Ninja Woodfire review: I love this versatile outdoor cooking gadget

The Sun

4 days ago

LIVING in the city but craving that smoky BBQ flavour? The struggle is real when balancing outdoor cooking dreams with limited space.
Enter the Ninja Woodfire – the compact cooking powerhouse that has become my absolute summer essential since its launch, and we've had the chance to update our Ninja Woodfire review.
Ninja Woodfire Electric BBQ Grill and Smoker, £299.99
BUY HERE
This clever little gadget packs seven cooking functions into one portable unit, allowing you to grill, smoke, air fry, and more without needing a massive traditional barbecue.
What makes it brilliant is how it delivers proper smoky flavour from a unit barely bigger than a carry-on suitcase.
Perfect for balconies, small gardens, or even taking to a mate's place for the ultimate cookout.
The results? Juicy, flavour-packed food that genuinely rivals traditional BBQ methods.
Want to know if it's worth the investment for your summer cookouts? Read my review below to see why this space-saving marvel continues to impress.
Ninja Woofire: Key stats
Cooking functions 7-in-1 (grill, smoke, air fry, roast, bake, reheat, dehydrate)
Power source Electric (120V) with wood pellet smoke flavouring
Cooking area 141 square inches – enough for 2-4 servings
Maximum temperature 371°C
Wattage 1760 watts
Smoke generation 45 minutes from 1/2 cup of wood pellets
Preheating time 20+ minutes to reach max temperature
Dimensions H34 x W46 x D46 cm
Weight 12 kg
Pros
Compact
Versatile
Easy to set up
Easy to clean
Intuitive
Smoker function takes BBQ food to the next level
Cons
Rating: 9/10
Ninja Woodfire: The Nitty Gritty
The Ninja Woodfire essentially stands alone on the market, but the best way to describe it is as a multicooker geared towards summer.
You get many of the same features as air fryer/grill hybrids like the Salter AeroGrill Pro or the Ninja Foodi Health Grill, but with one summery addition: a smoker function, which allows you to impart your food with wonderful, woodsy flavours.
There are a total of seven functions, including Grill, Roast, Air Fry, and Bake.
The BBQ grill and smoking function indicate that it's an outdoor gadget, and Ninja states explicitly that it's for outdoor use only.
Delivery and first impressions
The Woodfire is a compact gadget, measuring 34cm x 46cm x 46cm. That means it's great for those with small gardens, or those who only want to make enough food for a couple of people.
It's actually small enough that you could feasibly take it away camping, as long as you had a power source. However, its portability does mean it's not suited to cooking for a crowd.
It's also a really nice gadget to look at, with a sleek black, silver and gunmetal grey design, and a smart digital display.
Setup is an absolute breeze; the only sort of assembly you need to undertake is attaching the side handles, which is easy thanks to the inclusion of an Allen key.
All you need to do then is plug it into a socket, and you're ready to go.
The only complaint our reviewer had about the design was that the side handles and feet are made of cheap hard plastic rather than something smarter and rubberised; it doesn't match up with the rest of the build quality, which is as sturdy as you'd expect from a Ninja gadget.
A nice touch is the inclusion of a recipe booklet, which provides inspiration for cooking with a range of the device's functions; a recipe we're particularly looking forward to trying is the smoked tear-and-share garlic bread.
Gino D'Acampo has even teamed up with Ninja to produce a trio of recipes for the Woodfire.
It's worth noting that the Woodfire doesn't come with a cover, but it is water resistant to rating IPX4, meaning light splashes won't affect it.
If you'd rather be safe and get a cover, there is one available on Amazon for £16.99.
Ninja also does a bundle comprising a Woodfire, a cover and a stand for £499.97, although at the time of writing, it's out of stock.
Does it deliver?
The Ninja Woodfire comes with seven cooking functions:
Smoke
BBQ Grill
Air Fry
Roast
Bake
Dehydrate
Reheat
To achieve these functions, the device comes with a BBQ grill like you'd get on a standard BBQ, which can reach temperatures of 260 degrees.
You can also remove the grill and replace it with an air fryer basket.
The headline features here are obviously the smoking and BBQ grill abilities, which are what separates the Woodfire from the huge selection of other multicookers on the market.
Included with the Woodfire is a Wood Pellet Starter Pack, which allows you to get to grips with the smoke function.
There are two types of pellets included: Robust, which imparts a stronger BBQ flavour more suited to meats, and the All-Purpose Blend, which is suited to meat, fish and vegetables.
Ninja includes enough of each pellet for six smoking sessions.
Both pellets imbue your food with a wonderful, discernable smoky flavour that is undoubtedly a cut above the food you usually eat in people's back gardens — we made some smoked ribs for a family party and were showered with compliments.
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Ninja Woodfire Electric BBQ Grill and Smoker, £299.99
BUY HERE
At 28cm x 37 cm, the cooking area isn't the biggest in the world, but we found that it's more than enough to smoke a 1.5kg joint of meat (enough for six or so people) or grill a full meal for two.
And we were happy to give up some of the cooking area in exchange for the Woodfire's portability.
The air fryer functions also work perfectly and efficiently (sweet potato fries took us 12 minutes, as a yardstick), and we loved the fact that it beeps to remind you when to turn your food.
A factor that often puts people off barbecuing is the cleanup, which can be greasy, messy and a bit off-putting.
However, the Woodfire is extremely easy to clean; thanks to the non-stick properties of both the grill and the air fryer basket, all you really need to do is give them a wipe.
However, these components aren't dishwasher-friendly.
Where to buy the Ninja Woodfire
It's a testament to the Ninja Woodfire's immediate popularity that several retailers have already sold out of their stock of the gadget.
However, there are still plenty of places you can buy it, and you'll usually find it at one of these retailers:
Ninja
Lakeland
Very
Argos
Currys
Studio
Robert Dyas
Ninja Woodfire alternatives
It's also worth noting that, to the best of our knowledge, there are currently no other devices that can do that; the closest alternative is probably the Landmann Fryton BBQ, which features an integrated air fryer but lacks smoking capabilities.
However, if you aren't too bothered about the Woodfire's BBQ and smoking capacities, then there's a whole host of indoor multicookers that cost a lot less. We're fans of the Salter AeroGrill Pro, which can grill and air fry and is over £200 cheaper than the Woodfire.