What cooking presets are available on the Ninja Foodi?

While some home cooks may happily rely on presets on their pressure cookers, the completely customizable open options on the Ninja Foodi actually make it pretty great. You simply need to make notes as you go on how long different foodstuffs take to cook and you'll be pressure cooking up a storm in no time at all.

While the Ninja Foodi does not have any pre-programmed presets, but it does have up to eight different cooking modes. For the best possible results, it's essential to understand what each one does and how to use them properly. The cooking options on a Ninja Foodi are as follows:

• Pressure: Use to cook food quickly while maintaining tenderness.
• Steam: Use to gently cook delicate foods, such as fish or vegetables at high temperatures.
• Slow cook: Cooks food like soup or stews at a lower temperature for longer periods.
• Sear/saute: This lets you use your Foodi as a stovetop for browning meats, sauteing vegetables or simmering sauces.
• Air crisp: This is the Ninja Foodi as an air fryer meaning you can cook things like fries using only a small amount of oil.
• Bake/roast: This is the setting to use to roast meat or make bread, cakes and other baked items.
• Broil: Use this option to caramelize and brown your food.
• Dehydrate (only on specific models): Dehydrate meats, fruit, and vegetables.

It may take some adjusting, but you'll get great results once you've mastered your Ninja Foodi. With experimentation, you may even find you prefer to use alternative settings. For example, you might opt to pressure cook certain vegetables, rather than use the steam cooking mode.

Once you select the cooking mode you want, you simply need to set up the timing and temperature options. You can use the up and down TEMP arrows to set the temperature, then use the up and down TIME arrows to select how long you'd like your food to cook for.

Certain Ninja Foodi cooking modes, such as the pressure cooking option, will activate the cooker's handy "Keep Warm" mode. Once your recipe's cook time is finished, the unit will beep and automatically switch to its "Keep Warm" setting. It begins a new timer, so you know how long your food has been resting.

If the thought of using a pressure and slow cooker without built-in presets fills you with culinary concern, there is plenty of advice online to help you ace the tricky time'n'temp balance. Start small with simple recipes, but always check that any food, especially meat, is cooked through. No one likes chicken on the pink side.

If you are still sold on presets, the Ninja Foodi may not be the best fit for you. Though it is possible to get the same or better quality results with a little experimentation, the Foodi just doesn't have those presets. If you aren't feeling the inspiration and you want those preset options, the Instant Pot might be a better option for your kitchen. Either way, these amazing kitchen gadgets make cooking way easier...and delicious.