I've finally tested the Ninja DoubleStack Air Fryer - is it all it cracked up to be?

The Ninja DoubleStack's reputation precedes it. As the latest in a long line of the best Ninja air fryers, this promises to require half the amount of space on your counters, whilst still delivering delicious air-fried food. I tested it to make sure it's not too good to be true.

You'll already know Ninja because they make some of the best air fryers on the market. Always great innovators, I am only slightly surprised that the DoubleStack has reinvented the whole way that air fryers look. 

This year, the Ninja DoubleStack claimed its space in the Ideal Homes Dream House, which is impressive but this has made it almost impossible to get my hands on. Now that I've finally been able to try it, I can give you my thoughts on whether it deserves a spot as one of the best Ninja air fryers of all time.

Specifications

Unboxing the Ninja DoubleStack

First, I would like to celebrate Ninja’s packaging. Even though this is the stuff that you spend the least time on when your shiny new air fryer first arrives at home, it’s worth giving a moment to. Ninja is one of the first brands to deliver an air fryer in completely recyclable packaging. The once plastic sleeves are now paper, the box is robust and cardboard, and the useful recipe book is glossy paper (don’t recycle this though — it’s really useful).

Once I had torn off all the paper (it felt like Christmas) I sat the Ninja DoubleStack on my work surface. It is everything you would expect from the pictures. Not very wide, as deep as a standard air fryer, and taller than most. I did a test of whether this fits under wall cabinets and it just squeezed under mine. It’s worth getting a measuring tape out to make sure that you can tuck yours away, but also, bear in mind that you need good ventilation around your air fryer when you use it, so you'll need to pull it out from under any cupboards anyway. This is one of the most common mistakes that people make. 

Ninja gives you an air frying tray and then another metal rack that sits above the tray. Their instructions explain that this is for your vegetables and proteins, then the carbohydrates and bases of your meals can sit deeper into the air fryer drawer. 

Who would it suit?

The DoubleStack is designed for smaller kitchens that lack countertop space. Even though it's slim, it does stick out quite far and the control panel on the side can be a little fiddly. It's easy to use, but you just might need to be smart about how you place it in your kitchen.

What I love about the Ninja DoubleStack is that, even though it's slimmer, you can still cater for a whole family with this air fryer. Ninja claims that this can serve eight people, which feels like a bit of a stretch. I think it's more like 4-6 people. which is still enough for the average family, but it's worth keeping in mind.  

Unsurprisingly, this one of Ninja’s more expensive models. It's new, it's shiny, and it's convenient, so I expected this to be one of the more premium options on offer from Ninja. The versatility of the functions and the capacity just about justifies the price tag, because it can air fry, bake, roast, reheat, and cover a lot of different functions. 

There are other simpler, smaller, cheaper options on the market, but they won't be as slim or refined as the DoubleStack. I'll go deeper into the details of how this compares to other models further down the article.

What is it like to use?

In true Ninja style, the control panel of the DoubleStack is simple. You can set the time and temperature of each drawer independently; make use of pre-sets (helpful for beginners); and then set the two drawers to synchronise the time at which they finish cooking. There is one setting called 'match cook' which offers the same cooking across both drawers and then another which is 'sync finish' that organises both drawers to finish cooking at the same time. All of the text and numbers are clear, so, even if you don’t like tech, you’ll be able to enjoy this. 

I give all air fryers a series of tests: chips, roasted vegetables, fish fingers, and then I’ll look for any special functions. I’ve seen lots of people cook rice bowls using the DoubleStack, so I have that a go. I also couldn’t resist taking their peanut butter brownie recipe for a spin. Here’s how it all went. 

Test 1: chips

Every air fryer should be able to make perfect chips, so it’s the first test that I give all air fryers that we test. I set this running for 20 minutes at 200 degrees, which is what the Ninja guide suggested. It doesn’t need any time to preheat, which is nice, so I could just pour them in and let the DoubleStack work its magic. 

I checked in at 12 minutes, curious to see how the chips looked. They were on their way to being perfect, but to give this a proper test, I let the DoubleStack cook for its desired time. When the full twenty minutes were up, I pulled open the drawer to see a whole range of chips. At the front of the drawer, the chips were well on their way to burning. At the back, they were just about cooked. This kind of issue is easily solved by flipping or shaking the chips half way through cooking. However, I didn’t get a notification from the DoubleStack, so the prompt wasn’t there. Now I know, I would set the timer to half of the cooking time and then flip when the air fryer stops. Plenty of air fryers require flipping — though not all of them — but it would have been good to have a reminder.

I tried cooking another round of chips, but this time for 16 minutes, with a shake half way through. Using these learnings, the chips were perfect. They were fluffy on the inside and crisp in the outside. So, you are able to get good chips in the Ninja DoubleStack, it just takes a few tweaks.

Test 2: fish fingers

I always like to do a fish finger test, because they’re an easy evening meal. The two air fryer drawers meant that I could cook fish fingers at the same time as chips, although these needed a little less time.

I put them in for 14 minutes at 200 degrees, set to sync with some chips in the drawer above, which needed 16 minutes. When the time was up, the fish fingers looked good. However, when I lifted them out, I noticed that the front fish fingers were much crispier and firmer than the back ones. I had the same issue with uneven chip cooking, so I wasn’t entirely surprised by these results. The fish fingers at the front were perfect. The breadcrumbs were crisp, without being too hard and the fish inside was steaming hot. At the back, the fish fingers were still warm, but a little soft and soggy. I gave these another couple of minutes and they were fine. It’s worth noting that you have to flip, shake, or move your food around the basket, otherwise you’ll get an uneven consistency. 

Test 3: grilled vegetables

Grilled vegetables are some of my favourite foods to cook in an air fryer. You can use a fraction of the amount of oil that a normal air fryer requires and still get delicious results. I chopped peppers, onions, and courgettes and then put them in the basket, with a drizzle of olive oil over them. Ninja recommends 12 minutes for vegetables, so that’s what I set this to, using the roast function. Sure enough, when the Ninja beeped to let me know that it was finished, the vegetables were all perfectly toasted.

There was some lovely browning and bubbling on the top of the vegetables, giving them some nice crisp on the outside, whilst still remaining juicy and intensely flavourful on the inside. I didn’t notice any uneven cooking, but these were the hardest to get out of the basket (unless you have a silicone scoop). They all seemed to catch in the grate, which isn’t something that I’ve struggled with before. I had noticed a few small chips fall through to the bottom of the basket, so I would really recommend investing in some sort of silicone utensil to get your food out of the basket.

Test 4: rice bowls

One of the most exciting parts of the DoubleStack’s design is that you can cook two foods at once, in just one drawer. This means that I could make rice bowls for the whole family really easily. I wanted to start simple, so I just cooked some rice in the bottom of the drawer and tofu on top. Obviously, they’ll be in for the same amount of time, so if you don’t want one to overcook or dry out, you’ll need to add it later. 

Rice only needs 11-15 minutes (mine ended up being smack bang in the middle at 13 minutes), so my smoked tofu was fine to sit on top the whole time. I noticed the uneven cooking by far the least here. Some of my tofu at the back was slightly crispier, but, overall, the bake was good. The rice was tender, but still with a little bite. The tofu was moist, but warm and nicely crisped up on the outside. This was a proper success.

Test 5: peanut butter brownies

Everyone I know who owns a Ninja DoubleStack has made the peanut butter brownies. Including someone I know who has a peanut butter allergy (don't ask, I recommend against it). We've all raved about these. I know you can make a cake in an air fryer. That makes sense, but brownies feel so temperamental and delicate. Following the instructions in the Ninja recipe book, I lined the drawers with baking paper, leaving enough space to let the back ventilate. Then I used the bake function alongside 'match cook' to bake my brownies at 150 degrees for 33 minutes. They came out with the lovely, glossy top and they were baked right through. 

I like my brownies to be dense like fudge, rather than airy like cake, and these erred on the side of the lighter, fluffier bakes. I think cutting the time by about five minutes would do the trick for making these my perfect brownies.

Cleaning

These drawers are easy to clean. Both can go in the dishwasher, which makes it easy if you have lots of space. I live in a flat, so we don't even have a dishwasher. However, washing these up by hand wasn't a hardship. All the oil slid off the non-stick, as did any burns or extra bits left behind. The biggest problem that I had was some of my roasted vegetables stuck in the air holes at the back of the basket. The residual tomato skins stuck and wrapped themselves around the grate. I did get them off and I don't think it was actually very difficult, but in comparison to how easy the rest of the air fryer was to clean, it felt like effort.

How does it compare?

I've tested all the best air fryers on the market, all of Ninja's offering, and all of Instant, Philips, Tefal, and the likes' too. The Ninja DoubleStack is pretty unique in its design, but I think it sells itself on two key factors: you can cook for a whole family (and also with great versatility) and it doesn't take up much space. If you're happy to sacrifice one to get the other, I have some recommendations for you.

 Let's start with air fryers for big, busy homes. Unsurprisingly, Ninja has this market covered. Their Ninja Foodi MAX Dual Drawer Air Fryer remains unbeaten in this category. The two deep drawers can easily cater for six (I've made fully cooked breakfasts and roast dinners in mine) and the 10 different pre-sets secure this as an air fryer that can make more than just crispy chips. You'll get more capacity and better performance for less money with the Ninja Foodi, but it's heavy and it demands an awful lot of space on the counter.

If you liked the appeal of a compact air fryer, let me introduce the Instant 4-in1 Air Fryer. It's one of the original air fryers, so it might look simple in comparison to dual-drawers and multiple settings, but, sometimes, there's beauty in simplicity. This doesn't have the immense height or depth of the Ninja DoubleStack. Instead, it's quite low and stocky. The drawer is nearly the capacity of one of the DoubleStack's drawers, so it's better for a home of 2-3 people, but it does a great job of what it promises: baking, roasting, reheating, and, of course, air frying. The Ninja is obviously better for bigger servings and more complex tasks, but if you're a beginner to all things air fryers, this is the place to start.

Should you buy it?

If you want the latest Ninja model, here it is. This is slim, versatile, and super speedy. I think it has the potential to become an integral part of your kitchen. However, you'll need to work with it: make sure to shake or flip any food that you put in the drawer and use silicone utensils to make sure that you get all of your delicious food out. You'll be much happier that way.

How we test

I'm currently on a mission at woman&home. I've tested over 50 of the best air fryers and I want you to know all about the ones that would suit your home. That kind of testing capacity needs a formal structure, which is exactly what I've built. I have a series of rigorous tests that every air fryer has to go through before it earns a review or a place in our buying guide. Here's a small summary of what that looks like:

I start our tests by making notes on packaging, unboxing, accessories, and first impressions. It's really important that an air fryer comes with the right equipment and aesthetics for what your kitchen can handle. Whether that's the size, colour, or settings on offer.

Once I'm happy with those notes, I have a few tests that I put every air fryer through: cooking chips, fish fingers, grilled vegetables, and reheating food. If there are extra functions or suggested recipes, I always test them out too, because it's good to get an idea of what an air fryer can handle. For each of these tests, I'll not the time, temperature, and texture down. Food shouldn't be dried out, it should be evenly crisped and moist. It should be speedy too, otherwise, what's the point in an air fryer? 

After I'm satisfied with all the tests, I like to draw comparisons to similar models so that you get a sense of having shopped around. I've tested all of the best air fryers on the market, so I already have a gauge of where the air fryer sits on the market. It's good to get that written down for you. Plus, it's an opportunity to comment on the value of an air fryer, because, at the end of the day, lots of these decisions come down to price. Finally, I'll let you know whether I think it's worth buying, who it suits, and any extra, relevant information. After all this, you should be clear on whether this is the air fryer for you.

To find out more, you can visit our page for how we test air fryers.