Can Ninja FlexFlame Roast, Smoke, Grill, Griddle And Make Pizza? Ninja claims FlexFlame Does It All.

With Ninja FlexFlame, the innovative appliance-maker rolls its first full-size gas grill onto your deck

Over the years, Ninja has cranked out just about every small electric kitchen appliance imaginable, often managing to cram a bunch of different functions in one unit. Recently they forayed out of our kitchens and onto our patios with their Woodfire Outdoor Oven, a small electric device designed to grill, air fry, bake, broil, roast, dehydrate and smoke outdoors.

SMOKE! Well that sure got our attention. We tested Woodfire and learned it cooks all foods with electric elements and generates smoke by burning wood pellets in a small, attached firepot. Read our review. Soon afterward, Ninja rolled out their Woodfire 8-in-1 Outdoor Oven which has the same “Smoke” feature and adds a “Pizza Mode” to the function list.

For the most part, both devices performed their multi-functions well. And both produced great looking smoked meats with a dark mahogany finish, but the effect was largely cosmetic, with little smoke flavor or aroma. Still we gave Woodfire good ratings for versatility and tipped our hats to Ninja for taking a shot at adding “Smoke” to their muilti-function lists. Plus the two Woodfire devices are nice for what they are; small electric kitchen appliances designed for outdoor use.

Ninja FlexFlame is different. It’s a full size, free-standing gas grill. As such it has to be judged alongside the million and one other full size gassers on the market.

When we first saw the Ninja FlexFlame we were struck by its appearance. “That looks like a gas grill with a jet engine strapped on”, we mused. Of course cooking is more important than looking. That intriguing mechanism housed on the right side is a convection fan and wood pellet burner. Both play a big part in what makes FlexFlame stand out in the crowded world of gas grills.

Ninja FlexFlame

Specifications are 60″W x 25″D x 48″H, weighing 130 lbs. Construction quality is respectable, but not heavy-duty. The burner configuration is unusual by today’s standards, running from left to right rather than front to back. Ninja says this enables FlexFlame to get more even temperature results.

The three main burners are rated 11,000 BTU each for the Back and Middle burners, and 13,000 BTU for the Front burner. A small 2,000 BTU “Pilot” burner runs along the right side. All are covered with heat tents. Here is a photo of the Pilot Burner sans heat tents.

Ninja FlexFlame comes with coated cast iron grates. Stainless steel grates are optional. A removable warming rack is included.

Control panel

The Control System plugs into a standard 110V outlet. Ninja FlexFlame cannot operate without power even though the burners are fueled by gas.

Start by igniting the Pilot Burner. Push the control knob in and rotate left to the “Ignite Pilot” setting.

Look through a cut out in the front heat tent for a blue flame to confirm ignition. The manual instructs to “Hold in for up to 10 seconds”, and man they ain’t kidding. If you switch to any of the four cook settings too quickly the ignition flame dies abruptly before firing FlexFlame up. Once we got used to holding the control knob in until the Pilot was good and lit, the system operated dependably.

Ninja FlexFlame has four cook settings: Grill/Pizza, 2-Zone, Roast/Bake and Low & Slow.

Each setting has a default temperature, but you can dial up any temp within that setting’s range with the Temperature Control knob on the right. The display temp will then toggle between set temp and actual temp until the set temp is reached.

The controller selects which burners are utilized from the one Back Burner for Low & Slow to all three; Back, Mid and Front for Grill/Pizza. The Woodfire Flavor button ignites wood pellets in a small pellet hopper and may be used on any of the four settings. More on Woodfire below.

Temperature Tests

We ran Temp Tests on a mild day with ambient temps around 70°F. Our digital temp probes recorded the left side as somewhat cooler than the right, but this wasn’t an issue in our cooking tests. FlexFlame averaged three of the four setting’s default temps spot on. The exception was Low & Slow which ran hot.  

Fan

A trigger on the right side activates the convection fan when the lid is closed. The only way to shut the fan off is to lift the lid. Ninja recommends cooking with the lid up for griddling and shorter, more interactive cooks and lid down, fan on for all else.

There is no Wi-Fi, no integrated meat probe and no tool hook. HARUMPH!

Low & Slow 200°-300°F

First up was ribs. Ninja FlexFlame uses a scheme for smoking that’s similar to Ninja’s small electric Woodfire units. Wood pellets burn in a metal compartment creating smoke that gets blown under the hood. A big difference, though, is that Woodfires cook with electric elements, while FlexFlame burns gas. Read why this matters here.

The pellet compartment pops out, but once you start smoking, it gets too hot to handle. You have to replenish pellets in that little compartment every 50 minutes or so. We found the best way was to pour them in from a small cup.

FlexFlame got pretty smokey.

The Low & Slow setting is supposed to have a range of 200°-300°F. We couldn’t get it below 250°F. Convection ovens are known to cook faster than conventional ovens. The high temp coupled with the convection fan did indeed make our baby back ribs cook fast in about 2.5 hours. They looked good!

And they were not bad. Cooking on Ninja FlexFlame’s gas burners got better results than Woodfire’s electric elements, but they still barely had a hint of smoke flavor. Two pictures are worth a thousand words. Here are the FlexFlame ribs.

Compared to a second slab we did simultaneously on a dedicated pellet smoker.

Notice the much deeper smoke ring on the ribs cooked in a pellet smoker. If we could get the cooking temp down to 200°F we thought the cook would go slower, exposing the meat to more smoke. So why couldn’t we set FlexFlame to 200°F? Ninja explained, “You won’t be able to hit 200°F unless it’s 60°F or colder outside OR if you add ice baths or wet towels or something to absorb extra energy.” HARUMPH #2!

Roast/Bake 300°-450°F

Time for tasty wings! Ninja FlexFlame came with a “Quick Start Guide” that contained recipes using the different settings. Their wing recipe called for the Grill/Pizza setting at 500°F. We’ve had success using Meathead’s No Mess Crispy Grilled Buffalo Wings at 325°F and went with that on the Roast/Bake setting. One might say we were (nyuk nyuk nyuk) winging it. We added WoodFire smoke just for fun.

The wings cooked evenly without need to move them around as evidenced in both photos.

Smoke flavor was barely present as expected but visually appealing. They were remarkably crispy, which we attributed to the convection fan.

2 Zone 350°-500°F

Making the rounds on the Ninja FlexFlame controller dial, 2 Zone cooking was next. This time we pulled a recipe from their guide, Grilled Halibut With Charred Citrus & Asparagus, which cooked at 375°F. At this setting the Front and Mid burners are on while the Back burner is off, creating a direct heat zone front to middle and indirect zone at the back. Our bread test clearly showed the two distinct zones. 

The results were easy and tasty.

Grill/Pizza 450°-600°F

Cranked to 600°F on the Grill/Pizza setting, Ninja FlexFlame had no trouble searing our skirt steak.

Still in meat mode, we removed the grill grates and heat tents, then slapped on FlexFlame’s optional, full size griddle for a little Cheese Steak action.

A half griddle is also available. Our Infrared Temperature Gun indicated the right side was a bit hotter than the left, but it wasn’t a problem. 

We got similar results cooking cheese steak with the lid up or down. In both scenarios, having the lid to melt cheese was an asset.

Off with the griddle and on with the pizza stone. We re-installed the heat tents and grill grates. FlexFlame’s optional pizza stone sits atop the grates.

Not being much of a pizza maker, I got a couple decent frozen pies and thawed them out. Unless you’re a skilled pizzaiola like AmazingRibs.com’s Meathead, get ready to experiment. As Meathead observes, “The tricky part is getting the bottom and the top done at the same time, simultaneous pizzagasm. If the bottom finishes first, the sausage can be undercooked and the onions raw. If the toppings finish first, the crust will be wet and doughy.” Ninja provides a good amount of detailed instruction and so do we in “The Science Of Pizza On The Grill.” Still I burned the you know what out of the first pie, but was encouraged because both the bottom and top burned; not a simultaneous pizzagasm, but still simultaneous.

Unlike dedicated pizza ovens that bring heat from the top and bottom, most gas grill heat is concentrated at the bottom under the cooking grates. That’s why you have to flip. But you ain’t-a gonna be flippin’ no pizzas are you? Then I remembered our bread tests. Ninja FlexFlame is the only grill I’ve tested that toasted bread on both sides simultaneously. It had to be that convection fan.

My second pizza was better; 600°F for two minutes. The bottom crust was pretty good.

And the top wasn’t far behind.

The top was bubbling, but could have used just a little more heat. Be that as it may, Ninja FlexFlame seems capable of achieving pizzagasm once the cook knows how to hit that sweet heat spot. The convection fan was proving to be a big asset.

Packaging and assembly

The packaging was excellent and assembly directions clear as a bell. The parts were labeled so clearly a child could understand what goes where.

Conclusion

We love the convection fan! It cooks fast, provides even heat and crisps chicken skin like nobody’s clucking business. The burner orientation on the 2 Zone setting may take a little getting used to, but it works fine. Grilling and Griddling – no problem. Pizza making takes some skill, but that would be true whatever you cook on and you’ll be hard pressed to find a gas grill that cooks top down – bottom up without additional accessories like The Baker Stone Pizza Oven Box. The one Achilles heel is Low & Slow Smoking. Minimally, we’d like to see Ninja find a way to go Lower & Slower.

With Woodfire’s smoker performance, we gave Ninja an “Atta Boy” for effort. But now, they’re running with the big dogs and just about any dedicated smoker will cook smoke rings around Ninja FlexFlame. On the other hand, it produces better results than other gas grills with smoke tubes, boxes and pouches. So, after some hand wringing, we give this wild looking, multi-function gasser our AmazingRibs.com Gold Medal.

Final thought: Hey Ninja! For cryin’ out loud, add a few tool hooks and a couple meat probe inputs!

Warranty

Limited warranty.

10 Years – Burners.

3 Years – Lid, Grates, Firebox, Flame Tamers, Baffle and Electric Components.

1 Year – Everything else.