Ninja Woodfire Pro XL

Is the Ninja Woodfire Pro XL worth buying?

Yes, the Ninja Woodfire Pro XL is worth £400 for a household that feeds eight or more and wants wood smoke without lighting charcoal. It takes 10 burgers or two whole 3 kg chickens in one load, and the digital probe reads the centre of the meat while it cooks, so timing stops being guesswork. 186 owners rate it 4.6, a smaller but steady group than the one behind the cheaper Ninja.

It suits a family that cooks outside most weekends and is wasted on a couple grilling four sausages. The whole point of the XL is the 30 per cent more cooking capacity it carries over the OG700 series, and that room only pays off when the table is full. Buy it for the probe and the size, not for the badge.

What does 30% more cooking capacity actually buy you?

It buys a second chicken or four extra burgers in the same cook. Ten burgers at £400 works out at £40 a burger, and two 3 kg chickens at the same price is 6 kg of meat for £66.67 a kilo. That is the arithmetic of the extra 30 per cent against the OG700 series.

The grill plate and the crisper basket both fit alongside the meat, so a full meal comes off one machine instead of a hob and an oven. The four cooking functions, grill, smoke, air fry and roast, mean the same unit does a fast weekday sausage and a slow weekend brisket. In practice that is one cook rather than two, which is what the size is really for.

What comes in the box, and how big is it on a patio?

You get the grill with a UK plug, a digital probe, a smoke box, a crisper basket, a grill plate, a grease tray and liner, two Woodfire pellet starter packs and a scoop. It stands 40.2 cm high, 56.6 cm wide and 50.9 cm deep, so it fits a patio table without swallowing the deck, and it is freestanding rather than built in.

It runs from a cable, so there is no gas bottle to store and no charcoal to light, but the table needs a socket within reach. The two starter pellet packs cover the first few sessions and you buy pellets separately after that. Water resistance to IPX4 keeps a shower from ending the cook, and registering the machine with Ninja extends the guarantee to two years.

Where does the Ninja Woodfire Pro XL fall short?

At £400 it sits £140.01 above the 7-in-1 at £259.99, and that gap is the first thing to weigh. It also needs a mains socket near the table, which rules out a beach, a field and the far corner of a large garden unless you run an extension.

Pellets are a running cost the box only starts: two starter packs come with it and the rest you buy, summer after summer. The 186 ratings are also a much thinner pool than the 1,060 behind the smaller Ninja, so fewer buyers have lived with the XL through a full season.

Everything here is electric, which means none of the charcoal character you get from lumpwood and a lit chimney. If that flavour is the point of the exercise for you, this is the wrong machine.

How does the Ninja Woodfire Pro XL compare with the 7-in-1 and the SUNLIFER barrel?

The Ninja Woodfire 7-in-1 costs £259.99 and cooks 8 burgers against the 10 here, so the £140.01 between them buys two more burgers at a full load plus the digital probe. It also carries 1,060 ratings at 4.7, the strongest record in this group. Take the smaller one if four to six people eat at your table and someone is happy to watch the clock.

The SUNLIFER Large Coal Barrel costs £94.75, which is £305.25 less than the Pro XL, and gives 5,160 cm² of charcoal grate, enough for 24 burgers or five racks of ribs. It is the better buy if you want maximum area, real charcoal and no cable, and you accept that only 17 owners have rated it. The Pro XL is for the cook who would rather plug in, dial a temperature and let the pellets do the smoking.

Does the Ninja Woodfire Pro XL need a special socket?

No, it plugs into a standard UK socket on a corded supply, and the cable is the only fixed part of the setup. There is no gas bottle to store and no firelighters, which keeps a balcony or a small terrace usable. Just check you can get power to the spot before you commit to the table.

What is in the Ninja Woodfire Pro XL box?

The grill arrives with a UK plug, a digital probe, a smoke box, a crisper basket, a grill plate, a grease tray and liner, two Woodfire pellet starter packs and a scoop. That is everything for the first few cooks apart from the food. Pellets and a cover are the extras you buy later.

How much space does the Ninja Woodfire Pro XL take up?

It measures 40.2 cm high, 56.6 cm wide and 50.9 cm deep, so it works on a patio table with room around it for plates. It is freestanding, which means no bench or built-in surround, and it can be moved indoors between cooks. Allow about 57 cm of width wherever it lives.