Dinner used to mean juggling trays in the oven, burning one side of the garlic bread while the chicken was still suspiciously pink in the middle, and somehow using every dish in the kitchen in the process.
Then air fryers entered, collectively changing Australian households forever.
Now, one of Ninja’s biggest and most popular models has landed on sale, and it is the kind of appliance that makes you feel strangely emotionally attached after a week of use.
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The Ninja XXXL FlexDrawer Air Fryer AF500ANZ is currently down to $299 on Amazon Australia, slashed from $449.99, saving shoppers 34 per cent.
Considering more than 200 shoppers bought it in the past month alone and it holds a near-perfect 4.8-star rating, it is shaping up to be one of the hottest kitchen buys heading into winter.
Unlike smaller air fryers that force you to cook dinner in frustrating little batches, this beast comes with a massive 10.4 litre MegaZone drawer designed to feed eight or more people at once.
Yes, you can fit an entire roast chicken in there. Yes, you can cook chips at the same time. And yes, it may finally stop arguments over who gets served first.
What makes the FlexDrawer stand out from the avalanche of air fryers currently flooding the market is its removable divider.
Leave it out and you have one giant cooking zone for oversized meals or entertaining.
Slide it in and suddenly it transforms into two independent baskets with separate temperatures and cooking functions.
That means salmon and roast vegetables can cook side-by-side without one turning into charcoal while the other remains tragically underdone.
It is essentially meal-prepping for people who are tired, hungry and slightly over pretending they enjoy washing oven trays.
The appliance comes with seven cooking functions including Max Crisp, Air Fry, Air Roast, Reheat, Dehydrate, Proof and Bake, making it far more versatile than the average countertop gadget collecting dust beside the kettle.
One of the biggest selling points for busy households is speed.
Ninja says the dual heating fans cook meals up to 40 per cent faster than a traditional oven, which feels particularly relevant during those midweek evenings where everyone is hungry immediately and patience levels are hanging by a thread.
The non-stick basket, divider and crisping plates are also dishwasher safe, which may genuinely be the most attractive feature of all.
Shoppers online have been especially enthusiastic about the size, with many saying it replaced multiple appliances in their kitchen and dramatically cut down cooking time for family meals.
For anyone still clinging emotionally to their tiny first-generation air fryer from 2020, this may be the upgrade that finally convinces you to let go.
At $299, the Ninja XXXL FlexDrawer Air Fryer AF500ANZ is unlikely to stay discounted for long, especially with demand for big-capacity kitchen appliances continuing to surge across Australia.
