Article by Brooke Shoupe, RN
Key Points
- The Ninja Foodi Possible Cooker Pro is an 8.5 quart capacity kitchen appliance that expands on the crock pot concept.
- If all you need is a crock pot, you should pass on this device. If you like many of the additional cooking features, it’s a great buy.
- Quality design and built multi-function cooker
- Non-stick surface makes it very easy to clean
- A lot of cooking features for the price
- Pot is oven-safe up to 500°F
- Can sauté items right in the pot
- Overpriced if all you need is a slow-cooker
- Slow-cooking feature cooked slower than I expected
- It's large, so you'll need ample cabinet space for storage
Table of Contents
What is the Ninja Foodi Possible Cooker Pro?
First, let’s talk about what it is not. It is not a pressure cooker like some other Ninja appliances. To me, the appliance is a souped-up (see what I did there) crock pot. Think of it as a crock pot that can steam, sauté, sous vide, proof bread, and a bit more. The entire list of capabilities are detailed below.
What I Like About the Ninja Foodi Possible Cooker Pro
If you want to take your slow cooking up a notch, then the Ninja Foodi Possible Cooker PRO is worth trying. There are some fantastic vital features, but some spoke more to me than others.
Reduces Cleanup Time
I love to cook, but I love convenience even more. What I loved about my time testing this device is that it reduces the mess involved in cooking. Everyone in my home has a busy schedule, so anything like this device, which shaves minutes, is a plus.
With the Possible Cooker, I could throw an entire pot roast in the unit. At 8.5 quarts, I could easily cook entire meals for my family. I could make a large pot of soup and freeze enough for the family to have leftovers another day.
The Possible Cooker is large. It’s 8.5 quarts to be exact, which means I can throw in an entire pot roast or make enough soup to serve and freeze for another meal.
Replaces 14 Cooking Tools and Appliances
Are you overrun with appliances and wish you could just get rid of it all? The Ninja Foodi Possible Cooker can make that dream a reality. This appliance serves as a slow cooker, steam oven, food warmer, nonstick pot, sauté pan, cast iron skillet, saucier, steamer, saucepan, stock pot, Dutch oven, roasting pan, and bread maker.
Those are many options that offer the user the possibility to do more with one appliance than just soups and stews.
Get Fancy by Sears & Sautéing Directly in the Pot
I love to cook and understand that while I can slow-cook soup in a crock pot, I still like to add sauteed onions and garlic first. This normally requires pulling out the sauté pan, which leads to more dishes and work. But not with this Ninja appliance.
Not only do you save on work, but you also save on flavor because there are always bits left over on the sauté pan. With the Ninja Foodi Possible Cooker, all the delicious bits are right in the pan and are ready to incorporate into your soup or other dish.
Oven Safe to 500°F
The core of this appliance serves like a Dutch oven. So you can use it to make bread or pop it in the oven so that your mac and cheese has an extra crispy breadcrumb top. Being able to move the pot from the heating base to an oven opens its use up to more possibilities.
Easy Cleanup
Because there are only a few pieces to this appliance, cleaning it is easy. The pot is nonstick. So removing any food particles is a breeze; or at least it is when it is new out of the box. As you are probably aware, nonstick coatings tend to degrade with use.
But for now, at least, the Ninja Foodi Possible Cooker is a one-pot appliance that cuts out a ton of cleaning. Which is nice because I love to cook but hate to clean.
What I Do Not Like About the Ninja Foodi Possible Cooker PRO
Can’t Sauté at High Heat
The sauté feature is excellent, but don’t count on using it to put a good sear on anything. When sautéing onions or peppers, it takes a few minutes longer than when I use a skillet on my stovetop.
The unit is too large to pull from under a cabinet to sauté vegetables anyway. So, while it can sauté, it isn’t designed to do it well.
It’s Rather Large
The Ninja Foodi Possible Cooker PRO is 8.5 quarts. So, it didn’t fit snuggly under my cabinets while I tested the unit over several weeks.
Other Features & Things to Consider
It’s Safe & It’s Easy to Use
There is no open flame when using the Ninja Foodi Possible Cooker, which makes this appliance much safe than a traditional range. It’s also free of PFOA, which stands for Perfluorooctanoic acid. High levels of this substance have been linked to several health issues, including high cholesterol.
8 Cooking Functions
I definitely think the Ninja Foodi Possible Cooker takes a crock pot to another level. It can slow cook, sear, sauté, steam, sous vide, braise, bake, proof, and keep your meals warm.
The only functions I tested were Slow Cook, Sear/Saute, and Steam. Which is probably the same for most people. I used to bake more bread back in the day, so I see how that feature can be helpful. But I’ve never cooked via Sous Vide and I doubt most people have either.
Triple Fusion Heat® Technology
Triple Fusion Heat technology is sold as a gigantic leap in cooking technology. It is advertised as combining bottom, side, and steam heat, which enables it to cook food up to 30% faster than a conventional oven.
Does it cook faster than a conventional oven? Absolutely. Because when you steam something, it cooks faster than roasting. It’s not as much of a major scientific breakthrough as Ninja would like you to believe.
Multi-Functional Utensil
The Ninja Foodi Possible Cooker comes with a utensil that can be used as a ladle and pasta fork. Plus, it rests on the lid, so you can’t lose it. Of course, I say that, but I always put utensils on a large, decorative label.
Wrapping Up
Do I recommend you buy the Ninja Foodi Possible Cooker? It depends on your needs.
If you need most of the options it offers, then definitely buy it. If all you’re looking for is something you can press a button and walk away, I wouldn’t recommend this because it’s expensive, and you can find a regular slow cooker for much less.
But if you want to sauté onions in the same pot as your veggie soup while still being able to use the slow cooker method, then this is the appliance for you. I also love that I can make mac and cheese, from creating the sauce to baking a crispy garlic bread crumb topping all in one pot. It’s ability to be a steamer cannot be discounted, either.
FAQs
What are people saying about the Ninja Foodi Possible Cooker?
I’ve read through the reviews, and, for the most part, people love this appliance. They adore the convenience of having a one-pot option that can cook such a wide variety of food. Some purchasers had issues with the lid not fitting, but that was lower than 1% of the people who reviewed the product.
Not many things get a five-star rating in this world, and the Ninja Foodi Possible Cooker is one of them. It comes in just under five stars, which I still find impressive. Another issue buyers had with this product was the lack of recipes provided in the included book.
There were also several complaints that the slow cook setting was too slow for their recipes, but there were only a few.
I recently bought one of these at Costco without reading any reviews so I was very happy when I read this article. I am excited about the sous vide feature as my nephew had used that method on some boneless chicken breasts and then grilled them and they were the best I have ever eaten.
We are moving to solar and have a gas stove, so I think this will be a good way to cook without using the grid or the gas. Thank you.