Talked to a home cook friend who swears by preheating for 5 extra minutes

I always just chuck my food in the air fryer the second it hits 350, but my buddy Mark said I'm missing out on crispiness by not letting it sit 5 minutes after the preheat light goes on. He showed me a side by side with frozen chicken wings and his batch had way better skin, not just hot all the way through. Has anyone else tested this or am I overthinking a 5 minute delay?

3 comments

3 Comments

jessica_ross383d ago

My buddy Steve tried this exact thing with fries and said the extra wait turned them from sad and limp to actually crunchy. Did you notice a big difference with the wings or was it subtle?

the_joel3d ago

Preheating longer never made a noticeable difference for me, but your mileage may vary.

robin_henderson811d ago

Oh yeah, that extra 5 minutes legit makes a difference with frozen stuff. The oil needs time to fully heat up and the element to stabilize, so @the_joel might not notice on fresh food but wings and fries are a different story. Those extra minutes let the air fryer really lock in that crunch instead of just blasting the food with warm air.