Ninja OG751 Electric BBQ Grill & Woodfire Smoker (kitchen review)

The Ninja OG751 Electric BBQ Grill & Woodfire Smoker is an awesome kitchen appliance —well, an outdoor kitchen appliance. It can smoke meat and is also a large-capacity BBQ grill, air fryer, oven roaster, baker, dehydrator, and reheater.

Now, I must admit, I’m a fan of smoked meat—pork (baby back pork ribs and roast), beef (brisket, ribs), poultry (chicken, turkey, duck), and lamb (shanks and roasts). But I’ve never tried my hand at it at home. I usually head to a restaurant, willing to pay $50 or more for a meal I relish, and the chef earns money for preparing.

I thought the process of smoking meat at home was beyond Joe and Jane Average. It is not.

What is smoking meat?

I have watched some of the Texas Pit Master TV shows, and it seems to involve long hours (usually a day or more) of basting big lumps of meat over low heat (50-80°) in a wood-fired smoker. The smoke comes from oak, beech, hickory, mesquite, pecan, alder, maple, and fruit tree woods, such as apple, cherry, and plum. It imparts an intense, deep, smoky flavour to the meat. These pit masters are the experts, and unfortunately, no home device will ever replicate that technique.

The Ninja OG751 is a smoke roaster that uses wood pellets to smoke and roast meat. It roasts at conventional times and temperatures from 120-190°, just like in the kitchen oven. Simply put, if you can roast meat, you can now smoke it, too. While it imparts a decent smoky flavour, it is important to note that it cannot replicate the depth of a pit master’s technique.

It is important to realise that the Ninja OG751 Electric BBQ Grill & Woodfire Smoke is as simple to use as an oven—because it is just that. It is meant for outdoor use, as it burns special wood pellets to smoke meat simultaneously.

Australian Review: Ninja OG751 Electric BBQ Grill & Woodfire Smoker (review 16/6/24) – ANZ version includes an air fry basket and an integrated thermometer probe.

Website	Ninja Company site Product page Manual Set-up guide
Price	Cool Grey ANZ Model RRP $899.99 but seen as low as $699.99
From	Ninja Online, Myer, David Jones, and Amazon AU
Warranty	12-months ACL
Company	Ninja is a kitchen brand developed by SharkNinja, a pioneer in small household appliances and cleaning. Its headquarters are in Needham, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. Mann&Noble is the exclusive distributor for SharkNinja in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Malaysia.
More	CyberShack kitchen appliances news and reviews

We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

We are also tightening up on grading. From now on, Pass, for example, means meeting expectations for the price bracket. We consider a Pass mark to be 70+/100 with extra points added for class-leading and excellence.

First Impression – Pass+

It is largish – 60 x 47.2 x 33.8 cm x 13.9kg. My first impression was panic – I had never smoked meat before. How do I do it? What if this is a disaster? I try not to fail.

It is meant for undercover outdoor use as the smoker produces smoke that needs to be vented. If you were not using the smoking function, you could use it indoors, although Ninja placed a large warning sticker advising against this.

It is compact, made of Cool Grey powder-coated steel, an aluminium chassis, and an ABS plastic frame/control panel. We live beside the sea and are reasonably confident that the optional cover will provide enough protection—if not, we can store it in a utility cupboard between uses.

The panel has a rotary knob for off, smoking, grilling, air frying, roasting, baking, dehydrating and reheating. There is a separate Woodfire Flavour button that you can use for the above (except reheat).

The ANZ model has a grill plate, crisper air fry basket, grease tray, and thermometer probe.

Why and who should buy the Ninja OG751 Electric BBQ Grill & Woodfire Smoker?

Why is easy. It imparts a delicious smoked flavour to roasted meats—almost any protein and a lot of vegetables, too. You need to taste-test that. Roast half a pork loin and taste it. Roast/smoke the other half and savour it.

Who is easy. It is perfect for singles, couples, and families of four, particularly those who live in apartments (you need a balcony) and don’t want to spend money on a gas BBQ (that can only grill). It is not for larger families. Or if you have a caravan, motorhome, off-road vehicle, or even a cabin cruiser (240VC power and a few kWh to spare), it is perfect.

Now, you may already have a grill, air fryer, portable oven, etc., so the only advantage is smoking. In the few weeks I have been testing it, I have come to like the smoke flavour, particularly for roasts.

The bottom line: It can replace several kitchen appliances and be used outdoors (for smoke) and potentially indoors (no smoke). You will never look back once you get used to using a multi-function device.

I have been using the original Nina Foodie Grill daily since 2019. It cooks sausages and bacon in the morning, can make toasties at lunch, and grill meats and vegetables or air fry in the evening. It has replaced my double grill, stovetop, and oven with a far more energy-efficient device. The only other device I need is a combo pressure/slow cooker/steamer like the Ninja Foodi SmartLid Multi Cooker – OL650.

Ninja OG751 Electric BBQ setup – Pass+

Apart from screwing the side handles on (tool provided) and finding a spot out of the weather with nearby power – that is it. Oh, and read the manual – twice. It is not difficult to use, but this reassures you that it is easy.

The 1200mm power cable has a residual current detector that immediately switches off the power if an earth leakage is detected. There is also an on/off switch under the device.

Attempt one – smoke them ribs! – Pass+

We went to Coles for brisket or ribs. We needed a usable portion size (my wife and I are not big meat eaters) and found Coles Pork Ribs 1.2kg – a 2-pack of ribs for $17/kg. Our reasoning was that half or more of the weight was bone, which meant 500g of meat or about 250g each – doable. Not having read the manual yet (that is overconfidence), we also bought a $4.50, 375g bottle of Masterfoods Smokey BBQ marinade just in case!

We later read the manual, and indeed, ideally, the ribs require either a dry rub or marinade, so we used the Masterfoods sauce and marinated for 24 hours.

The manual also said to roast at 120° for about 2 hours. We added a scoop of Ninja Woodfire Robust Blend wood pellets to the wood container, and that was it. What happened to the day-long time and repeated basting that the pit masters used? It began to sink in that this may be much easier than we expected.

Suffice it to say that the ribs turned out well. They had a nice smoky flavour, and the marinade was not overpowering. I used a Ninja Foodi AG301 circa 2019 (long superseded by the Ninja Foodi Smart XL Grill & Air Fryer – AG551, but we use it pretty well every day) to roast some potatoes, pumpkin, and carrots, and we had a great dinner at a fraction of the restaurant price.

We can now do ribs; we will make the marinade ourselves next time. Note that you should avoid lifting the lid for at least the first 45-60 minutes to let the smoke do its job.

Attempt two – smoke that chicken – Pass+

The manual stated 190° for up to 1.5 hours. The Ninja has a food temperature probe that can show when the temperature reaches 75°. You then turn the roaster off and let it rest for up to 30 minutes (in the roaster or a pan). The temperature will continue to rise to 85+° and then fall back to 75°.

We added a scoop of Ninja Woodfire All-purpose pellets to the wood container, and that was it.

We would usually coat the chicken skin with Canola oil (low smoke point) and sprinkle paprika, salt, and pepper on the skin. However, the manual said not to use oil, as that may prevent smoke from getting into the meat.

To our surprise, the chook looked rather blackened, and we thought we may have done it for too long. Not so. The skin was dark brown, smoky, flavoursome and crisp, and the meat was perfectly cooked with a pleasant sweeter smoky taste.

Air Frying (lid down) – Exceed

It has a large 320 x 230 x 70mm (approx. 5L) basket that is wide and long – far more useful for larger items. It defaults to 200°.

We have tried fresh-cut (500g) and frozen chips (500g), Mozzarella sticks, Pork Dim Sum, Chicken Wings, Chicken Schnitzel, Chicken nuggets, and more. The extra-large basket allows food to spread out and cook more evenly than a deeper basket.

Roast (lid down) – Exceed

The roast/grill ribbed tray is 360 x 270mm and can accommodate a large chicken (200mm high), 2-3kg roasts, whole fish, etc. It is also great for vegetables like pumpkin or carrots, which are done in 30 minutes (while you rest the meat). Roast jacket potatoes take about 60 minutes (or you can reduce this time by microwave par-cooking first).

Select Roast, and it performs similarly to an oven. You can set the roasting temperature/time or use the probe to achieve the perfect ‘doneness’ from rare to well done in nine steps.

You can also add smoke by pressing the Woodfire flavour button and adding wood pellets to the smoke container.

Grill (down if you want to smoke) – Exceed

Here, you pre-heat the grill plate. It can take up to 5 minutes depending on the LO, MED, or HI (about 180°) settings. The large grill plate can hold up to 4 x 340g steaks (or 6 x 230g smaller but thicker steaks), 16 sausages, or eight burger patties. Regarding vegetables, up to two bunches of Asparagus, four whole corn cobs, etc. The grill will tell you when to flip the steaks.

Bake (lid down) – Not Tested

The grill tray is ribbed, so it requires a tray or tin. If your baking tin fits (about 10” round or 14” rectangle), you can bake cakes, breads, focaccia, scones, etc. Maximum temperature is 220°.

Dehydrate – Not Tested

You can dehydrate at 60-65° almost any fruit, vegetable or meat (jerky) in up to eight hours. You can use smoke too.

Reheat – Not Tested

You can use it as an oven or grill to reheat – no smoke is available.

Pellets

The pellets are not fuel – electricity is. As such, they are a blend of timbers that will reach ignition fast and smoke for about 45 minutes. You can add more pellets after they are exhausted and run the Ignite function if necessary.

It has two trial-sized packs (about three smokes each) of All-Purpose blend (Cherry, Maple, and Oak) and Robust (Hickory, Cherry, Maple and Oak). You can buy 900g packets for $24 (suitable for up to 20 smokes), but you may need to be a savvy shopper as these are often sold out. You can generally get these from Good Guys, JB Hi-Fi, Myer, David Jones or Ninja.

Add one measuring cup full to the side hopper. After cooking is complete and the unit has cooled down you can shake the ashes into a garden bed.

We cannot comment on whether any other pellet system will work, e.g., ignite and smoke in a Ninja. However, we note that some UK-based reviews state that you can use other pellets.

Power – Pass

It is rated at 1760W, at the maximum temperature. Two things make this energy efficient. First, it is as fast or faster than any other device, and smoking tends to be at 120°.

We set the grill to high (approximately 180°), and the pre-heat reached 16662W. During grilling, it settled back to 1162W.

We set the air fryer to a maximum of 240°, and it peaked at 1670W and dropped to 900W for the 10-minute air-fry. It had a 234° sustained internal temperature.

The external temperature was 60° on the side, and the hood was about 50° – not enough to burn you.

Accessories

There is a cover and stand available. We strongly recommend the cover, but you may wish to look for a 900×600 (or larger) stainless steel bench on castors to give you more work area.

Support

It is widely used, and there are online user groups and smoker recipes.

Maintenance – Pass

The drip tray and grill plate are easy to clean under hot water with a dishcloth and detergent. However, the ribbed grill tray can be challenging, so a soft brush is recommended.

Inside the hood, the smoker will become increasingly darker as smoke builds up. A damp ‘Chux’ wipeover is all you need.

CyberShack’s view – Ninja OG751 Electric BBQ Grill is just like an oven or grill, but with optional smoke, it becomes clearer.

It may not be pit boss standard, but it is perfect for Joe and Jane Average. The meat has a nice smoky flavour—evident on the outside and outer layers—not deeper down as day-long smoking can achieve. We will experiment with 2 x 2-hour cooking and smoking sessions later.

Its benefit is in its versatile multifunction use. It performs these as well as any dedicated or other multi-function device.

But there is one caveat—smokers will have to experiment to get the best results. While the guide offers pretty accurate times, the key is to use the thermometer probe to get it just right.

Ninja OG751 Electric BBQ rating 83/100

We will rate it as a multi-function cooker with bonus smoke. Note that 2024 reviews use 70 100 as a Pass mark to allow for recognition of excellent or class-leading. Pre-2024 reviews—deduct 10 points as they used 80/100 as a pass mark.

• Features: 85—It is a 6-in-one plus Smoke. Every function meets or exceeds the standards for home cooking, and the thermo probe is extremely useful.
• Value: 80—Normally $899.99, but seen as low as $699.99, it is excellent value. A Baby Weber (46 x 36 plate) will cost $400+ plus a gas bottle, and a smoking box/trivet is about $70. Electric smokers (not multi-function) start at around $400.
• Performance: 85—Remember that it is fundamentally an air-forced oven and meets or exceeds all expectations. Your main limits are the ribbed grill size and headroom.
• Ease of Use – 80 only because you need to experiment with smoking. Otherwise, it is as easy to use as any multi-function cooker.
• Design: 85 – very well made, and the RSB earth leakage detector is a nice touch.