Air fryer preheat: necessary or a waste of 5 minutes?

I read in the manual for my Cosori that preheating can actually dry out certain foods before they even start cooking, and it claimed 80% of recipes don't need it at all. But most online recipe blogs I follow insist on preheating to get that crispy outside, especially for frozen items like mozzarella sticks. I tried skipping it last Tuesday with chicken wings and they came out fine, but my breaded shrimp were noticeably less crunchy. What do you all do, do you trust the manufacturer or the food bloggers here?

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1 Comment

avery_jackson1mo ago

Ugh, I totally feel your pain here because I've been in that exact same spot. The whole preheat debate is honestly such a coin flip and it depends so much on what you're making. I tried skipping it with frozen egg rolls once and they were a sad, soggy mess, but my regular fries honestly didn't care either way. It sounds like you're already figuring out the pattern, which is more than most of us can say. I'd say trust the manual for most stuff, but keep the preheat for anything breaded or frozen that you really want that crunch on.

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