Split decision on preheating the air fryer - who actually does it?

I was making frozen chicken tenders last Tuesday and my air fryer beeped at me to preheat. I ignored it cause I'm impatient lol. They came out decent but a little soggy on one side. Then I tried preheating the next batch for the full 5 minutes and they were way crispier. So now I'm wondering if preheating is actually worth the extra time or if I just got lucky that second time. Anyone else see a big difference or am I overthinking frozen food? What's your take on this whole debate?

2 comments

2 Comments

troy_butler73d ago

Older air fryers don't always have a preheat setting that actually does much, but the newer ones seem to really spike the temp before you load it. In my experience, the biggest difference isn't even crispiness it's consistency. The first batch of anything I make is always a little less predictable if I just throw it in cold, like the heating element has to play catch up with the cold food and cold basket at the same time. Take this with a grain of salt, but I've started preheating just the empty basket for 2 minutes while I open the bag, then adding the food and setting the timer. That little shortcut gets me closer to the preheated results without the full 5 minute wait.

bailey.xena2d ago

Totally agree @troy_butler7, I do the EXACT same quick preheat trick with my air fryer and it makes a HUGE difference every time.