Ninja 5-in-1 Grill & Air Fryer EG351UK Review

Introduction

Built for a family of four, the Ninja 5-in-1 Grill & Air Fryer EG351UK is a single-bay air fryer and grill that features temperature probe cooking for precision results.

With an integrated rest timer, this air fryer makes it easier than ever to get perfect results time and time again.

Design and Features

• Temperature probe
• Five cooking modes
• Pre-heat built-in

Relative compact (430 x 280 x 355mm) but with a decent 5.7 litre cooking capacity, the Ninja 5-in-1 Grill & Air Fryer EG351UK is designed for regular families, with space to cook for up to four people.

That’s more space than one drawer in the Ninja Double Stack XL 9.5L Air Fryer SL400UK, so you can cook larger individual portions or bigger items, such as large whole chickens.

The Ninja 5-in-1 Grill & Air Fryer EG351UK is similar to the company’s previous grills, such as the Ninja Foodi Max Pro Health Grill, Flat Plate & Air Fryer AG651UK. There’s a flip-up lid, which gives access to the cooking compartment, and the removable and washable splash guard.

This holds the standard cooking pot, which can take either the crisper plate (if air frying) or the grill plate (if grilling). As the lid opens a long way back, there’s plenty of room to get to food, for adding and turning.

I used a pair of silicone tongs for cooking, as I find this an easier method of turning food. With air fryers that have a drawer, it’s easier to remove and shake the food when needed.

Just be a bit careful, as the hole in the crisper plate in the middle is small enough for little chips to fall through, so I always lost the odd homemade chip or two when cooking.

Control of the air fryer is via the buttons on the front. It’s a masterclass in simplicity, helped by the useful guide stickers on the product and the manual, which has guides for cooking different types of food.

There are five cooking modes on this model: grill, air fry, roast, bake and dehydrate. With the air fry mode, the Ninja 5-in-1 Grill & Air Fryer EG351UK can go up to 240°C, which is called Max Crisp on some of Ninja’s other products.

For conventional cooking, there are individual modes to select the temperature (or grill level), and the cooking time. Hit Start, and the eEG351UK runs through its pre-heat mode, pausing when it’s time to add food.

If you want to skip preheating, you can hit the dedicated button to do so, jumping straight into cooking.

As I’ve come to expect with Ninja, both the temperature and cooking times can be adjusted on the fly, so it’s easy to change settings to adapt to how well the food is cooking.

This air fryer has an additional precision cooking mode via  the temperature probe, which is has a magnetic holder on the right-hand side of the air fryer.

With this, the Ninja 5-in-1 Grill & Air Fryer EG351UK can be set to stop cooking when a target temperature has been reached. This can either be programmed manually, or you can select the type of food you have: beef, lamb, pork, fish and chicken.

Each type of food then has a suitable selection of doneness level. For example, with beef you can select everything from rare to well done; with chicken, it’s just well done.

One minor issue, and a rare interface bug for Ninja, is that if I unplugged the temperature probe after picking a setting, because I’d decided to change what I was doing, I couldn’t find a way to go back to the standard modes, and I had to power cycle the device.

Hit start and the cooker preheats. When ready, stick the probe in your food, drop it into the cooker, and you’ll get a warning when the food is ready.

It’s easy to keep an eye on the cooking process, with the screen showing the target and current temperatures. The only thing missing is an estimated cooking time.

Rather than waiting for the exact internal temperature to be reached, the Ninja 5-in-1 Grill & Air Fryer EG351UK stops cooking early, allowing the food to continue heating via carry-over cooking; a handy sticker on top explains more. The way the temperature probe works here is similar to the way that the Meater 2 Plus works.

Once your food has been removed, the Ninja 5-in-1 Grill & Air Fryer EG351UK has a resting timer, beeping when your food is ready to serve. Really, it’s as simple as that.

Ninja says that the parts are not dishwasher safe and should be cleaned by hand, preferably with the provided brush. Ninja’s non-stick coating is excellent, so I found it fast to wash the pot and plates.

Performance

• Excellent grill
• Powerful and fast air frying
• High temperatures create crispy results

I tested the Ninja 5-in-1 Grill & Air Fryer EG351UK with a variety of food, starting off with some regular chips. I used the air fry mode at 200°C, reducing the cooking time based on this being an air fryer, not an oven. The results were excellent: evenly cooked chips, with a nice crunch to the outside and a soft interior.

To see how the high-temperature mode worked, I tested with hash browns, running the air fryer at 240°C, and cooking for just 12 minutes. This mode shows the power of this kind of air fryer: the hash browns had a crispy exterior and a soft interior; it’s as good as you can get.

I then cooked a salmon fillet using the temperature probe, and the max grill setting. As soon as the Ninja 5-in-1 Grill & Air Fryer EG351UK beeped, I removed the food and let it rest.

This is salmon cooked to its best. The fillet held together well, clearly cooked all the way though, with a nice bit of colour to it.

Cutting through, the fillet was perfectly done and flaked beautifully as I cut into it, while the crispy skin was easy to cut through.

Should you buy it?