My sister swore preheating the air fryer was pointless. She was dead wrong.

She kept telling me to just toss food in cold and add a few minutes. I did it her way for a week and everything came out soggy or uneven. Last night I preheated for 3 minutes and made the crispiest chicken thighs I've had in months. Has anyone else had a big disagreement with someone over a basic step like that?

4 comments

4 Comments

murray.jana29d ago

Oh man, I feel your pain on this one. My roommate swore up and down that you don't need to preheat a cast iron skillet for steaks and I ended up with gray, sad meat for a month before I finally did it my way behind his back. Preheating is NOT optional for air fryers, it's literally the whole point of the machine. Your sister owes you an apology for all those soggy chicken nights.

dakota41529d ago

And yeah @murray.jana is totally right, I had a buddy who argued the same thing with his air fryer and kept getting burnt outsides with raw middles until he finally tried preheating and shut up about it real quick.

sandra_bennett5927d ago

Thirteen soggy batches of fries was my personal record before I admitted defeat and started preheating, @dakota415. Your buddy's stubborn streak sounds familiar, I was the same way until I realized I was basically just steaming everything in there instead of crisping it. Air fryers really are just tiny convection ovens that demand patience or else they humiliate you.

piper77928d ago

Preheating an air fryer is such a simple step but man, it makes all the difference. @dakota415 your buddy sounds like my husband, he swore preheating was a waste of time until he burned a batch of wings and admitted defeat. Now he won't even drop food in until that light goes off. Glad your friend came around too, soggy or raw chicken is just a tragedy nobody needs.