Preparing an entire meal all at once used to mean juggling multiple pans or waiting for the oven to preheat twice.
That’s not the case with the Ninja Foodi Dual-Zone Air Fryer. Deep roast some potatoes and fry up some crispy chicken wings together. And it’ll save you a lot of time in the kitchen.
Cooking with the Dual-Zone Air Fryer
There’s no need to burn the first plate while waiting for the second.
First things first, let’s look at the ingredients.
Raw chicken wings goes into a bowl along with some olive oil, salt, black pepper, garlic powder and thyme. It’s an easy mixture that doesn’t overpower the taste of the meat but adds enough flavor.
To prevent getting your fingers messy, wear disposable gloves as you massage the seasonings onto each wing. Getting all of them well-coated will make a big difference based off the final result.
Feels a bit messy initially, but it does work
Meanwhile, while the wings marinate, shift your focus to the potatoes. Grab the cutting board and knife again and cut four whole potatoes into bite-sized cubes. Using smaller potato pieces will help ensure even cooking throughout air fryer basket.
After they’re chopped, place them in a bowl and toss with some olive oil, salt, black pepper, thyme and garlic powder. The taste matches the wings for a well-coordinated meal.
Once chopped, you transfer them to a bowl and dress them with olive oil, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and thyme. Matching the seasoning profile to the wings create a cohesive meal.
Just looking at it makes you hungry.
Prep your ingredients. Put the seasoned chicken wings into basket 1. Dice your potatoes and place them in basket 2.
Position them in their corresponding areas so that you can now set a different cooking method on each side. That’s the whole point of this dual-basket cooker.
Neither of these dishes will require you to sacrifice how you cook.
Set Basket 1 to Air Fry mode (200 °C), for 20 minutes. Wings has to be cooked at higher heat to achieve crispy skin.
Set Basket 2 to Roast mode (210 °C) for 25 minutes. Potatoes takes longer to get a crispy outside and tender inside.
Making changes is intuitive and easy with this control panel. Stop second-guessing your settings and start pressing buttons confidently.
This is where it gets smart. When you turn on the Sync function, which connects the two zones, it will keep them synced up so that they’re done at the same time.
So rather than waiting until the potatoes are cooked while the wings need more time, or vice versa, now, they’ll be done together. And efficiency is important in your daily life.
That helped.
It pays to keep an eye on what’s happening midway into the cook time.
Here comes the tricky part: At the 10 minute-mark, pull back the baskets (both of ’em) and use a pair of tongs to turn the chicken wings over so they can brown evenly on all sides. Toss the potatoes, too, because if they’re not tossed, they’ll stick to the bottom of the basket. That’ll result in uneven donness. And nobody wants that.
You should of always check halfway.
After time expires, look at what happens: Perfectly shaped wings that are golden and crisp. Potatoes that are a deep, savory color, yet still soft inside.
It’s like having both sides of your meal prepared for you at once, no worries about keeping anything warm or cold while waiting for something else to be done. And it works: The Dual-Zone technology do exactly as advertised.
The wings are golden and crispy, and the potatoes is roasted to a deep, savory color with tender interiors.
And it realy works.
The food is easy to serve, and delicious to eat. Place the roasted potatoes on a white plate with the wings. It looks good; the different textures provides a nice contrast.
On the plate are two forks, waiting to be used. The common spice mix is delicious and complements all of the other ingredients. Convenience doesn’t have to mean settling for anything less than great flavor.
But it’s worth it.