Can you recall the article on ‘Must Have Gadgets to Make Prep Easier’? Can you remember the first Must Have Gadget in the list? In case you can’t, it is THE INSTANT POT. Hope you haven’t forgotten the ‘Tips, Tricks and Hidden Features of the Instant Pot’? Despite the popularity, phenomenal and intriguing nature of the Instant Pot, it will baffle you to know that there is a kitchen gadget that performs cooking just like the Instant Pot even more. I am talking about the Ninja Foodi Baby! I believe you want to know the differences between the two kitchen gadgets so that you will know which to purchase. Hakuna Matata! I will put you through.
THE INSTANT POT
The Instant Pot is a Canadian brand of multicookers. The multicookers are electronically controlled, combined pressure cookers and slow cookers. The original cookers are marketed as 6-in-1 or more appliances designed to consolidate the cooking and preparing of food to one device. The brand has since expanded to include non-pressure slow cookers, sous-vide immersion circulators, blenders, air fryers and rice cookers. The Instant Pot is reckoned as one of the most versatile, time-efficient, and flavorful additions you can make to your kitchen. It has phenomenal features like: The Pressure cooker which can prepare anything and everything in less than no time; advanced Instant Pot models which can even be linked to a Wi-Fi for remote temperature and timer controls.
NINJA FOODI
The Ninja Foodi like the Instant Pot is a phenomenal kitchen gadget but unlike the Instant Pot, it combines the power of a multicooker with an air fryer. It can slow cook, pressure cook, air fry, sauté, steam and even crisp due to the presence of her tendercrisp setting. The Ninja Foodi includes pressure and an air frying basket, crisping lids and a reversible cooking rack. Owning a Foodi will dissuade you from having three separate appliances – A pressure cooker, a slow cooker and an air fryer. Its ability to multicook and air fry at the same time as well as its convenient usage and positive outcome of food products makes the Ninja Foodi to stand out from the crowd of Kitchen Gadgets. However since its advent to the market, Instant Pot has created its own version – The Instant Pot Duo Crisp which pressure cooks and air fries. Be that as it may, prior to the invention of the Instant Pot Duo Crisp, the Ninja Foodi was a better version of the Instant Pot.
IS THE NINJA FOODI THE SAME AS THE INSTANT POT?
Kind of but not absolutely. The first Instant Pot model came out as far back as 2009; its invention is credited to Robert Wang. As the first multicooking device of it’s kind, it was not generally accepted and/or used till around 2015. Subsequently, different models of the multicooker were invented. For years, it seemed as if no other appliance will share the spotlight with the Instant Pot till Ninja, a rather unexpected competitor, found a way in.
Instant Pot was the first to begin the pressure cooking game; thus, it is a pressure cooker. The Ninja Foodi is also a pressure cooker but it performs a task that a normal Instant Pot can’t, Air Frying. In other words, the Ninja Foodi is a pressure cooker as well as an air fryer. An air fryer is a small countertop convection oven designed to simulate deep frying without submerging the food in oil.
NINJA FOODI VS INSTANT POT
It is indeed a herculean task to determine if the Ninja Foodi is better than the Instant Pot. This is because each model has virtually the same features and in a situation where a feature is lacking in the other, for example, an air fryer, the other model will make a concerted effort to fill up the lacuna by inventing a better version of their model with that feature therein; no wonder the invention of the Instant Pot Duo Crisp. Thus, it is impossible to say crystal clear that the Ninja Foodi is better than the Instant Pot and vice versa. Be that as it may, an understanding of the win and loss of the Ninja Foodi over the Instant Pot and vice versa as at October 2020 will enable us to determine which is preferably better for us.
PROS OF THE NINJA FOODI
According to Amazon sales-rank data, Air Fryers were the gift to give during the 2018 holiday season. Right now, air frying and pressure cooking are two of the hottest trends in casual cooking. Ninja Foodie having the two features in one device makes it one hell of a pretty and heavy artillery. Technically, Instant Pot has caught up but the Foodi’s wider size which ensures adequate spacing in the arrangement of snacks makes all the difference.
The sole aim of air frying is to surround food with hot air instead of oil. This consistent air flow brings about the crispy exterior and ensures that the same crunch is present on every side. The Foodi is designed to give consistent hot air to the spaced snacks in it. Anyone who tastes a snack that was prepared the Foodi will most definitely prefer it to the Instant Pot’s because of its spacing and adequate complementing hot air.
Foodi models have different functions and features. Most Foodi models cannot be directly compared to the Instant Pot. Thus, making it a multicooker and more. Phenomenal right?
The presence of the Tendercrisp technology gives the Ninja Foodi an edge over the Instant Pot in crisping. This is so because the technology perfectly crisp food products like the skin of the chicken or chars veggies. Both the XL 8- quart and 6.5 quart models can also roast/bake, sauté, steam, slow cook, broil and keep warm a food product. Some versions of the Foodi like the XL and 6.5 Pro can come in handy in making yoghurt and dehydrating or performing sous vide respectively.
The Foodi can cook veggies, grains and meat at the same due to the presence of the tall grill rack. Inasmuch as the Instant Pot can do same, the Foodi has more surface area on the bottom thus providing room for adequate spacing and cooking without flipping.
More so, the Foodi is easier to clean than the Instant Pot because of the coating on the inner pot and the Foodi’s plastic interior. A lot of people agree that the Foodi is easier to clean except when it comes to the air fryer lid that has a grate that is hard to get into.
CONS OF THE INSTANT POT
Until the Foodi came, no one really cared that the Instant Pot couldn’t air fry. The invention of the Instant Pot Duo Crisp as well as air fryer lid filled the lacuna. However, the Ninja Foodi is still better than the Instant Pot at crisping and air frying.
Pressure cooking wise, the Instant Pot’s cylindrical shape leaves no much space for a spacious air fryer basket. Thus, if you are cooking for more a handful of people, you will have to cook in batches to obtain optimal result or you will have to stockpile the various snacks which ideally ought to be spread out.
The Instant Omni or Instant Vortex Plus has great capacity but they can’t do any of the soup making, pressure cooking, yoghurt making or sautéing that classic Instant Pots can. Thus requiring you to buy two devices.
The Instant Pot is harder to clean due to its interior stainless coating compared to the Foodi’s plastic interior.
PROS OF THE INSTANT POT
The Instant Pot family is so vast that it can be hard for one to remember which model does which but that’s an advantage. There are presently 11 devices in the Instant Pot lineup with the most robust being the 11-in-1 Max and the most basic being the 6-in-1 Lux. Be that as it may, every Instant Pot can perform these functions: cook rice, slow cook, pressure cook, sauté, steam and warm. As the device update versions, more sophisticated features like: baking, yoghurt making or sous vide are added.
Towards the end of 2019, the Instant Pot was remodeled or updated to perform the task that most people thought it won’t – Air Frying. With the invention of the Instant Pot Duo Crisp and an air fryer lid for existing Instant Pots, the Instant Pot can pressure cook and air fry just like the Ninja Foodi. Thus, one can add the air fryer lid to an existing Instant Pot to be able to pressure cook as well as air fry. However, Instant Pot Models like: Max 60, Duo Evo Plus 6 and Smart Wifi are not compatible with the air fryer lid. Be that as it may, the removable nature of the Pot’s air fryer lid gives it an edge over the Foodi especially while pressure cooking.
Although Instant Pot models vary widely, they are user friendly and not costly in comparison with the Foodi. Depending on size, a Foodi cost as much as $279 due to the phenomenal features that she bears as her parts and these parts cannot be detached. But in the case of Instant Pot, if you don’t need all the phenomenal functions of the model, Instant Pot won’t make you pay for them.
As stated earlier, the Instant Pot is user friendly as it can easily make recipes that are traditionally a pain. Rice for instance does not end up well using a stove but with an instant pot, it will nail its moisturized but not too sticky texture. The same applies with hard boiling, soft boiling or poaching an egg. The Instant Pot does it perfectly. Guess what? Provided you don’t need all these functions, Instant Pot won’t make you pay for them.
Be that as it may, liquid recipes like stew, soups and dips seem to be the area of specialization of the Instant Pot due to the presence of built-in smart programs in each model. The Program is already pre-set with the temperature and time needed for the perfect cooking of selected recipes to a particular whether it is solid or liquid. Thus, eliminating guess work which most times doesn’t end well for the recipe. It seriously opens up options for meal prep and healthier dining. The Instant Pot Ultra is a master of the game.
With the presence of 15 PSI in the Instant Pot Max, pressure cooking is thrives at more speed and the door for precise pressure canning is opened. The Foodi maxes out at about 12 PSI.
With the advent of the Instant Pot Max in 2018 (the first instant pot with sous vide), it became crystal clear that a multicooker’s ability to hold water at a precise temperature for hours was a cooking function that people hold very dear. Now, virtually all new models that come out are in the form of a Duo model with a part solely dedicated to sous vide. Provided this is your main requirement, Instant Pot has a lot of sous-vide ready options than Ninja.
CONS OF THE NINJA FOODI
Each model of the Foodi comes out in one size and it can hardly be customized both function-wise and size-wise. Despite the many different Foodi models, only a few of them are pressure cookers. Thus, one can buy a Foodi and find out that it cannot even pressure cook. This is because there is no clear stating of what a model of a Foodi can do and what it can’t; all the toaster ovens, air fryers or cookers are just called the Foodi with ‘Deluxe’ or ‘XL’ attached to the end.
The Foodi is very costly in comparison with the Instant Pot. This is because the parts of a Foodi that one does not need cannot be detached unlike the Instant Pot. One can get an Instant Pot for a s low as $50 but will spend as much as $199 to get a Foodi coupled with its inconvenience – the absence of a stainless steel insert. Nevertheless, most Foodi users opine that the Foodi is worth the price.
Ninja is yet to equip its cookers with programs unlike the Instant Pot. People use the Foodi following the time and temperature that is ideal for a recipe but being able to press a single button and have things all worked out is another level and comes in handy.
The Poke’mon-like shape of the Foodi though it won’t be most people’s deciding factor will definitely matter to people who adhere strictly to kitchen aesthetic. The Foodi tends to eat up more space on the counter as opposed to the Instant Pot that has a nicer sitting on the counter. More so, the Foodi pose to be immobile as it cannot be carried to and fro the counter like the Instant Pot. The Tendercrisp technology that is fit into the Foodi needs a lot of space on the counter to perform its duty efficiently and effectively. Unlike it, both the air frying lid and the regular Instant Pot lid are completely removable and it frustrates the user while pressure cooking because the air fryer lid at the moment of pressure cooking is completely useless and he or she will wish that it can be removed. All to no avail.
John Sanders compares the brand new Instant Pot Duo Crisp with the Ninja Foodi deluxe by cooking barbecue baby back ribs in each device side by side.
The video show case the hanging air fryer lid of the Foodi and the removable nature of the air fryer lid of the Instant Pot. The outcome of the barbecue baby back ribs though they seem the same has some differences especially crispy wise. Did you notice that the barbecue baby back rib of the Foodi was crispier than the Instant Pot’s? Nevertheless, the removable nature of the instant pot’s air fryer lid made the counter look dope.
THE SUBMISSION
One man’s food is another man’s poison. It is indeed different strokes for different sides. Given the wins and loss of the two phenomenal multicookers, one can decide which is better. But in doing so, one should consider the cost, user friendliness, adequacy, effectiveness and efficacy of the duo. But ask yourself this question, do you want to air fry?
Before you finally make a decision as to which is better, this video by Sweet Savant will give you a pictorial comparison of the two devices. They are both Phenomenal (they have similar functions like: bake/roast, dehydrate and sauté; the Ninja Foodi deluxe can make yoghurt and the Instant Pot Duo Crisp has a sous vide feature) no doubt but they have their pros and cons. Watch video below: