A two-drawer air fryer will allow you to step away from the oven for all but the largest meals and will make cooking cheaper and easier. But these are large appliances and you need to make sure the one you buy will work for you.
Ninja makes some of the most innovative air fryers on the market. If you’re looking for a two-drawer air fryer that will give you the most cooking flexibility, two of your best choices are the Ninja Double Stack XL and the Ninja FlexDrawer.
Each offers a different take on the standard double basket air fryer design. Typically, two-basket appliances offer two standard-sized cooking drawers, typically 4-5 L/4-5 QT each. You can see all of our top recommendations in our roundup of the best double drawer models we’ve tested. (Keep in mind that at the time of writing we haven’t completed our review of FlexDrawer, so it’s not included.)
The Double Stack XL and FlexDrawer offer much more cooking flexibility than a standard air fryer – but they do it in completely different ways. In this article, we will compare the two so you can choose which one is right for you.
If you’re in the US, the equivalent air fryer to the UK’s FlexDrawer is the FlexBasket, which has a similar construction but is a smaller 7 QT model, which can hold 2 pounds of food in each basket of 3 .5 QT. This is a big step forward in cooking capacity compared to the UK model, which offers the equivalent of 11 QT capacity.
In the United States, the Double Stack XL is called DoubleStack XL but is otherwise the same model.
The main reason to buy
The Double Stack XL
This air fryer is a space saver on the counter. We estimate this will save you approximately 20 cm/8 inches on the length of your countertop (compared to the FlexDrawer or a standard two-drawer model). We have more information in our dedicated article.
Additionally, each of the Double Stack’s two drawers can cook two layers of food, thanks to the racks provided with the unit, potentially doubling the cooking space.
The FlexDrawer
This air fryer has a unique touch. Its two separate 5.2L cooking sections can be combined into a 10.4L cooking “megazone” by removing the divider between the two. This gives you the ability to cook large pieces of meat and bake large loaves of bread or cakes in your air fryer.
Air Fryer Design and Dimensions
Both air fryers have a typically sturdy Ninja construction. Unlike Ninja’s specialty combo air fryer, the Ninja Foodi Max Health Grill, Double Stack, and FlexDrawer are almost entirely made of plastic. Neither model is ugly, but they are functional at best, with a no-frills design that won’t add any aesthetic appeal to your kitchen.
What the Double Stack XL offers plenty of cooking space for a small footprint on the counter. Its dimensions are 38.5 (H) x 28 (W) x 47 cm (D) / 15.14 (H) x 11.25 (W) x 19.22 inches (L), which are pretty much standard for models with two drawers.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
The difference is that Ninja flipped a conventional two-drawer air fryer on its side, so the cooking drawers are on top of each other. It will take up much less space on your kitchen countertop, width-wise, although it will be a little deeper and may stick out from the line of your other countertop appliances. It will fit under standard kitchen cabinets with plenty of clearance.
Neither air fryer has a viewing window, so you’ll have to open the drawer to check on your food, which isn’t ideal when cooking.
Externally, the FlexDrawer has a fairly conventional two-drawer design, except that it features a single, large drawer, divided in two. Its dimensions are 32.7 (H) x 49.6 (W) x 31.6 cm (D).
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
The smallest American FlexBasket has dimensions of 11.26 (H) x 11.81 (W) x 11.26 inches (D).
Controls and cooking modes
Both models feature an intuitive, easy-to-use digital display as well as dial and button controls.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
The double stack XL has fewer modes than many other air fryer models:
- Air Fry
- Maximum crispiness (for frozen foods)
- Cook
- Roast
- Warm up
- Dehydrate
But you can adjust these functions based on time and temperature so that they cover almost anything you would want to cook in the appliance.
The FlexDrawer has an additional setting for rising the dough. This makes sense given its greater capacity. Here are its cooking methods:
- Air Fry
- Maximum crispiness (for frozen foods)
- Cook
- Roast
- Warm up
- Dehydrate
- Prove
You can also adjust these modes based on time and temperature.
Additionally, both air fryers have Match and Sync functions. Match allows you to program one drawer and instantly copy cooking instructions to the second drawer. Sync allows you to program two separate cooking programs while ensuring they finish at the same time. So there’s only one alarm to worry about, no need to keep food warm and you can fill both drawers at the same time.
Neither model has a shake alert. A shake alert is an alarm that goes off at 50-60% of the cooking program, to remind you to shake your fries. This is a feature we missed when using these two models.
Cooking capacity
The Double Stack XL has a cooking capacity of 9.5 L/10 QT, distributed over two drawers, with two layers each. This means you can separate proteins and vegetables in each drawer, giving you more cooking space flexibility. If you tend to cook meals that include a protein and two or three types of vegetables, this will be a good option for you.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
The FlexDrawer has an even larger overall capacity of 10.4L, which can handle much larger food volumes, making it the best option for roasts and baking.
Disadvantages
The Double Stack XL is a great air fryer – but it’s not perfect. During our testing, we found that because the heat sources were located at the bottom of each drawer, certain types of food (fries, roast potatoes) cooked unevenly. This is made worse by the fact that there is no shaking alert. Instead, you’ll need to set an alarm on your phone to remind you to shake food halfway through cooking.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
The FlexDrawer it also lacks a shake alert and has another limitation, thanks to its design. If you have to open a drawer to check on food, you will obviously expose both sides to fresh air, which could affect cooking or rising.
Neither model has a viewing window to check food cooking without opening the drawer.
Pricing and availability
The Ninja Double Stack XL is widely available in the UK and USA.
This is an expensive device in the UK, retailing for £269.99. At this point there is no price advantage to choosing any retailer, with a plus/minus difference of around £1. It is available at Ninja, John Lewis, Argos and Currys. That’s around £50 more than the FlexDrawer and £90 more than the Ninja Foodi Max Dual Zone, both of which are comparable models in terms of functionality and cooking space. Whether or not it’s worth it really depends on how much you value a little more counter space.
In the US, it’s a bit cheaper, with an MSRP of $229.99. You can buy it at Ninja, Amazon, and Walmart, among other retailers. Again, that’s about $50 more than the FlexBasket, which is just an 8QT device in its US incarnation and barely more than the two-drawer 10QT Foodi.
The Ninja FlexBasket has an RRP of £269.99, but is currently available from a number of retailers for £219. You can buy it from Ninja, John Lewis, Argos and Amazon.
In the UK, the price difference makes the FlexDrawer a much more attractive option, provided you have the counter space to support it.
In the United States, the smaller FlexBasket 7QT is available at Ninja, Best Buy, Walmart, and Amazon for $149.99, down from $180. Again, this makes it an attractive option, although its cooking capacity is significantly less than the Double Stack.
Verdict
Both air fryers are some of the best double drawer models you can buy.
They are easy to use and offer clever cooking solutions. The double stack is the best option if you want to cook several small sides separately, but at the same time. However, although it has the advantage of a reduced footprint on the work surface, it does not produce as uniform results.
The FlexDrawer is ideal for baking and roasting larger volumes. This gives excellent results and costs significantly less. Overall, we think this will be the best choice for most people and would be our top recommendation.
To see all of our most recommended air fryers, take a look at our roundup of the best air fryers overall, best air fryer ovens, best Ninja air fryers, and best air fryers to double drawer. Keep in mind that we haven’t finished our review of FlexDrawer yet, so you won’t see it in any of the charts yet.
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