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I finally stopped preheating my air fryer and my chicken came out better
My buddy Chris told me I was wasting 5 minutes every use by preheating. I fought him on it for like 2 months because every recipe blog says to do it. Then I tried his way last Tuesday with some thighs at 380 for 18 minutes, no preheat. They were juicier and the skin still crisped up fine. Now I only preheat if I'm doing frozen stuff or fries. Anyone else ditch the preheat step?
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henderson.mila5d ago
My sister did the same thing with her Ninja and now she swears the chicken comes out better too. The key is that no preheat means the meat heats up slower, so the inside cooks at the same speed as the outside instead of the outside drying out while the middle catches up. I started doing 375 for 20 minutes on thighs with no preheat and the juice runs clear every time. The one thing I'd add is to pat the skin dry first, because without that hot basket the skin needs all the help it can get to crisp. Frozen stuff is a whole different deal though, those nuggets really do need the preheat or they come out soggy in the middle. So your rule of only preheating for frozen and fries is pretty much spot on.
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