The air fryer preheat trap everyone falls into | Air Fryer Recipes

Evan Cooper · 2026-07-13T22:45:04.634164+00:00

I keep seeing people put food in right after hitting the power button. You really gotta let it run empty for 3 minutes at temp first, otherwise your food comes out uneven. My wife argued with me for a week about this until she tried it on a batch of frozen fries from Costco. Has anyone else noticed a big difference when they actually preheat?

jamie_webb672mo ago

Yeah "so what temp and how long" is the real question. I do 400 for a full 5 minutes with nothing in it. Total game changer on those Costco fries, they come out crispy all the way through instead of half soft. My wife was the same way, she kept tossing stuff in right away and getting mad it was uneven. Now she even preheats for like chicken strips and fish sticks and all that.

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ivanbell2mo ago

So what temp and how long do you let yours sit before you toss the food in?

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west.casey1mo ago

Those frozen crinkle cuts from the Albertsons brand taught me the hard way. I pulled them out after 12 minutes thinking they were done, and the middle ones were still practically raw while the edges were burnt. The 400 for 5 minutes is what I settled on too, but have you ever tried going hotter like 425 for just 3 minutes of preheat? I swear it gives a better sear on stuff like chicken wings, but maybe thats just my machine running weird.

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