Description
The Ninja Foodi FD401 Deluxe XL is an eight quart electric pressure cooker with a second, separate crisping lid that turns it into an air fryer. It ships with a five quart crisper basket, a reversible rack and a recipe book, and it draws 1760 watts. This review is written from the published listing data. We do not own or operate the appliance, and where the listing contradicts itself we name the contradiction.
Who this cooker is for and what it settles
The Foodi settles whether you can pressure cook and crisp in the same vessel without moving the food. Ninja calls the combination TenderCrisp: pressure cook to tenderize, then swap to the crisping lid and finish with hot air in the same pot. For dishes where the traditional method is a long braise followed by a spell under a broiler, that is a genuine workflow saving rather than a feature list entry.
It is a large appliance. Published dimensions are 14.57 inches deep by 16.1 wide by 14.2 high, and it weighs 26 pounds. That is more than twice the weight of a six quart Instant Pot and it needs permanent worktop space or a strong shelf, because it is not something you will lift in and out of a cupboard casually. The two lids also both need storing, and the crisping lid is attached while the pressure lid is separate.
If capacity is the draw but air frying is not, the six quart Instant Pot Duo is far smaller and lighter, and the three quart Duo Plus smaller still.
The specification that will decide where you put it
The published power draw is 1760 watts at 120 volts. That is close to 15 amps, which is the rating of a standard North American kitchen circuit, and it is nearly twice the draw of a 1000 watt pressure cooker.
In practice that means this appliance wants a circuit to itself. Running it alongside a kettle, a toaster or a microwave on the same circuit is a good way to trip a breaker in the middle of cooking. Check what else is on the socket you intend to use before you buy, and do not run it through a light duty extension lead.
Other published figures: an eight quart ceramic coated nonstick pot described as PTFE and PFOA free, a five quart ceramic coated crisper basket stated to hold up to a seven pound chicken, a stainless steel reversible rack for steaming and broiling, and a 45 recipe book. Ninja states 14 safety features and rigorous safety testing without listing them individually. The model number is FD401 LP3, the manufacturer is SharkNinja and country of origin is given as China.
Is the pot dishwasher safe or not?
The listing says both. A feature bullet describes the eight quart ceramic coated pot as nonstick, PTFE and PFOA free, and easy to hand wash. The structured field labeled “Is Dishwasher Safe” reads yes. The crisper basket is separately and explicitly described as dishwasher safe.
“Easy to hand wash” is the phrasing manufacturers use when they would rather you did not put a ceramic coated pot in a dishwasher, since detergent and heat shorten the life of that coating. The structured field says otherwise. Check the printed manual before you commit an eight quart pot to a dishwasher cycle, because a damaged nonstick coating is the most common reason these pots get replaced.
Using it correctly
This appliance has two distinct hazards because it does two distinct jobs.
Under pressure, the risks are steam and hot liquid. Keep hands, arms and face away from the steam release when venting, reach in from the side rather than over the valve, and vent away from cabinets and from anyone nearby. Never try to open the pressure lid while the cooker is still under pressure. Do not fill above the maximum line, and use considerably less for foods that foam or expand such as beans, grains and pasta, because they can block the vent. Never run it without liquid in the pot.
Air crisping is a dry heat operation and the hazards are different. The crisping lid gets hot on the outside as well as the inside, and it stays hot after the cycle ends. The basket and the rack come out hot enough to burn through a thin cloth. Leave clearance above and behind the unit for hot air to escape, and do not run it under a low cabinet or against a wall.
Do not confuse the two lids’ functions. The pressure lid is not for crisping and the crisping lid does not seal for pressure. Check which one is fitted before starting a program.
The material field on this listing reads “Plastic” for the appliance as a whole, which describes the outer housing rather than the cooking surfaces. Keep the housing away from direct heat sources on the worktop.
What the twelve functions actually give you
Ninja lists twelve programmable functions: pressure cook, air fry and air crisp, steam, slow cook, yogurt, sear and saute, bake, roast, broil, dehydrate, sous vide and keep warm. Unlike some competing listings, none of those is repeated to pad the count.
What they represent, though, is two heat sources and a timer rather than twelve distinct technologies. Pressure cooking and steaming come from the sealed lid; air frying, baking, roasting, broiling and dehydrating all come from the crisping lid at different temperatures and fan speeds. Understanding that makes the appliance easier to use, because it tells you which lid a given job needs before you start. For a plain stovetop alternative with no programs at all, the T-fal pressure cooker is listed here.
Limits and gaps in the published data
As with the other cookers here, the listing does not publish the maximum operating pressure, which is the figure recipe timings depend on. It publishes no sealing ring replacement interval, no spares availability and no warranty term. The 12 function list is fully distinct with no repeats, which is more than can be said for some competing listings.
The recorded rating is 4.8 out of 5 across 30,591 ratings, which is the highest average of the cookers in this catalog on a substantial sample. It measures buyer satisfaction rather than cooking performance.
Who should buy it and who should not
Buy it if you have the worktop space, a circuit that can take 1760 watts, and you would genuinely use both the pressure and the crisping functions rather than one of them. Do not buy it if space or weight is tight, if your kitchen circuits are already loaded, or if you want a simple pressure cooker, in which case the Instant Pot models linked above do that job in a third of the weight. The rest of the assorted pressure related products here sit in the mixed shortlist section, separate from the pressure washer pages that make up most of this site.
