I had lunch at Ninja's giant air fryer restaurant - and discovered 3 things about the revolutionary new Double Stack air fryer

When I received an email inviting me to lunch inside a giant air fryer, my reply was instantaneous - I would absolutely be there. I wasn't going to miss this one, especially not when the humungous appliance in question was one of the best Ninja air fryers, a brand that I've been writing about for years now.

Our coverage of all-things-Ninja-air-fryer is justified, a fact I can confidently state thanks to us testing every single kind out there and dozens of competing brands of the best air fryer over the past few years.

So when the launch of the new Ninja Double Stack air fryer arrived, it did feel fitting to walk through a giant air fryer drawer doorway and be greeted by none other than Fred Sirieix (of First Dates fame) to be served lunch. Naturally. Here's what I learned after enjoying three courses all concocted in Ninja's newest star buy.

3 things I didn't know about the Ninja Double Stack air fryer

This was my first chance to get up close and personal with Ninja's newest air fryer, and there was plenty to learn.

The first thing I hadn't realised was that, unlike the ever-popular pick of the best dual zone air fryers, the Ninja Foodi MAX Dual Zone Air Fryer, the baskets of the new Double Stack feature holes in the back. This is because due to the reimagined design, the convection element of the air fryer now sits at the back, so air flow has to be achieved another way.

This makes cooking wet mixes, like anything with a sauce a la bolognese, a no-go, unless you want to decant it into a separate container that goes into the basket. Sauces probably aren't a go-to in an air fryer anyway, but it's good to take care in the Double Stack with generally messier foods, as you want to avoid dirtying the cooking element at all.

The second thing I learned helped me to debunk a popular air fryer myth I've seen floating around - that battered or fried foods won't do. I constantly use my air fryer to fry tofu that I've coated in cornflour and panko breadcrumbs to great effect, and at the lunch with Ninja, I was served up fried chicken cooked to perfection in just 10 minutes in the Double Stack.

The last thing that caught my attention with the Double Stack? The 'Stacked Meal Racks' that you receive as standard with your purchase. Though I've seen them recommended everywhere, I've never tried using them in my own air fryer.

When I got up close with them at this lunch event, I saw that they are as effective as Ninja promises in order to create extra zones for cooking, so that you have four distinct spaces for foods instead of two. I saw that in particular when the chefs at the pop-up used the extra space to bake divine chocolate brownies for pudding.

The Ninja Double Stack is the air fryer that just keeps on giving. And after seeing it in both it's real and super sized versions, we're even more sure that it's one of the best you can buy out there.

Our favourite Ninja air fryers and alternatives