That tip about preheating the basket was a game changer

My neighbor across the street, he's this retired chef from New Orleans, told me I was doing it all backwards with my air fryer. He said I needed to preheat the empty basket for 3 minutes before putting anything in, even frozen stuff. I thought it was nonsense, like why heat up nothing, right? First time I tried it with some chicken wings, the skin came out way crispier than my usual 20 minute method. Last Tuesday I did a test with two batches of fries, one preheated and one not, and the preheated one was noticeably better. Now I'm wondering if I should preheat for longer, like 5 minutes, or if that's overkill. Has anyone else had luck with this trick or is it just me? Those wings were so good I actually texted him a thank you, literally never done that before.

1 comments

1 Comment

ben_fisher18d ago

Gave my buddy a hard time about this same trick when he first told me, figured he was just showing off because he got one of those fancy ones with the window. Then I tried it with a frozen pizza roll situation, not even something you'd think needs help, and the bottoms didn't get that weird soggy stick to the basket thing they usually do. Now I'm the one preaching it at cookouts and people look at me like I'm selling something. I usually do a solid 4 minutes because my machine runs a little cool, and I just use that time to prep whatever I'm tossing in. Funny how a neighbor's weird habit can end up taking over your whole kitchen routine.