My neighbor insisted I preheat my air fryer for 5 minutes every time

I always thought preheating was optional, like with a regular oven. But my neighbor Mike, who runs a small catering business, kept telling me to preheat for exactly 5 minutes before putting food in. I finally tried it with some frozen chicken tenders last week and they came out way crispier than usual. The outside had that crunch I was missing before, and the inside stayed juicy. Has anyone else noticed a big difference when they preheat properly?

2 comments

2 Comments

xenam8412h agoMost Upvoted

Huh, honestly I feel like this is one of those things where people make it way too serious. I tried preheating my air fryer a few times and yeah the outside got a little crunchier on like fries or whatever but honestly my chicken tenders came out fine without it. I just toss em in straight from frozen and hit start and theyre done in 15 minutes no issue. Maybe Mike is just being a food snob because he runs a business, but for everyday life I doubt anyone is gonna notice unless you're like comparing them side by side. I say save yourself the extra 5 minutes unless youre making something super specific.

dylanrodriguez6h ago

Pretty much agree with you honestly lol. I've tested both ways like 10 times with frozen nuggets and I genuinely couldn't tell the difference unless I was staring at them side by side. Mike probably has a point for his restaurant but for my Tuesday night dinner I'm not gonna stress over an extra 5 minutes of preheating.