The Ninja DZ401 is a large-capacity dual-drawer air fryer. Air fryers don't get much bigger than this 10-quart model, so it's a good option if you plan to cook full meals for the family in your air fryer. You can cook two separate foods in each drawer using different settings. It's cheaper and simpler than the similar Ninja Foodi DZ550 since it lacks that model's 'Smart Cook' feature.
Our Verdict
The Ninja DZ401 is a very good air fryer. It has a big 10-quart capacity and a lot of surface area in its baskets to arrange food in a single layer. It preheats and cooks quickly, and its wide range of fan speeds and temperature settings make it useful for a variety of different recipes and cooking methods. However, it doesn't perform as well as some similar models. While it makes decent-quality air-fried food, quite a large proportion gets overcooked before all of it is properly cooked.
- Big surface area for cooking.
- Cooks quickly.
- Wide range of temperature settings and fan speeds.
- Food isn't cooked very evenly.
The Ninja DZ401 is great for large-batch cooking. It's bigger than most air fryers, with a 10-quart capacity, and it's intended for preparing full meals and serving bigger groups of 5 or more. The two baskets give you a lot of surface area to arrange food in a single layer, and you can cook two different types of food using different settings in each basket. However, while fast and versatile, it doesn't make the best-quality fried food.
- Big surface area for cooking.
- Cooks quickly.
- Big 10-quart capacity.
- Wide range of temperature settings and fan speeds.
- Food isn't cooked very evenly.
The Ninja DZ401 has a good frying performance. Its extra-large capacity gives you a lot of room to arrange food in a single layer, which produces the best results. It's also fast and maintains a stable temperature during cooking. However, it makes worse-quality air-fried food than you might expect, likely because of how its fan behaves. It produces decently even air frying results, but compared to similar models, a big proportion of your food is overcooked by the time it's done.
- Big surface area for cooking.
- Cooks quickly.
- Food isn't cooked very evenly.
The Ninja DZ401 is a fast air fryer. It preheats and cooks your food quickly.
- Cooks quickly.
The Ninja DZ401 has a great cooking capacity. This 10-quart air fryer is meant for preparing full meals, and you have a lot of surface area to arrange food in a single layer across the two baskets.
- Big surface area for cooking.
- Big 10-quart capacity.
The Ninja DZ401 is a big 10-quart air fryer with a bulky design, so it'll take up quite a bit of space on your counter.
- Takes up a lot of space.
Performance Usages
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Ninja DZ401 comes in two colorways: 'Copper/Black' and 'Grey.' We tested the 'Grey' version. Here's a picture of our unit's label.
If you encounter another variant, let us know in the comments, and we'll update our review.
Popular Air Fryer Comparisons
The Ninja DZ401 is a large-capacity air fryer intended to serve bigger groups of 5-6 people. Like most other dual-basket air fryers, like the Ninja Foodi DZ550 and the Beautiful 9QT TriZone, you can cook different foods separately in each of the baskets using different settings. However, it makes fried food worse than the DZ550, despite being very similar, because of the way the fan behaves after you add food. The DZ550 offers a much better air frying performance and also has a 'Smart Cook' feature that uses a built-in thermometer to monitor doneness. However, it's also a bit more expensive.
If you're looking for a recommendation, check out our list of the best air fryers.
The Ninja Foodi DZ401 performs better than the T-fal Easy Fry XL in every area, with one very important exception: the T-fal produces better-quality fried food. The Ninja tends to either undercook or burn a large portion of each batch, while the T-fal leaves a larger percentage crispy and golden brown. That said, the Ninja is much more versatile; it has two baskets, so you can cook food separately, and it has a wider range for both temperature and fan speeds. The Ninja also preheats and cooks faster, with less temperature fluctuation and a faster heat recovery after adding food.
Test Results
This air fryer has a big 10-quart capacity and, as you might expect, has a large cooking surface area to arrange food in a single layer. Like most other Ninja air fryers, its crisper tray has a ceramic coating, unlike the more common PTFE non-stick coating. You might prefer that if you avoid traditional non-stick materials, but ceramic isn't as easy to clean by hand.
It has great versatility. The seven different settings give you access to a range of temperatures and fan speeds for various recipes and cooking methods. It has a high maximum temperature of 450°F for quick cooking and crisping, and its minimum temperature of 105F is suitable for dehydrating.
- Air Fry: 300°F – 400°F, 1 - 60 minutes
- Air Broil: 400°F – 450°F, 1 - 30 minutes
- Roast: 250°F – 400°F, 1 - 4 hours (Time is adjustable in one-minute increments up to one hour and in 50-minute increments beyond one hour)
- Bake: 250°F – 400°F, 1 - 4 hours (Time is adjustable in one-minute increments up to one hour and in 50-minute increments beyond one hour)
- Reheat: 270°F – 400°F, 1 - 60 minutes
- Dehydrate: 105°F – 195°F, 1 - 12 hours (Time is adjustable in 15-minute increments)
It makes decent-quality air-fried food. When you air fry food like onion rings, vegetables, or chicken wings, a little over half comes out well-cooked, golden brown, and crispy. However, compared with other air fryers, a large proportion of the food is overcooked or burnt before all of it's properly cooked.
Surprisingly, this model performs worse than the Ninja DZ550, a very similar model. This air fryer is one of two Ninja air fryers tested with an upward-facing vent. Most have flat vents. Here's a comparison of the two vent designs: the Ninja Foodi DZ401's upward vent on the right and the Ninja Foodi DZ550's flat vent on the left.
The other Ninja with an upward vent, the Ninja Max XL AF161, performed better when we removed the vent cover. This is because our test methodology determines when the food is ready by measured moisture loss (by weight). We believe the horizontal vent caused the machine to retain more moisture, causing us to cook the fries for longer than you would at home if you're judging doneness visually.
We replaced the DZ401's upward vent with the DZ550's flat one, as you can see in this photo, and ran the test again. However, the results were the same as before, with the air frying quality significantly worse than the DZ550's.
After further investigation, we noticed a difference in how the fan behaves versus other models. Other Ninja air fryer's fan speeds decrease to 2500 rpm when you open the drawer to add food and then ramp up again to 2900 rpm as the air fryer returns to temperature. This model doesn't do that; instead, it maintains a constant fan speed. We believe this is why this model burns more food compared to the DZ550 and most other Ninja models we've tested.
It has great temperature stability. It recovers to your selected temperature quite quickly after you add food. It maintains a very stable temperature during cooking, which makes it easier to follow recipes and properly cook delicate foods.
