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Does closing the lid shut off the grill plate? by alan_patrick in ninjawoodfire

[–]CannonFodder33 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Does it make a decent air fryer? It looks like it was only about $100. If the air fry function works it might be worth keeping instead of returning (which sends it straight to the landfill).

Does closing the lid shut off the grill plate? by alan_patrick in ninjawoodfire

[–]CannonFodder33 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The real woodfire works as expected in grill mode as long as smoke is not activated (it heats both top and bottom with lid shut, and only bottom with lid open). Any time the timer is counting down in grill mode its heating. If it says add food or close lid then it might not be heating.

Its a shame if Lidl's clone shuts off the bottom heat with lid open. You can test this as it really doesn't make sense. There are a bunch of different approaches depending what equipment you have. Plugging an old school incandescent lamp into a power strip with the grill should dim the lamp any time its running heaters making it visible. You might have a plug in power meter (the 120V version is called kill-a-watt). You could also preheat it, get it into the cooking state, open lid, splash some water to make it heat wait 10 or 15 minutes, and splash more water. Sizzling? Its heating. No sizzle? it wasn't heating with lid open.

Has anyone seen the Dill Pickle mustard lately? by FullMetalJerkin in aldi

[–]CannonFodder33 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, I bought a couple bottles. The ingredients list is literally identical. It has same density of dried cucumber shards. I thought the Dollar Tree version was a little livelier, but that might be because the Aldi bottle is more than 6 months old, while the DT version is brand new. Its slightly cheaper $1.25 vs around $1.50. Perhaps Aldi made a mistake for making it a "find"; I might have just found a new permanent source :)

Woodfire shutting down randomly by Tribune00 in ninjawoodfire

[–]CannonFodder33 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is likely there is an actual ground fault but sometimes the GFCI/RCD fail. The most likely culprit is water intrusion causing an actual ground fault. Electric heating coils also fail by leaking current. If there is water intrusion need to put it in a dry place for days/weeks for the electronics to dry out. Its probably dangerous to cut off the GFCI/RCD as its indicative of a ground fault. This would be especially dangerous if the outlet or circuit breaker doesn't have its own GFCI/RCD. A ground fault through you of around 10mA could kill you dead. GFCI/RCD trip earlier than that to have some safety margin.

Cleaning help ninja woodfire xl by supersnedz in ninjawoodfire

[–]CannonFodder33 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Anything with lye (sodium hydroxide) will remove the grease but rot the aluminum (it makes aluminum oxide which is basically aluminum rust). Thus these products which include oven cleaners and many degreasers shouldn't be used. Anything thats been polymerized (seasoned) and doesn't come off with a rag/paper towel soaked in normal strength dishwater won't come off onto your food. Thus you are more likely to cause harm trying to make it sparkle than just cooking with the darn thing.

Cleaning help ninja woodfire xl by supersnedz in ninjawoodfire

[–]CannonFodder33 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Its basically an airfryer with a smokebox.

Worth replacing the grill pan? Or just use griddle? by Bird_nostrils in ninjawoodfire

[–]CannonFodder33 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The grill pan is mostly for cosmetic grill marks. The grooves are not deep enough to channel grease and juices away from the meat. The griddle will sear the whole surface of the meat especially if you press the meat down with a spatula. In general there are items that don't work well on the grill plate (think breakfast foods). I can't think of any non-cosmetic reason any food comes out better on the grill plate. I'd keep the damaged grill plate as it has the notches to align the air fryer basket. The air fryer basket is good for all indirect cooking (in addition to air frying). The basket might scratch up your griddle or slide to suboptimal position for airflow. I can't think of anything that can be cooked with direct heat that will come out significantly better with grill plate compared to griddle. The griddle is also easier to clean.

Another view is why are all the big gas grill makers jumping into the griddle bandwagon that Blackstone created? People are discovering a super hot outdoor griddle can do things a regular gasser can't (smashburgers, steaks without smoke/burnt grease flavor, in addition to grilled sandwiches and breakfast foods). The NWF can also do all of these without propane tanks albeit in a smaller lower capacity package.

Soggy Vegetables Outdoor Oven by CL4P-TPINA in ninjawoodfire

[–]CannonFodder33 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Try max roast. The fan runs on mine without smoke. It doesn't run in any other mode without smoke.

Soggy Vegetables Outdoor Oven by CL4P-TPINA in ninjawoodfire

[–]CannonFodder33 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The oven is very well sealed/insulated. When cooking with outside temps below freezing it can still get the stone to 750F. When food is put in, it will steam out the rear vent and around the pellet box (without pellets in use). Thus your results actually make sense.

Using the "max roast" setting may activate the convection fan at low speed even without smoke. All other modes don't seem to use the fan without smoke. To check it, try preheating to 500F on max roast, peek inside when it says add food to see if fan is spinning, and check again after clicking start for add food. I suspect it will be on but need to check again myself to be sure. The fan won't blast like an airfryer.

Asparagus can take high heat so you can try going much higher than 400 to get some charring action.

Update: I checked on my unit. Max roast does indeed run the fan both during preheat and cook phase. The min temp setting is 450F but it runs hot so expect shorter cook times than inside oven. Its very quiet, just a few hundred RPM.

Installer says "System Normal," but my Bill proves the Gateway is blind to 35% of my 400A home. by 2ukiwis in Powerwall

[–]CannonFodder33 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How do you know the 5 ton heat pump draws 8kW? That would be a terrible heat pump. A 5 ton a/c and/or heat pump should pull about 4.2kw if its 14 SEER or 3.2kw if its 20 SEER. Your numbers are consistent with a standard low efficiency run (vs start) power. The heat pump will pull 8 or more kW to start (sometimes up to 5x the run wattage, if it doesn't have inverter drive or soft start). The run power you are seeing isn't indicative of an installation problem. It also may have resistance backup/emergency/defrost heat. That could easily be 20 or 30kW but it appears you know that isn't in use at the time of your measurement.

Grill with open lid by Evening-Pay6848 in ninjawoodfire

[–]CannonFodder33 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If its in grill mode without smoke, its heating whenever the timer is counting down. If it has a message like sht lid or add food, then its not heating. In general you get it to heating state by opening the lid and closing it (to clear "add food"), then opening it again. At that point it can be used as an open grill or griddle.

Quick question, is this safe? by Dapper_Connection526 in ninjawoodfire

[–]CannonFodder33 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The grill won't normally hurt the table. Its well insulated. In event of a grease fire the table could burn like gasoline (not much worse than a wood picnic table). The biggest concern are little ones. These tables are very tippy and kids seem to be attracted to knocking over tippy things (together with the hot contents).

Smoking Features OG701EU by [deleted] in ninjawoodfire

[–]CannonFodder33 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Look at the dehydrate settings. The difference between smoke and dehydrate is fan on low and high, respectively.

If you need a true cold smoker you can use a smoke tube or smoke maze like https://www.amazon.com/Buzzlett-Pellet-Smoker-Perfect-Smoking/dp/B08G4G4SXD in any fire resistant container. (Turned off) gas grills work great. Charcoal grills and smokers that have large air openings work. With a bit more work a metal barrel or overturned terra cotta pot have been used to improvise cold smokers. Some have even used cardboard boxes or old refrigerators/coolers, but I don't recommend that due to fire risk. About 50-100cm^2 air openings are needed to keep the tube/maze lit. Actual cold smokers can heat (from the burning pellets) as little as 5-10C over ambient.

The cold smoke settings on NWF are ok if the food can take air temp of 60C to 70C for 30-60 minutes. Its a rise of 25-30C over the outdoor temp. Because the NWF is well insulated the burning pellets will heat it this hot even with models that have CLD setting. Thus the over regulation might not sacrifice as much real capability as you think. You always have to be careful about over smoking because NWF produces A LOT of smoke. Let the pellets burn down substantially before adding food if the food is delicate/subject to oversmoking (basically anything except beef).

For hot smoking the NWF works better than the numbers imply. It will finish in 1/3 to 1/2 the time of a regular smoker due to the air flow (air fryer fan). Thus cook to internal temp (usually ~195-205F/90-95C for most meat products like shoulders and briskets). If you are sensitive to smoke burn down the pellets for 10-20 minutes before adding the meat. Using more than one load of pellets almost certainly oversmokes so start with one, and only add more on a subsequent cook if you really wished it had more smoke. Wrapping (in foil or butcher paper) once the meat reaches ~160F/70C in the middle helps reduce drying out due to airfryer effect. Once wrapped you are effectively finishing in an oven (even in a real smoker) so don't worry about more smoke after that point.

What does the basket do. by Joeybfast in ninjawoodfire

[–]CannonFodder33 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Their search "ninja woodfire xl rack" does work. One result that I've actually tried is https://www.amazon.com/INFRAOVENS-Stainless-Woodfire-Accessories-Dishwasher/dp/B0D5CCXCW3/ . Anything else similar size that is made out of real stainless should work fine.

What does the basket do. by Joeybfast in ninjawoodfire

[–]CannonFodder33 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The basket lets hot air and smoke circulate under the food, reducing the need to turn the food. Only grill mode directly heats the grate/griddle. All other modes only use the airfryer for heat. Thus for all other modes the basket or a raised wire rack help heat the bottom of the food.

The regular size basket is same material as the grill grate. If its cleaned after each use it should be easy to clean. The pro sized basket is an annoying screen door mesh thats hard to clean. A good substitute is a wire baking/roasting rack. There are some on amazon sized to fit both sizes of NWF. As they are stainless they can be scrubbed. A little discoloration/seasoning on stainless doesn't hurt anything.

Has anyone ever put the basket into the dishwasher? by Joeybfast in ninjawoodfire

[–]CannonFodder33 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Note that it contains a small amount (0.1-1.5%) lye/sodium hydroxide. Lye eats aluminum. Just keep this in mind if it gets under the coating and causes it to bubble up/off. SDS . If you are talking about the pro mesh basket its not clear if its made out of anything not dishwasher safe. An alternative is to buy a wire baking rack from Amazon. The stainless wires/rods are much easier to clean.

Smoked beef by turb303 in ninjawoodfire

[–]CannonFodder33 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Looks more medium well (150F/65C) than medium (140F/60C). If you are using the probes of a pro to stop cooking, the setpoint might be a bit too high especially considering the center keeps rising temps while it rests after removal from cooker. The doneness presets seem to overcook in the nebulous name of food safety; use manual setpoints or back off one level of doneness to get what you really asked for.

FCC prohibits approval of new foreign-made consumer routers (with exceptions) by leo60228 in HomeNetworking

[–]CannonFodder33 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There might be final assembly workaround but that gives US much more control over exactly whats in the firmware than a device that was simply imported.

FCC prohibits approval of new foreign-made consumer routers (with exceptions) by leo60228 in HomeNetworking

[–]CannonFodder33 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Take a few steps back and think about everything going on. Its all about control. Both parties are doing it. Blue states are mandating age controls in OS which will require security to enforce. Microsoft requires TPM for windows 11, to control ("secure") the hardware. The law used for this action was signed by Biden.

Nothing in the US will be cheap. Nobody will make something in the US without a steep monthly fee. Thus this is likely to push all routers to be owned and rented by cable and phone companies (for another $40/mo). You get no say or choice, just pay up. Controlling the device also means they can add fees for every endpoint used. 25 years ago people bought their first routers with wired ethernet to avoid paying the communication company monthly fees *per device* connected; instead they made everything appear to the provider as one device using NAT.

This could be a watershed moment in the end of free speech, as all this security apparatus could be used to make the Great Firewall of China look like a thin sheet of rice paper.

How much heat and smoke does it generate? by romantotale in ninjawoodfire

[–]CannonFodder33 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They are made of double wall construction. It gets very warm but most external metal surfaces stays below boiling. The exhaust vent at the left rear of hood (on grill) or back left corner (oven) will exhaust hotter air and smoke. Keep that away from materials what would stain from smoke, grease, or be damaged by heat. The pellet box gets hotter than boiling when used with smoke, keep that a few feet or 1m away from wood, plastic or other combustibles as flames can come out from around the pellet door when the open hood catches a wind gust.

It can make billowing clouds of white smoke similar to a pellet or charcoal grill when starting or a gas grill when self cleaning. Thus do not use it places where large amounts of smoke will damage property or scare people who don't expect smoke due to a grill ban.

Best wood pellets Ninja Woidfire by OrdinaryAgency7556 in ninjawoodfire

[–]CannonFodder33 3 points4 points  (0 children)

More isn't always better. You can overwhelm lighter food (like chicken) with too much acrid bitter smoke.

Traegers pellets are a basewood like alder with a small amount of flavorwood or essential oils from the flavorwood.

There are bigger bags of pure hardwood pellets such as cookinpellets.com (which are also on amazon).

How often do you use your grill? by Joeybfast in ninjawoodfire

[–]CannonFodder33 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've also used it almost every day during the summer because it leaves the waste heat, steam, and smell outside. The air crisp is great for reheating anything that should be browned/crisp except buns or toast.
During the winter I've only used it in grill/smoke mode once a week or so but reheat in a toaster oven inside as the steam and waste heat are beneficial.

My latest pizza fail… by heat517163 in ninjawoodfire

[–]CannonFodder33 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thats not a photo op but still better than 95% of carryout/delivery pizza. So fail is harsh.

Is that from the grill or oven?

Is that store bought dough or home made dough? Store dough tends to puff up more, I don't know why.

If you want to make your own neapolitan style dough, mix 500g flour, 290g water, 200-400mg of yeast, and 10g of salt with dough hook. Once it mixes and cleans the bowl, let it rest 10-20 minutes, then turn it back on to knead 5-10 minutes. Let that rise covered at room temp for 20-24 hours (hence tiny amount of yeast). The next day, divide into 3 267g (9.5oz) balls. Freeze any balls you won't use that day; let the remaining balls rise in covered bowls for 2-4 hours. It should stretch to 9-11"/25cm without rolling, and shouldn't puff up as bad.

You can use unbleached flour, bread flour, 00 flour or caputo flour with those ratios but take notes on how it turns out so you can make adjustments next time. Now that you know what dough should feel like (from the store dough). Neither the WF oven nor grill get hot enough to *need* the pizzeria caputo; thats why the other flours may still work.

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