basket.
Then you transfer the chopped vegetables a little messily (gloves come in handy here for keeping everything clean), placing the broccoli, carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms into the second basket. Everything is spread out on a perforated tray that lets hot air flow evenly all around each item.
For the desired roasty flavor, it’s necessary to have good airflow.
Getting the zones ready takes a little planning, though. For example, pressing the Zone 1 button sets it to cook the chicken. The display shows a timer (30 mins) and a temperature (200°C).
Then you adjust the other zone (Zone 2 in this case) for the veggies at a more modest 190°C for 20 minutes. Because they have different timings, that’s where the Sync Function comes into play; it ensures both zones will be done simultaneously.
As for the staggered start time: The system figures it out on its own. Chicken goes into zone 1, which heats up right away. Zone 2 waits, and when it’s time to get started again, there you have two dishes ready at once.
I find it satisfying watching the countdowns on each display tick by in unison. You might need to open the drawer to shake the vegetables halfway through, but it feels like having two perfectly in sync ovens.
Halfway through, you inspect the vegetables. The timer has about 10 more minutes left. To ensure that everything browns evenly on all sides, you open the drawer and gently jostle the basket by shaking it around a bit. If left alone, broccoli florets has a tendency to tuck themselves underneath each other.
They stay together well and redistribute quickly with a good shake, so they all cook evenly.
Then you pick up on the handle and bring the basket up. Oh my! It’s HOT hot hot off the appliance. Within a few seconds, you’re turning the vegetables over, then sliding the drawer shut again and waiting for the cook cycle to finish.
With the door sealed, the temperature inside stay consistent as the Sync Function counts down uninterrupted.
Overall it’s a bit of a hit or miss. What you get is a well-cooked, juicy piece of chicken, what you expect.
What you don’t get are your veggies. Instead of being roasted, the broccoli is so blackened that it’s barely recognizable from severe charring. Carrots and potatoes is also overcooked because 20 minutes is too long for such delicate ingredients.
I learned the hard way that broccoli can burn really quickly at higher temps. Next time it’s going into the air fryer, roast for 10 minutes, that would of probably been plenty of time. The chicken was perfect, but the vegetables were overcooked. Cut your veg cooking time in half.