Kitchen

[monicakm]

I think I've figured out what is actually going on when you pre-heat an air fryer.  I did it once and thought, well that's a waste.  All the hot air escapes when you pull the basket out.  My air fryer starts at a slower speed and speeds up to a cooking speed.  When I stop it briefly and restart it, it restarts at the cooking speed.  So I'm fairly sure that's what they mean by preheating it is getting it up to cooking speed.  Anyone else?

[bmorechick]

I would guess its the same principal as preheating an oven...so the food cooks in the given time.   I have an air fryer and cook a lot of stuff in it. Truth be told, I never preheat it.  I open it up too to shake the basket and after 40 years of cooking, I can tell if the food is done.  Love that thing 😉

[Caffeina]

It depends what you're cooking, and whether or not the recipe calls for preheating. Yes hot air escapes when you open the basket, but the heating elements are still very hot and don't have to reheat from cold.

[RedTop]

Pre-heating to temp in an air fryer is exactly like pre-heating your oven before putting the food in to bake.  

With the heating element hot and the basket hot, food starts cooking at the desired temperature and will be done when time is up, without being dried out, even burnt from the extra time it was in the air fryer before it reached cooking temperature.  

[Icegoddess]

Some will say you don't need to preheat.  But, I preheat my ovens, so I preheat my air fryer.  You let heat out when you open the oven to add food too.  

[spumoni99]

My air fryer goes through a pre heat cycle when I turn it on.

[Lilysmom1]

Mine preheats automatically.  I treat like an oven as others mentioned.

[gardenman]

The instructions with my new one said not to preheat it. It wasn't necessary. My old one said to preheat for 4-5 minutes. Both ways seem to work out fine for me. The new one cooks a tick slower than the old one, but otherwise, you couldn't tell a difference. The food comes out the same. Heating elements can go from off to very hot in a blink, so I'm not sure how necessary preheating is.

[Squirrels Are Trash]

@spumoni99 

May I ask which air fryer you have?

The one I have seems to be haunted. It turns on and off by itself. I fear it's not safe, and I don't leave it plugged in. Anywhoo, I am starting to look for another.

[wagirl]

I have a 6qt Instant Pot brand airfryer that preheats first and then beeps at me when it's ready and then  to turn the food over.