Ninja OL501 Foodi 6.5 Qt. 14-in-1 Pressure Cooker Steam Fryer with SmartLid

OK, first: if you don't know it yet, you NEED a pressure cooker. It makes SO many things SO much easier to cook. And this one is a top-of-the-line quality brand and model. Most particularly: it has the temperature thermometer, which is great for roasts. (Does better than my air fryer). I use it almost daily and it just keeps working. Highly recommended for reliability. It is my most-used kitchen appliance other than refrigerator and microwave. Used even more than air fryer and toaster oven. Pros: - Makes cooking so many things a one-step process. For example: many rice dishes, many soups, some stews. For example: mac and spaghetti sauce. I throw in a box of 100% whole wheat macaroni, a jar of spaghetti sauce, salt and water (the correct amount of water learned by experimenting - use 1-3/4 cups water with 1 lb of mac and a 24 oz jar of sauce), turn it on, and...voila - done in about 20 minutes, perfectly al dente every time. No straining. No waiting for a boil. No stirring. No pot-watching. No sticking. No burning. No undercooking or overcooking.(Warning: but if you try to do a double or triple batch, it can burn the mac slightly.) - The built-in thermometer means that it will turn itself off when your roast is at just the right internal temp. I get great results with pork loin, though with a whole pork-loin (which is huge) you'll have to cut your loin into 3 or 4 sections and cook one section after another. - Just tons of settings. Set the temperature when using the thermometer. Set the pressure and the time to pressure cook. Set the time for it to "stand" at pressure, without additional heat, after cooking. Set for immediate release of pressure, delayed release (time-settable), or "natural" release. etc. etc. - Also does air frying, and even does a dual-mode "steam crisp" where it pressure cooks and then air-fries. (I use the steam crisp mode for pork loin with great results.) (I still use my air fryer for food that only needs air-frying.) - Mostly easy to clean. (See cons below for exceptions.) - Goes a long way to make it safe for pressure-cooker newbs like I was when I got it. You can't open the lid while the compartment is pressurized. If pressure is set to automatically release, three quite loud beeps sound about 30 seconds before the steam starts coming out of the release valve. The release valve itself has a "stay cool" handle, so you can safely adjust the valve (if you're just a little bit careful to avoid the spray of steam) even while steam is coming out. Cons: - Cleaning... - - The fan behind the air fryer heating element at the top of the lid is very difficult to clean. You'll want a small-ish pipe cleaner for the job. - - The plastic/rubber seal is a LITTLE tricky to get out and put in. Not terribly difficult, but not super-easy, either. Cleans easily once removed. No stains yet. - The pot... - - Scratches surprisingly easy. - - Sometimes needs soaking despite the coating (I think it's ceramic coating). However: resists staining very well, and even with tons of scratches I hardly ever have food sticking (not yet, anyway). Macaroni, rice - no sticking. - - Personally, I wish a stainless pot were available as an accessory, or even as the main pot. Then I could have my choice between delicate-but-no-stick or sturdy-but-don't-cook-sticky-things. - The controls...Every once in a great while the gizmo shuts itself off before it's finished. Now: this will happen if what you're cooking runs out of liquid, and that's good (because it prevents burning). But it also happens on very rare occasion when there's plenty of liquid, and I'm not sure why. - The heat...for some full-pot pressure-cook dishes, the heat is too much and stuff on the bottom gets burned while heating, and of course there's no way to stir (while pressure is building up) to prevent burning. I wish there was a low-heat setting, that might prevent burning. One partially-successful solution is to cook all the liquids to boiling first (low pressure, 0 minutes), and then (in a second step) add remaining items and cook under pressure as normal. Conclusion: pressure cooking is a great concept, and this particular model is a great choice for pressure cooking. If you don't do roasts, get the cheaper model without the thermometer.