The Ninja Premier oven is a great all-rounder; you just may need a bigger kitchen

Air fryers are highly sought-after kitchen appliances, and for good reason. They offer the pleasure of crispy, fried dishes while drastically reducing the oil, fat, and strong odors associated with traditional deep-frying. But with so many air fryers to choose from, how can you pick the best one?

The Ninja French Door Premier Air Fryer also functions as a convection oven and toaster, and certainly looks the part. And with a 5-quart capacity, it was plenty big enough for my family of four. However, you’ll want to measure your countertops before buying this appliance, as it will take up a good amount of space.

I tested the Ninja French Door Premier Air Fryer to see how it compared with other popular choices. My verdict? I’d put it up there as one of the best air fryers for a medium-sized family who enjoys pizza, fries, bagels, and more. Here’s how the Ninja performed during my testing.

Ninja French Door Premier Air Fryer: Price and availability

The Ninja French Door Premier Air Fryer is available on Amazon for $181. You can also purchase the air fryer on SharkNinja’s website or at major retailers like Target, Kohl’s, Best Buy, and Walmart. Currently, it’s not available in the U.K.

In addition, there’s only one color option: stainless steel with black accents. However, this classic design should look at home in most kitchens, regardless of color scheme.

Ninja French Door Premier Air Fryer review: Design

The Ninja French Door Premier Air Fryer is a sizeable appliance that arrived in a large box, and at 16 x 15 x 13 inches, it will take up quite a bit of room on your countertop. It’s well-designed, however, and pairs well with other appliances. But if you’re short on space, you’ll need to make sure you have a place to store it when not in use.

It comes with several accessories: an air fry basket, a wire rack, a sheet pan, a broil rack, and a crumb tray. Each component is easy to clean with warm, soapy water; Ninja does not recommend putting any of them in the dishwasher. After washing and rinsing, pat the accessory dry and replace it in the air fryer to store until next use.

Ninja French Door Premier Air Fryer review: Performance

I tested the Ninja French Door Premier Air Fryer for two weeks. I looked for a mix of recipes and meal ideas that would let me test several functions. Here’s how the appliance performed in my kitchen.

Air-Fried Sweet Potatoes

To test the air fry setting, I peeled and chopped a sweet potato into cubes rather than into fry shapes. Per the instruction booklet, I soaked them in cold water for 30 minutes, then patted them dry. I tossed the sweet potatoes with 1 tablespoon of oil, then threw them into the air fry basket and set the Ninja to “Air Fry” at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 18 minutes.

About halfway through, I took the sheet pan out and shook the sweet potatoes to ensure even crisping. I liked that the timer paused when I opened the doors, so I didn’t have to worry about losing time or ending up with undercooked veggies. After about 15 minutes total, the sweet potatoes looked done, so I removed them. The resulting sweet potatoes were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside — just as I like them.

Sausages and Peppers

To see how the air fryer handles protein, I followed a recipe from the guide that came in the box: Sheet pan sausage and peppers. The recipe uses the air roast function and the sheet pan. I sliced the bell peppers and onions and tossed them with oil as directed. Then I placed them on one side of the sheet pan and added the sausages to the other.

The recipe says to set the temperature to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and the time to 25 minutes, flipping the sausages and tossing the peppers after 10 minutes. The sausages needed to reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit to be done.

After 20 minutes in total, everything looked very crispy, so I tested the sausages and found they were done. I served them on buns with the peppers on top, and they were delicious.

Bagels

The Ninja French Door Premier Air Fryer has both a bagel and a toast setting. I decided to test the former while making breakfast. Both settings let you choose the number of bread and bagel slices (1–6) and the shade level (1–7). I set the appliance to toast two bagel slices with a shade level of 4.

Using these settings, the air fryer was automatically set to 5 minutes. However, after 4 minutes, I noticed that the bagel looked a little browner than I like, so I took it out. It was definitely overdone and chewy when I ate it. I’d stick to choosing lighter shades or keeping a closer eye on the appliance when making toast or bagels in the future.

Pizza

My family loves homemade pizza, so I was excited to test the Ninja French Door Premier Air Fryer’s pizza setting. I’ve made pizzas in a toaster oven before and liked the way they turned out, so I wanted to see how the Ninja would measure up.

I set the temperature at 400 degrees Fahrenheit and the time for 45 minutes. In my full-size oven, it would easily take that long to make four pizzas (one at a time) for my family. The air fryer preheated within 90 seconds. I added the first pizza and kept a close eye on it until it turned golden, about 8 minutes. In total, I had all four pizzas ready in less than 30 minutes — much faster than my usual method.

The pizzas were perfectly cooked, and my entire family devoured them. My favorite part was that the fresh mushrooms I added to my pizza didn’t make the dough soggy, as they usually do in my oven. I will definitely use the Ninja for future family pizza nights.

Noise

As with any kitchen appliance, noise is a concern—especially in my open-plan kitchen, where it travels to the living room. I noted that the Ninja French Door Premier was much quieter than I expected.

While traditional air fryers vary in noise level depending on the fan setting, the Ninja French Door Premier’s noise range was similar across all settings. I measured a maximum of 64 decibels during preheating and periodically during cooking — that’s similar to the quiet drone of a business office.

Ninja French Door Premier Air Fryer review: Ease of use and cleaning

I found the Ninja French Door Premier Air Fryer extremely easy to use, and all my questions were answered in the owner’s guide or quick-start guide. The first couple of times I used it, I got a little confused by the settings — for example, I kept hitting “start” in the middle of the dial when trying to toggle between modes, temperatures, and cook times. But after a couple of uses, this wasn’t a problem anymore.

Similarly, cleaning the appliance is easy. After each use, simply remove the sheet pan or rack and wash it with warm, soapy water. There’s also a crumb tray at the bottom that you can remove after each use and wash or wipe clean to remove crumbs and other residue.

Ninja French Door Premier Air Fryer review: Competition

Since the Ninja French Door Premier Air Fryer also functions as a convection oven, it’s hard to compare it to a typical air fryer. This appliance is designed to be a jack-of-all-trades, whereas our best-rated air fryer, the Ninja Air Fryer Pro 4-in-1, only has four functions (air fry, roast, reheat, and dehydrate). The Pro 4-in-1 performs these functions extremely well, but it can’t toast, bake, or make pizza like the French Door Premier can.

Another option to consider is the Cosori Turboblaze, which has bake and grill settings comparable to those of the Ninja French Door Premier. The Cosori also has a higher maximum temperature of 450 degrees Fahrenheit (the Ninja tops out at 400 degrees) and is smaller than the Ninja, which might make it a better fit (literally) if you have a small kitchen or limited counter space.

Ninja French Door Premier Air Fryer review: Verdict

After testing the Ninja French Door Premier Air Fryer in my kitchen for two weeks, I can highly recommend it — as long as you have the space. Its large size could be off-putting if you have a smaller kitchen.

But if you have the space to store it, it’s worth the money. It will certainly become a mainstay in my kitchen, if only for its ability to make perfect pizzas and fast weeknight meals.