IF you live in an urban area, then alfresco dining can be a bit of a struggle — especially if you don't have the space for a full barbecue.
Thankfully, Ninja has recently come out with the ultimate gadget for grilling enthusiasts: the Ninja Woodfire.
With seven functions including grilling, smoking, air frying and more, it's the ultimate space-saver, allowing you to create tasty, smoky summer food on a gadget no bigger than a portable BBQ.
The first inklings of summer have given us the opportunity to don our sunglasses and barbecue tongs and take it for a spin. Read our full Ninja Woodfire review below.
- Ninja Woodfire Electric BBQ Grill and Smoker, £350 from Argos – buy here
Pros
- Compact
- Versatile
- Easy to set up
- Easy to clean
- Intuitive
- Smoker function takes BBQ food to the next level
Cons
- Handles could be of higher quality
- Could be bigger
- Needs to be plugged into a socket
- You don't get a cover
- Pricey (but we think it's worth the money)
Rating: 4.5/5
What is the Ninja Woodfire?
The Ninja Woodfire basically stands alone on the market, but the best way of describing it is as a multicooker geared towards summer.
You get many of the same features that you get with air fryer/grill hybrids like the Salter AeroGrill Pro or the Ninja Foodi Health Grill, but with one summery addition: a smoker function, which allows you to impart your food with wonderful woodsy flavours. There's a total of seven functions, including Grill, Roast, Air Fry and Bake.
The BBQ grill and smoking function means that it's an outdoor gadget, and Ninja specifies that it's for outdoor use only.
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- Ninja Woodfire Electric BBQ Grill and Smoker, £350 from Argos – buy here
Delivery and first impressions
The Woodfire is a compact gadget, measuring 34cm x 46cm x 46cm. That means it's great for those with small gardens, or those who only want to make enough food for a couple of people.
It's actually small enough that you could feasibly take it away camping, as long as you had a power source. However, its portability does mean it's not suited to cooking for a crowd.
It's also a really nice gadget to look at, with a sleek black, silver and gunmetal grey design, and a smart digital display.
Setup is an absolute breeze; the only sort of assembly you need to undertake is attaching the side handles, which is easy thanks to the inclusion of an Allen key. All you need to do then is plug it into a socket and you're ready to go.
The only complaint our reviewer had about the design was that the side handles and feet are made of cheap hard plastic rather than something smarter and rubberised; it doesn't match up with the rest of the build quality, which is as sturdy as you'd expect from a Ninja gadget.
A nice touch is the inclusion of a recipe booklet, which provides inspiration for cooking with a range of the device's functions; a recipe we're particularly looking forward to trying is the smoked tear-and-share garlic bread. Gino D'Acampo has even teamed up with Ninja to produce a trio of recipes for the Woodfire.
It's worth noting that the Woodfire doesn't come with a cover, but it is water resistant to rating IPX4, meaning light splashes won't affect it. If you'd rather be safe and get a cover, there is one available on Amazon for £16.99.
Ninja also does a bundle comprising a Woodfire, a cover and a stand for £499.97, although at the time of writing, it's out of stock.
- Ninja Woodfire Electric BBQ Grill and Smoker, £350 from Argos – buy here
Performance
The Ninja Woodfire comes with seven cooking functions:
- Smoke
- BBQ Grill
- Air Fry
- Roast
- Bake
- Dehydrate
- Reheat
To achieve these functions, the device comes with a BBQ grill like you'd get on a standard BBQ, which can reach temperatures of 260 degrees. You can also remove the grill and replace it with an air fryer basket.
The headline features here are obviously the smoking and BBQ grill abilities, which are what separates the Woodfire from the huge selection of other multicookers on the market.
Included with the Woodfire is a Wood Pellet Starter Pack, which allows you to get to grips with the smoke function. There are two types of pellets included: Robust, which imparts a stronger BBQ flavour more suited to meats, and the All-Purpose Blend, which is suited to meat, fish and vegetables. Ninja includes enough of each pellet for six smoking sessions.
Both pellets imbue your food with a wonderful, discernable smoky flavour that is undoubtedly a cut above the food you usually eat in people's back gardens — we made some smoked ribs for a family party and were showered with compliments.
At 28cm x 37 cm, the cooking area isn't the biggest in the world, but we found that it's more than enough to smoke a 1.5kg joint of meat (enough for six or so people) or grill a full meal for two. And we were happy to give up some of the cooking area in exchange for the Woodfire's portability.
The air fryer functions also work perfectly and efficiently (sweet potato fries took us 12 minutes, as a yardstick), and we loved the fact that it beeps to remind you when to turn your food.
A factor that often puts people off barbecuing is the cleanup, which can be greasy, messy and a bit off-putting. However, the Woodfire is extremely easy to clean; thanks to the non-stick properties of both the grill and the air fryer basket, all you really need to do is give them a wipe. However, these components aren't dishwasher friendly.
- Ninja Woodfire Electric BBQ Grill and Smoker, £350 from Argos – buy here
Can you use the Ninja Woodfire Grill inside?
Although many of its capabilities, such as air frying, baking, roasting and dehydrating, seem safe for indoor use, Ninja stresses in its FAQs that you should not use any of the Woodfire's cooking functions indoors and that the appliance is for outdoor use only.
How much is the Ninja Woodfire?
The Ninja Woodfire is around £350, which we think is fairly reasonable considering it can do the work of an air fryer, BBQ and smoker.
It's also worth noting that, as far as we're aware, there aren't currently any other devices that can do that; the closest thing is probably the Landmann Fryton BBQ, which has an integrated air fryer but no smoking capabilities.
However, if you aren't too bothered about the Woodfire's BBQ and smoking capacities, then there's a whole host of indoor multicookers that cost a lot less. We're fans of the Salter AeroGrill Pro, which can grill and air fry and is over £200 cheaper then the Woodfire.
Where to buy the Ninja Woodfire
It's a testament to the Ninja Woodfire's immediate popularity that a few retailers have already sold all of their stock of the gadget.
However, there are still plenty of places you can buy it, and you'll usually find it at one of these retailers:
- Ninja
- Lakeland
- Very
- Argos
- Currys
- Studio
- Robert Dyas
Ninja Woodfire review: the verdict
We can't think of any other product that makes outdoor cooking as compact and efficient as the Ninja Woodfire while still producing top-quality food.
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The food we made with the appliance is up there with the best that we've cooked in our own back garden and the fact that you can pack it up and take it camping with you is a huge bonus.
If you love outdoor cooking but don't have the space for a fully-fledged BBQ, this is the device for you.
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