Ninja Foodi OP302 review: Pressure Cooker With Tendercrisp & Dehydrate
When the time comes to buy one of the best and most useful cooking utensils for your kitchen, nothing can beat the electric pressure cooker. The electric pressure cooker combines the function of up to nine cooking utensils like the steamer, a baker, a rice cooker, and in some cases, even an air fryer. The electric pressure cooker adds on the convenience factor within a kitchen and brings back ergonomic design and portability into a cooking accessory.
The most common name that pops up in regards to electric pressure cookers is the Ninja Foodi pressure cooker with Tendercrisp & Dehydrate OP302. With 4.8 star ratings and standing at the 52 positions in Amazon’s list of electric pressure cookers, it can be safely said that this is one of the best and the most popular electric pressure cookers out there. With its high-quality design and unique features, it stands out from the crowd of different electric pressure cookers.
The in-depth discussion of the features that make the Ninja Foodi OP302 an ideal choice is made below:
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Controls
Navigating through the different modes of the OP302 is a breeze using its large robust panel and its adequately sized LCD indicator. The buttons are big enough so that they can be seen easily under indoor lighting situations. The buttons are appropriately categorized into different groups, such as temperature, time, and function.
There are different buttons for one-touch configuration of each of the modes available on the Foodi op302. Considering air frying and tender-crisp modes are its unique features, they are grouped under a separate head labeled Tendercrisp.
The touch panel seamlessly blends into the design. The silver linings around the buttons and the overall silver accent on the glass surface make it look sleek and futuristic. When kept on your kitchen top, it is sure to grab the attention of your guests.
Design
The design might look a bit bulky, but it looks sleek and high quality up close and personally. The body of the cooker has a shiny exterior with black lines covering the joints. When this is paired with the touch panel with silver accent buttons, you are presented with a cooker with an awesome futuristic and sleek look. The shiny design is also present there for a purpose.
It makes cleaning the cooker a really easy task. The shiny surface does not let dust and stains stick to the body of the cooker. The joint where the lid of the cooker gets attached is also thoughtfully made to allow for seamless interchangeability of the pressure cooking lid and the tender-crisp lid. It will not even take you more than a minute to change the lids and carry on with your cooking.
Modes
Being a multi-cooker, it has different types of modes to complement its usability. The cooker includes the usual different modes that the other electric cookers present along with them. Those modes include –
- Pressure cook – The usual pressure cook mode to cook food faster and in an effortless way.
- Steam cook – The steam cook mode, to steam, cook your favorite veggies, and to make your perfect dumplings.
- Slow cook – The slow cook mode helps you to make the perfect stew and chicken/veggie stock. It has timers of up to 24 hours for you to make the perfect and the most delicious stock.
- Sear/Sauté – This option is complimentary over the usual modes and lets you sauté and sear your onions and meats with ease.
- Dehydrate – This option lets you dehydrate your veggies and your herbs to either store them for long term use or to throw them in a food processor to make your homemade spice blend.
- Air crisp – The air crisp option is basically the air fry option. You can enjoy your favorite French fries in less than half the oil and calories.
- Bake/roast – This option, as the name suggests, will help you bake the cakes you saw on YouTube or roast your favorite piece of meat and veggies.
- Broil – If your recipe asks you to boil your meat, then you don’t need to get worried. The op302 has got you covered with the built-in broil configuration.
- Keep warm – In the end, you don’t want your food to get cold. That will result in sad moods on the dining table. The Foodi has a keep warm option without overcooking the food.
The different modes of the cooker ensure that you can cook whatever you want, whenever you want.
Power/Watts
Has a total output of about 1400 watts. The power output is enough to properly fulfill all the cooking modes that are included within the cooker with ease. Along with the cooker come built-in sensors. The built-in sensors regulate the temperature and pressure inside the cooker always while in use. It highly increases the energy efficiency of the cooker.
Sensors
Comes equipped with different sensors like a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, and a moisture sensor. All these sensors help the cooker ascertain the right temperatures and pressure to make all the different modes of cooking possible. Other than that, the sensors also help the cooker to increase its security.
Safety features
Has 14 levels of safety features inbuilt. The safety levels are fortified using different kinds of sensors and valves to ensure that the user faces no harm. The sensors include temperature and pressure sensors to keep a check on the internal conditions of the cooker. Other than that, the cooker also has safety fuses. The safety fuse protects the cooker and the user from electric shocks and spikes in voltage. Each unit of the Foodi op302 has to pass through rigorous testing and quality control checks to get Ul safety certified. It proves that the safety measures are not there for namesake.
Accessories
Provides a lot of different goodies pre-bundled along with the cooker. First and foremost, there are two different lids provided, a pressure cooking lid and a crisping lid. Then there is a 4-quart ceramic-coated cook and crisp basket. Lastly, there is a stainless steel reversible rack that lets you cook two different dishes at the same time, or even allows you pressure cook your veggies while being segregated. At any moment, if you are falling short of recopies, or if you don’t know how to cook a particular meal in an electric pressure cooker, the cooker also comes with a 45+ recipe cookbook.
Product Attributes
The dimensions of the Foodi OP302 are as follows: 14.2 x 16.8 x 13.1 inches
The weight of the OP302 is around 25 pounds.
Price
The price that is listed on Amazon is around $1xx.
Consumer Ratings and Reviews
The OP302 has a 4.8-star rating on Amazon, where around 86% have given a 5-star rating to it. It states that the customers are really happy and satisfied with the product.
The Foodi OP302 also has a lot of customer reviews. Good feedbacks and appreciation of the product’s unique features are predominant in a large number of those reviews.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Ultra-modern design that both looks good and serves a purpose; easy to clean.
- Big touchpad with large buttons. Different groupings make it easy to operate.
- The air frying option is a unique addition to the cooker.
- The tender-crisp option is excellent, turning out incredibly juicy and crispy chicken effortlessly each time.
- The accessories that come bundled along with the cooker save a lot of money while providing high functionality.
- The cooker goes through a lot of performance and safety checks, making it genuinely reliable.
Cons
- The design takes up a bit of kitchen space.
- At 25 pounds it is a bit heavy
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Conclusion
To sum up the review, it is safe to say that the Ninja Foodi OP302 provides an excellent product at a very low price range. The cooker has a bunch of amazing features that no other electric pressure cooker offers. The tried and tested models and units provide reliable and safe operation every time. Furthermore, it will look awesome in your designer kitchen; it can even make a casually designed kitchen top look cool.
Hassle-free operation is the essence of the Ninja OP302. Rest assured, you can be tension free every time you put a chicken inside of it to cook. The tender-crisp option will turn out flawless and tasty chicken every time. Even if you are on the health-conscious side of people, you can enjoy low-calorie cheat days because of the air fryer.
Also read: this is the Presto pressure cooker, review of one of the best tools for the modern chef
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Joost Nusselder, the founder of Bite My Bun is a content marketer, dad and loves trying out new food with Japanese food at the heart of his passion, and together with his team he's been creating in-depth blog articles since 2016 to help loyal readers with recipes and cooking tips.
