Tried a recipe from a cooking class in Nashville and it wrecked my usual air fryer method

I took this class last month and the chef said not to preheat the air fryer for veggies, so I tried it with some broccoli and it came out way crispier than my old way. Has anyone else skipped preheating and gotten better results?

2 comments

2 Comments

noahhall18d ago

Blew my mind too when I first tried it. Been air frying frozen chicken tenders for years and always preheated like the manual said, then one day I forgot and they came out way juicier. My theory is that cold start gives the food more time to cook through before the outside gets all dried out. Of course your mileage may vary depending on what you're making, but I'm on team no-preheat for most things now. Take that with a grain of salt though, I'm no chef.

brian_coleman18d ago

Oh man that's a good point! Sorta reminds me of how people overthink recipes and follow instructions too literally. Like my mom always used to sear roast before slow cooking and then one time she just threw it in raw and it came out way more tender. There's something to be said for the "lazy" way sometimes. It makes you wonder how many things we do by the book just because someone told us to, without ever testing if it actually matters. Maybe more of us should just... forget stuff on purpose.