The Ninja IG651 Foodi Smart XL Pro Grill/Griddle is the latest innovation in the Ninja Foodi Grill Collections. Thanks to its grill and griddle combination, you can now cook all your favorite meals just using one appliance.
It is certainly a multipurpose appliance and has excellent upgrades from the other two Ninja Foodi Grill, Ninja FG551 and Ninja AG301. For example, the most important upgrade of Ninja IG651 is its griddle cooking system because now you can cook more recipes in it.
After that, Ninja IG651 also offers a built-in thermometer for evenly cooked food, a larger cooking capacity, direct heating technology, and 7 different cooking functions ranging from air frying, grilling, BBQ griddle, roasting, baking, broiling, and dehydrating.
Judging from all its noteworthy features, Ninja IG651 is surely an all-in-all appliance. The smart features alone are a good enough reason to upgrade to this wonderful indoor grill.
However, Ninja IG651 is a little bit pricier than its other two siblings. But it’s not a deal-breaker as it comes with more features than the other two models.
If you want to know more about the Ninja IG651 Foodi Smart XL Pro Grill/Griddle, then read the full review and find out if it’s really worth your money.
Things We Love About Ninja IG651
- Modern design adapts to any kitchen decoration
- 500F independently powered grill grate
- The grill grate offers the traditional char-grilled marks
- Easy to use control panel
- Smart cook system eliminates guesswork
- Customizable doneness with the Smart thermometer
- XL capacity fits 6 steaks at one go
- Completely smokeless indoor grill
- Offers 7 cooking functions – Grill, BBQ Griddle, Air Crisp, Roast, Bake, Broil, and Dehydrate
- For accessories, it offers a griddle, grill grate, air frying basket, and a recipe book
- All the accessories are non-stick ceramic coated
- PTFE and PFOA free
- Accessories are dishwasher safe
- Offers 1-year warranty
Things To Consider About Ninja IG651
- Comes with a comparatively high price tag.
- Pre-heating time is 10 minutes. However, you can use this time to prep the food.
- The appliance is large, therefore, requires significant space on your countertop.
Design and Capacity
Ninja IG651 Foodi Smart XL Pro offers a sleek and refined design than the previous models. It features Ninja’s classic black and stainless steel finish that adapts to any kitchen decoration.
Besides, Ninja IG651 also features a clear and concise display with 7 buttons and one turn dial. Everything is well refined and minimalistic for a better user experience so you will get used to it in no time.
The appliance measures 15.7 x 17.4 x 11.63 inches (LxWxH) and weighs around 27.5 Pounds. Certainly, it’s a large appliance but it serves you perfectly as you can make large batches of meals for the whole family in one go.
Like you can make 6 steaks, mains, and sides at the same time in the grill grate. Or you can make a whole platter of nachos, 4 sandwiches, or 6 pancakes on the flat-top BBQ griddle. Furthermore, the air fry basket also lets you make 2 pounds of guilt-free fried foods.
Features of Ninja IG651 Foodi Smart XL Pro
Ninja IG651 Foodi Smart XL Indoor Grill/Griddle is a fantastic appliance that is highly optimized for indoor grilling. Using this nifty appliance you can enjoy the grilling experience all year round and that is from the comfort of your home. For this reason, Ninja IG651 is totally smoke-free so that you can grill delicious meals without starting the fire alarm.
However, the most unique feature of this indoor grill is its smart cook system and the smart thermometer. Thanks to these smart features, you can predetermine the doneness you want from rare to well with 4 smart protein settings & 9 customizable doneness levels.
Therefore, you don’t have to check your food frequently. Just insert the thermometer into the protein items like steaks or chicken breasts and set your preferred doneness level. When that doneness level is reached, the machine turns off automatically. This way you will never end up with over or undercooked meals.
That’s not all, Ninja IG651 also tells you when to flip your food so that you get an even result on both sides.
Apart from all these smart features, Ninja IG651 also offers you a built-in timer, auto shut-off system, and user-friendly control panel. To sum it up, Ninja IG651 features all the necessary features you may need for an effortless grilling experience.
Is Ninja IG651 Indoor Grill Easy to Use?
Though any device has a learning curve, Ninja IG651 Foodi Smart XL Pro is quite easy to use with its user-friendly and intuitive control panel. It is more refined than the previous Ninja grill models with one turn dial and only 7 different buttons.
Using the turn dial you can change into 7 different cooking functions. Each function has pre-set time and temp settings. However, you can always change the time and temp settings manually using the corresponding buttons. Even better, Ninja IG651 also has a manual button so you can use the appliance without selecting any preset functions.
There is also a preheat button. It takes 10 minutes to preheat which is less than any outdoor grills. But if you want you can skip the preheat time. It is not recommended for your first batch of food as preheating helps to cook the food evenly and quickly. But it is ok to skip the preheating process for your second batch of food where the appliance is still hot.
We have already talked about the smart features of Ninja IG651. These features are great as they eliminate all the guesswork required for cooking various protein items.
The cooking presets and smart features will help you a lot on any busy day where you have a little time to cook. All you need to do is just, select the preset function, your desired doneness, insert the thermometer, close the lid, and let the grill do the rest of the work.
And even if you don’t use the thermometer, you can still set a timer and adjust the temperature to achieve that excellent result every time.
Meanwhile, assembling the appliance is super straightforward so you can start the cooking process in no time. Simply align the cooking pot, grill grate, or crisp basket and you are ready for cooking.
Lastly, for ease of maintenance, all the removable accessories are dishwasher safe except for the smart thermometer. You need to manually wash the thermometer probe.
However, it is good to wash the accessories manually as they come with nonstick coating.
See the following video from Ninja Brand to see Ninja IG651 in action.
*Image and Video Courtesy ninjakitchen.com
Accessories of Ninja IG651 Indoor Grill
The Ninja Foodi Smart XL Pro Griddle & Grill comes with 3 different accessories. A Grill Grate (9″ x 12″ ), Flat Top BBQ Griddle (12″), and a Crisper Basket(4-qt.)
The pro power grill grate gives you amazing results while grilling. Also, it is the only Ninja grill grate that gives you the traditional grill marks. You can grill almost about anything on it ranging from meat, fish, or veggies.
Flat Top BBQ Griddle is best suited for making BBQ chicken, steaks, pancakes, or fried eggs. It ensures direct heating so that you get a perfect result for any recipe.
These three accessories are dishwasher safe and come with a nonstick coating for ease of cooking.
After that, you get a 4-quart air fry basket with this indoor grill. It is really helpful for making oil-free snacks and you can make 2 pounds of fried foods at a time.
Lastly, you get a smart thermometer with a cute little storage and also a cookbook for recipe inspirations.
What Can I Make With Ninja IG651?
Ninja IG651 Foodi Smart XL Pro Indoor Grill/Griddle comes with 7 different cooking functions. So certainly there’s a lot you can make with this appliance. But instead of giving you a long list of food items let’s find out how Ninja IG651’s 7 different cooking functions help you to make delicious recipes every day.
Grill
Ninja IG651’s grill function is fully dedicated to indoor grilling. It offers a direct heating element so that you can make evenly cooked food in the shortest possible time.
Using the grill function you can make grilled chicken, fish fillets, steaks, pork chops, hamburgers patties, cheese sandwiches, vegetables, and so many other recipes.
Air Crisp
Thanks to Ninja IG651’s air crisp function, you can now make guilt-free fried food with little or no oil at all. This indoor grill features a top heating element that helps to create a convection system when you keep the hood down. As a result, you can air fry meat, fish, or veggies with 75% less fat.
Griddle
Griddle function is the new addition of this indoor grill. The previous models do not offer this function so it’s a good enough reason to upgrade to this new model. Using this function you can make BBQ chicken, fried eggs, paninis, pancakes, and so many different recipes.
Bake and Roast
Ninja IG651 also offers Bake and Roast functions which are quite unique for an indoor grill. But to be honest, if you have an oven you would probably use it for any roasting or baking tasks. However, it is still good to have these options in your indoor grill in case you don’t want to use any large appliance like your convection oven.
The bake function is perfect for making any kind of baked goods like cookies, cakes, or pizza. And the roast function is used for making roasted meat, fish, chicken, or veggies.
Dehydrate
Dehydrate is another unique function of Ninja IG651. This function is really helpful especially if you love making dried fruits, nuts, chips, or beef jerky. However, Ninja IG651 indoor grill is able to make only small batches of dehydrated foods at a time.
Though it can’t replace a large capacity food dehydrator, it is still useful for making small batches of dried treats to enjoy on the go.
How to Clean Ninja IG651 Indoor Grill Properly?
Ninja IG651 Foodi Indoor grill comes with several accessories. However, maintaining them is quite easy as they are dishwasher safe and non-stick coated.
So if you don’t feel like doing the dishes, you can always load them into the dishwasher. However, if you want the nonstick coating to last longer it is good to clean them manually.
To manually clean them, just soak them for a few hours and then wash them with a soft soapy sponge. All the food debris should come off easily so no need to use any harsh sponge. Then rinse them off on running water and you are good to go.
And for the main device, just wipe clean it with a damp cloth after each use.
Note that, the smart thermometer is not dishwasher safe and you can not submerge the thermometer into the water. Just manually clean the thermometer probe that goes into the meat.
Is Ninja IG651 Indoor Grill Worth Your Money?
Ninja IG651 Foodi Smart XL Pro Indoor Grill/Griddle is certainly the best indoor grill from Ninja Brand. 7 cooking functions, smoke-free experience, and direct heating element make Ninja IG651 an ultimate package. All these things considered, Ninja IG651 is absolutely worth your money.
So if you’re looking for an all-year-round indoor grill and much more, you should totally consider the Ninja IG651 Foodi Smart XL Pro Indoor Grill/Griddle.
Technical Specification Of Ninja IG651 Indoor Grill
Type: Indoor Grill, Griddle, Air Fryer
Brand: Ninja
Series: Ninja Foodi Collection
Model: IG651, IG601
Price: Check here
Wattage: 1760-watt
Functions: 7 cooking functions (grill, air fry, BBQ griddle, bake, roast, dehydrate, broil)
Capacity: 9×12 inches grill grate (6 steaks at one go), 12-inches griddle plate (6 pancakes at one go), and 4-qt crisper basket (up to 2 lbs of fries)
Smokeless: Yes
Dishwasher safe: Yes
Dimensions: 15.7 x 17.4 x 11.63 inches (LxWxH)
Warranty: 1 Year
Related Products: Ninja Foodi, Ninja Foodi Smart XL Grill, Ninja Foodi 5-in-1 Grill
Weight: 27.5 Pounds
