Just realized preheating the air fryer makes a HUGE difference for frozen foods | Air Fryer Recipes

Ben West · 2026-05-02T18:20:03.474161+00:00

I used to always toss frozen chicken wings straight into a cold air fryer and they came out soggy every time. Last week I tried preheating it for 5 minutes at 400F on a whim and they turned out perfectly crispy on the outside. Am I the only one who skipped this step or do most people preheat before dumping in frozen stuff?

dylan1244mo ago

Yeah the preheat makes all the difference for frozen stuff, definitely worth the extra few minutes.

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barbara4294mo ago

Bet you could even preheat it with the basket empty while you're chopping veggies and get both done faster.

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barbara4294mo ago

Oh totally, you're definitely not alone. I mean, for the longest time I just figured the air fryer would heat up fast enough that preheating was just a waste of electricity or something. But then I did the same thing with some frozen egg rolls and they came out all soft and sad, so I finally caved and tried the preheat. Now I'm like, well, I guess I was just making soggy food on purpose for months, how fun is that. It's almost like reading the manual might have saved me some disappointment, but where's the fun in that? Honestly, the only thing worse than soggy frozen wings is realizing you could have avoided it with basically zero effort.

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