Chicken wings in the air fryer
These chicken wings cooked in the Ninja Air Fryer were absolutely beautiful.
Chicken wings loved by almost everyone and are a very popular item for fried water. The goal of an air fried wing is to have a crispy outside and juicy inside skin. To test the air frying capability of each oven, I cooked three frozen wings on the air fry setting at 450 degrees F for 30 minutes, turning them every 10 minutes. I let each oven get completely hot before putting the wings in, and then photographed them right after I took them out. Naturally, I tried them too when they were cool enough to eat.
Success here depends on high temperature and good circulation of hot air, which means faster cooking. The faster the fryer cooks and the more efficient the super convection, the faster the outer skin will crisp, reducing the likelihood of the chicken being dry on the inside.
Ninja Foodie Oven won the great wing war by a landslide, with the crispiest wings in 30 minutes. They were also perfectly juicy inside and had no visible burning. The Cuisinart and Wonder Oven Pro also passed the wing test, but I had to pull them out after about 25 minutes because they were completely done. They even had burnt skin, but not enough to bother me. Breville and Crux also did well with good browning and crispness, while KitchenAid came in sixth and Calphalon seventh, with not enough browning or crispiness for my taste.
French fries in an air fryer
Ninja and Breville were the fastest to cook the fries until golden brown without burning.
This second air fryer test was designed to demonstrate the sheer power and speed of the individual oven's air frying feature, as well as its ability to cook evenly. I put a handful of frozen fries (McDonald's style) in the air fryer at 450 F and timed how quickly each one turned that golden brown color we all crave. Since cooking speed and convenience are key features of a countertop air fryer, faster is better. All of the items cooked in the oven (except the Cuisinart) eventually reached the desired degree of doneness, but some completed the task much faster and more consistently than others.
Breville won the frying test with perfectly golden fries in 6 minutes. I set the Ninja to a slightly lower temperature (390 F) as directed, and in eight minutes I had perfect fries (a very close second, and it probably would have won or tied if I had set it to 450 F). The KitchenAid also took 8 minutes at 450 F, the Crux took nine minutes, and the Calphalon took 12 minutes. The Cuisinart was actually the fastest at just 3 minutes, but the edges of the fries burned and cooked unevenly. At this point, I began to suspect that the Cuisinart had an unusually intense air fryer function, for better or worse.
Grilled salmon
The Breville and Ninja were the only ovens that produced a crust after four minutes.
To test the broiler, I coated a 4-ounce salmon fillet with a mixture of mustard, olive oil and brown sugar. Once the oven was preheated, I tucked the salmon under the broiler about 2 inches from the top and left it there for four minutes before removing it from the oven for the photo op.
The key point I was looking for here was how well each broiler imported the caramelized crust on the top of the fish. Some ovens, such as the Calphalon and Cuisinart, showed little sign of browning, while the Ninja and Breville provided nice color and the start of a good crust. I decided that they would share the blue ribbon for this test. KitchenAid and Crux showed some darkening, coming in third and fourth.
Plain old toast
Both Calphalon and Ninja produced very nice toasts at their medium settings, but Ninja (pictured) did it in half the time.
The purpose of this test was to find out how accurate the toaster settings in a particular oven are and how quickly it can toast bread. I put one slice of bread in each toaster and set it to medium. I didn't put as much emphasis on this test as I did the others because, truth be told, any of these ovens will get you to the toastiness you want, it just may take more (or less) time, some skill, or learning the presets to get where you want it.
The duration of each cook for the “medium” setting in each oven varied quite significantly, from over 6 minutes for Calphalon to just three and a half for Ninja. Anyway, the two gave the most smooth and attractive toast to the point, but Ninja (the winner) did it in half the time. The Breville, KitchenAid, and Crux barely toasted the bread when it was set to medium—which simply means you'll have to use the darker setting—while the Cuisinart toasted the bread too much.
Baked cookies
Ninja and Breville were tied in the cookie competition as both ovens produced near-perfect results.
Next, I wanted to see how accurately and consistently each oven could reach and maintain temperatures, and baking cookies is the perfect test for this. I scooped a scoop of Toll House cookie dough onto parchment paper and popped one into each oven on the middle rack for the recommended time and temperature (350 F for 10 minutes).
The cookie race was a photo finish between Ninja and Breville, both of whom had near-perfect times. The Cuisinart cookies were overbaked, as were the Crux (albeit a little), and the KitchenAid cookies were a little underbaked.
Preheat test
Another big benefit of using a countertop oven instead of a large oven is the speed of preheating. While baking the cookies, I timed each oven to see how quickly it would reach 350 F.
The Ninja Foodi blew everyone away by heating up to 350 F in a lightning-fast 50 seconds. Most others took about three and a half minutes, while the larger Breville took five minutes to warm up, as did the Wonder Oven Pro. I haven't done any formal air fryer preheat testing, but I noticed that the Calphalon took noticeably longer than the others to reach 450 F when air frying.
Checking temperature accuracy and consistency
This is discreetly one of the most important features for any oven, especially if you plan to cook light baked goods in it. If the oven can't maintain an accurate and constant temperature, it makes following recipes much more difficult, and you'll have to constantly adjust and market food to make sure it doesn't burn. I used thermocouples to measure the oven's internal temperature while it baked for 10 minutes at 350 F. I was able to get an average temperature reading throughout the baking time, but I also watched the thermometer in real time to see how much variation occurred during cooking.
KitchenAid won this test with an average of 350 F on the nose and very little variation. The Ninja (average temp 343 F), Cuisinart (346 F) and Breville (345 F) also performed well, although the Breville started off hot and then cooled off again. The Wonder Oven Pro did the same and had the widest temperature spread of our top winners. The bottom two places were Crux, which was hot (365 F), and Calpahlon, which was cold (337 F). Both were also the most inconsistent throughout the entire bake.
Cleaning and care
A clever design feature allows you to get right inside the Ninja oven and clean it thoroughly.
With the exception of the Ninja (more on that in a second), there is nothing particularly unusual about the care and cleaning of these ovens and their heating elements. They have standard stainless steel box interiors of varying sizes that require regular cleaning and wiping. Each oven also features a removable, dishwasher-safe crumb tray for catching dropped fries and browned bits.
Now let's get back to the ninjas. Due to its compact interior, this oven is definitely more prone to splattering and staining, especially when cooking grease-laden foods such as wings. Luckily, there's a clever design feature that allows the entire bottom floor of the Ninja oven to fold out so you can get inside with a rag or Brillo pad and wipe it down. I'm sure the Ninja will require more frequent cleaning than the others. If this isn't something you're diligent about, it's definitely worth considering.
