Ninja Speedi (full meal cooker).

[Anna N]

Over here we are teased by @mgaretzabout a new kitchen toy. It looks like the answer to what the air fryer should have been! Apparently it can cook a full meal. I have spent the afternoon watching YouTube videos.  I would much rather hear more from @mgaretzas he uses it more and from anyone else who has purchased one of these. 
 

The huge drawback for me would be the size. It looks enormous. 
 

Most of the YouTube videos assume rice as the carb and chicken as the protein. Both can get old fast so I would love to know what else people have cooked in it.  Thanks. 

[mgaretz]

I did one test when I first got it:  Basmati Rice and Brussels sprouts in the bottom and already cooked Costco rotisserie chicken breast on the top.  Used a recipe for raw chicken breast because I couldn't find any with already cooked chicken.  The breast skin came out nice and crispy with the meat possibly a bit overcooked but not totally dry either.  The rice came out fine, the sprouts were a bit mushy for my taste but cooked.  I only used a 1/4 cup of rice as it was just a meal for me.   

 

It's big, but not that big either.  Takes up about the same footprint as my Ninja grill or Instant Pot 8 qt.  It seems lighter than either.  

 

The salmon mentioned in the Dinner thread (see @Anna N's post) and the above are the only two things I have done so far.  

 

Tonight I will use it to make chicken wings from frozen just as a steam crisper.  Pics tomorrow!

Edited April 7, 2023 by mgaretz (log)

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, mgaretz said:

I did one test

Thanks for sharing what you have  learned  so far. From my research today it would seem that it is the offspring of the Cuisinart steam oven and an air fryer. I really like the idea of cooking a protein over vegetables and/or rice. I think with some playing around it would be possible to use grains other than rice or quinoa (not that I am much of a fan of grains). I do like the recipe generator (on their website) which allows you to choose your grain/vegetable/protein and generates a recipe. It will at least put you in the ballpark I would think for something you wish to attempt. 
looking forward to further experiments. Thank you.

[mgaretz]

Here are the wings.  A bit overcooked (but still tasty and moist).  This was 25 minutes on steam crisp.  They were cooked from frozen, basted with BBQ sauce and flipped and basted again at 15 minutes.  Next time I would cook for less time, maybe 20 minutes with a flip at 10.

 

 

[lindag]

I got my Speedi a few days ago.  First dish I made was simple bone-in  chicken thighs.  I used a chicken rub purchased from our nearby Amish market.

The chicken was wonderful!  Cooked to perfection.  I'm keeping this.

[lindag]

I steamed some sliced red potatoes and broccoli spears Wednesday night in the Speedi.  Flavoreed with only the Himalayan salt.  Very tasty.

[Anna N]

Still hoping that someone will put this through its paces as it was intended to be used. This is an improvement I understood for the air fryer and allows one to cook a carb as well as a protein. Might have to splurge and do the experiments myself. 😂

[lindag]

My plan for tonight is to make this Speedi recipe:

here.  Will be cooking both the starch and the protein together.  Should be a good test.

[mgaretz]

We are in the process of trying to buy different house and selling this one, so we need to move most everything into storage so they can stage the house.  I think I will just keep the Speedi as my only air-fryer/grill/etc. and put the rest into storage until we move.  With that background I wanted to see if the Speedi was good at just cooking rice without any veggies and/or protein.  Surprisingly, this is not listed as an option in their manual, cookbook or website.  Found an online discussion with the recommendation to use the Steam mode for 15 minutes.  It worked!  Their normal ratio of 1 part rice to 2 parts water (for white rice) came out ok, but a little moist for my taste so I will try less water next time.  

[Anna N]

23 minutes ago, mgaretz said:

Their normal ratio of 1 part rice to 2 parts water (for white rice) came out ok, but a little moist for my taste so I will try less water next time.  

I look forward to seeing how you make out and good luck on your move. How much rice did you cook? 

[mgaretz]

5 hours ago, Anna N said:

I look forward to seeing how you make out and good luck on your move. How much rice did you cook? 

Thanks. Cooked one actual cup of rice.

[lindag]

My weekend plans changed so I didn't get to make my salmon and rice.

Last night I made it and it turned out good for the salmon (although I didn't use the pesto) but the rice was too dry.  Next time I'll follow the directions on the bag instead of the recipe for the amount of water to use.

Rice was good enough that I'll make another pot of it tonight and try again.

[Anna N]

59 minutes ago, lindag said:

My weekend plans changed so I didn't get to make my salmon and rice.

Last night I made it and it turned out good for the salmon (although I didn't use the pesto) but the rice was too dry.  Next time I'll follow the directions on the bag instead of the recipe for the amount of water to use.

Rice was good enough that I'll make another pot of it tonight and try again.

Interesting that you found the rice dry while @mgaretzfound it too moist. 

[lindag]

Maybe we used different types.  Mine was Basmati.

[mgaretz]

22 minutes ago, lindag said:

Maybe we used different types.  Mine was Basmati.

Mine was basmati too. Likely the difference was the cooking mode as I just used steam and you likely used a speedi meal setting which would extra cyclone heat at the end. 

[mgaretz]

First test of the Speedi as a straight air fryer.  Frozen panko shrimp.  10 minutes.

 

 

[Smithy]

6 minutes ago, mgaretz said:

First test of the Speedi as a straight air fryer.  Frozen panko shrimp.  10 minutes.

 

 

 

What's your assessment of the texture and taste?

[mgaretz]

5 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

What's your assessment of the texture and taste?

Perfect.  

[mgaretz]

Tried wings again, this time for 3 minutes after applying BBQ sauce (22 minutes total).  3 is too much time, so back to two minutes it is!

 

[mgaretz]

Tried a thick pork loin chop from frozen.  Steam crisp for 20 minutes, flipped half-way through.  Came out pretty good, perfect in the very center but a bit dry at the edges.  I used their recommended settings of 375F for 20 minutes.  I will try it a bit lower temp for the same timing and see if that turns out better.

 

 

[mgaretz]

Another thick pork chop from frozen, this time at 360F for 20 minutes with 3/4 cup of water.  Came out much juicier and pretty impressive from frozen.  I also decided to try making Brussels sprouts at the same time in the bottom.  They came out very good, but I wasn't expecting them to be roasted.  I guess that happens when the water is gone and there's no buffer like rice.  But the pork drippings gave them a nice flavor, so it was a win all around.

 

[DesertTinker]

4 hours ago, mgaretz said:

 

 

On 4/28/2023 at 11:22 AM, mgaretz said:

 

 

Both of your pork chops have an un-browned area on them, though appearing thoroughly browned on all other visible surfaces. Any thoughts on the reason?

[mgaretz]

1 hour ago, DesertTinker said:

 

Both of your pork chops have an un-browned area on them, though appearing thoroughly browned on all other visible surfaces. Any thoughts on the reason?

 

Appears to be where it had the best contact with the crisper tray so not much air circulation there.

[mgaretz]

Saw on Facebook (but not confirmed in person) that Costco has these back on sale again at $119.  The Costco version has two extra functions -  keep warm and reheat buttons.

[lindag]

Last night I made steelhead filets over broccoli and red pepper served over tice (made in the Zo).

Fish was perfectly done as were the veg.