50th batch in and I finally get why people roast the basket

Hit my 50th cook last weekend, a batch of zucchini fries that came out perfect. But here's the thing, I still don't get the hype about preheating the basket for 5 minutes before every single use. I tried it for 2 weeks straight after seeing everyone swear by it, and honestly the crust was maybe 2% better. That's not worth the extra wait when I'm already hangry. The only time it actually mattered was with frozen stuff like mozzarella sticks, where it kept the coating from sticking. Otherwise I've had great results just tossing food in cold and letting the timer do the work. Am I missing something or is this just a ritual that sounds good on paper? Has anyone else tracked their batches and found preheating barely moves the needle?

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shane_morgan4d ago

Read a test from a food science blog that said preheating only really matters when the food has high moisture content, which tracks with your mozzarella sticks. Zucchini is mostly water too but the crust seems to lock in fine because the oil heats up fast anyway. I stopped preheating unless I'm doing frozen stuff, the 2% gain isn't worth standing there watching an empty basket.