Serious question, my wife thinks you should always preheat an air fryer, but I read a recipe that said not to bother for frozen foods.

The recipe was for frozen french fries and claimed skipping the preheat gave a better texture. I tried it and they were crispier than usual. What's the general rule here?

3 comments

3 Comments

sam53029d ago

Man, your wife and I would get along because I was team preheat forever too. But then I tried frozen tater tots straight from the bag into a cold basket and they came out way crunchier on the outside while staying fluffy inside. It kind of blew my mind honestly. I think the deal is when you preheat, the outside starts cooking too fast before the inside has a chance to thaw and steam a little, which gives you that nicer texture. For things like chicken nuggets or fish sticks I still preheat because they're breaded differently and need that immediate heat to seal. But for straight frozen fries and stuff like that, cold start seems like the actual pro move even though it feels wrong at first.

julia8432mo ago

Tried skipping preheat for frozen onion rings and they came out way crispier too. Some foods just work better that way.

sethc122mo ago

What makes you think that's a good general rule? My fries always get soggy without a preheat, and @julia843's onion ring trick probably only works for a few specific items. You should just follow your machine's manual, it's not that hard.