Air fryers are like ovens with a twist; they have a heating element that warms the air inside the pot, while a fan swirls the hot air around to cook the food.
With the heat source perched right above the grub, your dishes can get that crave-worthy browning effect.
If you’re whipping up chicken breasts in an air fryer, you’re aiming for them to be succulent on the inside with a nice, light sear on the outside.
Alyssa Rivers, the culinary whizz from The Recipe Critic blog, has dished out her secret to cooking “tender and juicy air fryer chicken” in a swift “18 minutes”. She touts her recipe as “so easy and fail-proof”, so I decided to give it a go with the Ninja’s Double Stack XL Air Fryer.
Ninja is renowned for its air fryers taking the top spot as the UK’s number one air fryer brand. Over the years the company have come out with a number of models; the dual zone air fryers, the single zone air fryers, the speed rapid cooker and of course the double stack air fryers.
Retailing at £219 down from £269 on AO.com, this is a much-loved air fryer that has received 60 five-star reviews and four four-star reviews on the website.
Upon unboxing the air fryer, the first thing that caught my eye was the sleek and relatively slender shape that easily fits under kitchen cabinets. It glides effortlessly around the countertop, or you could easily tuck it away in a pantry or tall cupboard if you want it out of sight.
The air fryer comes complete with two drawers, two nonstick crisper plates and two stacked meal racks.
Aside from washing the drawers and inserts, the Double Stack XL Air Fryer arrived all set up and ready to go.
Ingredients
Two chicken breasts
One tablespoon of olive oil
One teaspoon of garlic powder
Half a teaspoon of paprika
Salt and pepper
Method
I started by covering both chicken breasts in oil as it helps to crisp the skin and helps the seasoning adhere to the meat.
In a small bowl, I added the garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper before coating it on both sides of the chicken breasts.
I then placed both chicken breasts on a stacked meal rack in the top air fryer basket before using the right functions.
As I was just using one drawer, I started by pressing zone 1 and turned the dial to the air fryer function.
The next step was to select the temperature by pressing the ‘Temp’ button and turning the dial to set it to 200 degrees. I then pressed the ’Time’ button and turned the dial to nine minutes. The last step was to just press start.
For those using both baskets, they would need to press the ‘Double Stack Pro’ button as well as the ‘Match’ or ’Sync’ button.
The match and sync options are a nice touch. Once you’ve selected the temperature and time on Basket One, you can select the match button to duplicate the settings for Basket Two. The sync button allows you to set different cooking times, with a synchronised finish for serving at the dinner table.
Once the time was up I turned the chicken over and left it to cook for a further nine minutes at the same temperature.
When it was cooked, I let the chicken rest before cutting into it – about five minutes at least. This allowed the juices to reabsorb into the chicken instead of spilling onto the plate.
The chicken was juicy, tender and full of flavour cooking it this way and it took less time than it would in the oven.
So is the Ninja Double Stack XL Air Fryer worth it? This is certainly an investment, but I do think it’s worthwhile if you’re in the market for a large air fryer that doesn’t take up much space.
While the display panel isn’t particularly high-tech, the air fryer itself is effective and does a great job.
It makes the juiciest chicken I’ve had in a while and the ease of cleaning is amazing – the ceramic non-stick coating on the crisper plates allows food residue to be wiped off with minimal effort.
