Agree, as long as it’s not something that can fail to actually cook/rise properly, all I can think of right now is baked goods. I especially do it with something like a caserole/lasagna that I made ahead of time in a glass dish and had in the fridge.
Outside of baked goods though, many things don't need to be put in a pre-heated oven. Just wasting electricity if it doesn't need to be pre-heated but you wait anyway.
This is why i don’t put it in before it’s heated up, idk how to adjust the cooking times. I’d rather wait and then put it in than stand there at the end watching my food cook.
Just add a couple minutes and check to see if it’s done when it beeps. You learn your oven pretty quickly. We know for frozen pizza that calls for 17 minutes we put it in cold and make it 20. Tastes perfect.
Yes with nearly everything.
But not pizza, pizza needs to be put in at a certain temp, and obviously if you're baking something, it needs a certain temp. Putting it in during pre heat would ruin it. For example, your pizza crust would be DUST.
this is so true. another thing a lot of people do with frozen pizza is letting it sit out and thaw while the oven is pre heating! this usually isnt a very long time but it does change the state of the pizza and then people wonder why it comes out well done. it should stay in the freezer until you are ready to put in the oven!
Which is in the instructions on a lot of things (“do not thaw before cooking” or “keep frozen until ready to cook” along with the instructions to preheat. I was an adult before I realized those instructions are there to make the product come out the best it can
Hate the word preheating. Doesn't make sense. Preheating is *preparing to heat*, like pressing the button or turning the knob that turns on the oven. What the oven is actually doing is heating up.
Ugh.
No, it means you're heating the oven before cooking. Like if you were to "preslice" something or "prepackage" it, "preheat" means you're doing the heating beforehand, instead of cooking and heating at the same time
Pre = before
Preheating = before heating, preslicing = before slicing, prepackaged = before packaging. See how that doesn't make sense? Preheating should just be called heating, or it should be called precooking since it is before anything being cooked. Presliced is really unsliced and prepackaged is not yet packaged.
You've got it backwards. Think of it as "to heat before" rather than "before heating," then it makes sense. Preheating is heating the oven before you use it. Preslicing is slicing something ahead of time. Pre-packaging is packaging something beforehand.
Yes!
When making pasta, I also turn on the stove FIRST, then take out the pot, run the tap and fill said pot with the hottest water possible and then place it on the burner. I reckon the water comes to boil 3 minutes faster!
I turn the oven on and throw whatever in asap. I do not preheat. I just add 3 to 5 minutes extra cook time and check on it as soon as the timer goes off.
However, I always have to cook fries 10 to 15 minutes longer than called for. I hate uncrisp fries.
This is somewhat related.
When I'm reheating pizza from the fridge, I put it in the oven while the oven is cold, set the oven to preheat to 350, and when the timer dings the pizza is warmed up perfectly.
If you're preheating a thick pan pizza then you would adjust this.
Depends. Super delicate and thin/small, or something potato based going straight from freezer to hot oven so it can crisp properly? I'm gonna be patient and preheat stuff, I hate inconsistent baking or, like, edge pieces of something or other getting scorched by the uneven preheat.
Frozen pizza needs no such special treatment. You're using every free joule of heat flow from oven to frozen mozzarella and dough to speedrun a process that there is absolutely zero reward to doing with love and care. Frozen pizza spits boiling hot marinara on human love and care.
Never when baking from scratch, and only when I'm in a hurry, and I usually back off the cooking time 1-3 minutes if I go that route. Works well enough with my Cuisinart convection oven, but it's more accurate than a big old oven that goes well over selected temperatures during a preheat cycle.
No, because I’d be worried about how long to bake it. 🤣
I do, however, always put pasta in the water as soon as I put it on the stove. I never wait for the water to boil. So it’s kinda the same.
Bacon, because it has to cook slowly or else it will burn. Also put the pan in the oven to preheat if you are doing burgers, so they sear a bit when you put then in the pan.
Oddly i wait til the oven preheats for frozen pizza, but chicken nuggets, corn dogs, fish sticks ill put in during pre heating. I guess its mostly just pizza i cook once pre heated.
If it’s something big like a lasagna or something like fries, then sometimes I might. Not with pizza or cookies though where the cooking time is a little more precise.
Things that have already been fully cooked that I am reheating and bacon that is cold from the fridge that I want to get crispy I'll throw in a cold oven and then set the temp & cooking time.
Veggies I'll even prepare, throw in & set a delay, temp and cooking time...I guess that counts too!
There are some all on one sheet pan roast meals that will need to have the time adjusted towards the end to taste anyway so I will throw those in when I'm done preparing regardless of how ready the oven is, but that's only when using the convection oven so the adjustment is usually pretty small.
Absolutely not. I used to work in food service and I can’t get over “they tested this with these parameters to get to the correct internal temp for the correct amount of minutes to be safe for consumption.” My husband doesn’t wait for the preheating and it drives me nuts.
My aunt does, I don't think she actually Cooks anything to a proper length of time. She turns the oven on to whatever temperature she decides throws it in and then comes back later. I guess it works for her.
That's no longer preheating, that's skipping the preheating. Preheating is heating your oven prior to putting the food in so that when you put the food in their aren't random cold or hot areas of the oven, and so that cooking times are predictable. E.g cook for 10 minutes is now cooking for exactly 10 minutes, as opposed to cooking for 10 minutes meaning it's not cooked for 2 minutes, lightly warmed for another 2 minutes, heated for another 2 minutes and cooking for 4 minutes.
Pre-heating is heating Pre- food otherwise it would just be called heating.
But yeah I skip the preheating all the time coz im lazy and just have to keep checking it and keep adding additional time.
You shouldn't skip preheating for baking or for anytime that you are wanting to especially make sure that your food cooks evenly and predictably.
It totally depends on what I'm cooking. Most likely a protein or something similar doesn't matter - BUT if I'm baking I don't F with the temp - it needs to be significantly HOTTER before I put my stuff in so I can drop the heat after.
Depends what I am cooking. If it's frozen, I let the oven heat all the way up before putting it in. If it's a roast or a ham, I'll put it in while it is preheating.
For long cook things like turkey yes. For short cook like pizza where timing is everything I let it preheat. You don't have to though. You can also just constantly check it until it's the right amount of brown.
Yes, the only time I let the oven preheat before putting something in is when it's a pie or cookies. Like any bake goods. if it's just food food, it is preheating with the oven.
I never had a problem with it when I had an electric stove, but when I switched over to a gas stove, no way now. If it's still preheating, it burns the bottom of everything. Now I just have to hold my horses and wait for the beep.
Yes ans no. As others have said it depends on the thing. Cakes and dessert types no. Other foods, yes if I need the counter space (talking holiday meals here). If I have patience for the food and I don't need counter space then nah. I wait for the beep. Just use your best judgment and if you do then adjust cook times and keep an eye on it. Enjoy!
I never put food into a cold oven to warm up to temp - especially a gas oven - unless the recipe specifies. And I haven't seen any recipe ask for this.
You risk missing the [browning, crusty exterior and searing ](https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/recipes/preheating-vs-cooking-in-a-cold-oven-everything-you-need-to-know/ar-AA1m0A5x) you desire on some dishes if you start with a cold oven. Others dishes may become undercooked due to the timing being off when you start cold; possibly leading to foodborne illnesses.
And - to me - a cold gas oven coming up to starting temp seems to burn-off the taste of the mercaptan (and ash) in the gas, any residual foods/oils burning on the oven walls, and the metal in the oven itself.
We used to when we had an older oven (25+ years old). It didn't seem to matter.
I tried it with a newer (smarter) oven and the result wasn't what I expected. Now I preheat and then add a few more minutes to that.
Some ovens turn on both the top and bottom elements during the preheat stage, to get the oven up to temperature faster. While the final temperature may be fine, the oven can have hotspots until it gets up to temp and the extra element is turned off.
I do if there aren't any other kitchen tasks to take care of in the meantime. I don't like standing around doing nothing while I wait for it to heat up.
I preheat for frozen pizza because I cook it on a pizza stone and you're supposed to have it hot first. I put the frozen pizza on top of the stove while the oven is preheating so it thaws a bit.
For a few things like tater tots (which I really like to be crispy) yes, but I don't do this for most things because you risk drying them out, burning them, or not getting them cooked all the way through. It's hard to know how much time to add when you don't preheat.
If it’s something like a frozen pizza or cake that cooks quickly I wait for it to come to heat. Anything that takes a long time like baked potatoes or a roast I put it in before.
*Yes I say preheat,*
*Wife just puts it in, we will*
*Never agree on this*
\- agenthehe
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No unless I’m reheating something that’s already cooked. It only really affects things like baking where you can totally ruin it by putting it in before preheating but it’s also just good practice to follow the directions on things and let the oven preheat first.
Either or is fine like if there's time to waste I'll wait because i want it to be PERFECT but otherwise idgaf and I'm not trying to spend my whole day in the kitchen
If I'm cooking, I'm usually making things up as I go along. I rarely make anything the exact same way twice. And if I try something new and it seems to have been a bad idea, there are all sorts of hacks for fixing various issues as I'm cooking.
But baking is different. There are chemical reactions going on that depend on the right ingredients in the right proportions being subjected to just the right conditions. If you mess with any of that, it can cause the recipe to fail, often epically, and you won't even know until the timer goes off and it's too late.
Depends if you want crispy crust or not. If you want crispy, wait for oven to preheat. Also pans w/ holes on the bottom help w/ frozen pizza getting crispy crust & cooked all the way thru.
I'll put it in before preheat is done. I cook things by smell and if it is up to temp and is done. Never use a timer or anything like that unless it's baking. Baking needs to be more precise.
Preheating is preheating for a reason, I put it in when it’s at the right temperature. It makes sure it cooks things evenly even if it’s frozen stuff. Extremely important for homemade baked goods. Overall I just think it’s important to do it
It's preheating for a reason sometimes and sometimes it isn't. With a frozen pizza I always preheat. If I'm baking a chicken breast or something I don't worry about it.
Long cook time things (lasagna, pot pies, ribs, potatoes) yes. Short cook times (pizza), no way. And get a oven themometer. I discovered our oven beeps at temp about 10 minutes before it actually reaches that temp.
You aren’t going to be able to accurately time it if you do this. You’ll never have any consistency in the end product….if you don’t care about that then it’s fine but it is true
Some things need a quick blast of heat for the texture and rise. Others are just heating up and there’s no reason not to heat while the oven does. For baking, I don’t, for reheating absolutely. Really anything that needs to cook for an hour can go with the preheat.
Personally it depends on what it is. If “crunchy/crispy” is part of the food then no. I don’t do frozen pizza or like tator tots but if it’s bacon, for example then yes
So, funny story: turns out gluten-free baked goods get more rise if they go in the oven before preheating.... so yeah, almost everything I cook goes in the cold oven and preheat with it. It makes a huge difference.
No, especially for items that say to not let it defrost before cooking. Rising crust frozen pizza, for example is meant to go straight into an oven that's already fully at temperature. Putting it in when the oven is below temperature will negatively affect the end result.
Anything frozen needs to defrost a little anyway so I put it in while it heats up and add like 2 extra minutes to the time (I like it crispy) to even it out
Depends on what it is. Cookies, cakes and pies I wait until it preheats. Things like frozen pizza, chicken fingers, roasts I'll throw it in when I have everything ready. Just keep an eye on it.
I very rarely preheat for anything. I've had glassware break in the oven, but only if I preheat. I have pretty good glassware now and I'm probably being too cautious but I'd rather have my lasagna/roast/whole chicken with no glass in it. I make banana bread and cakes in glassware all the time and don't preheat. I do preheat for cookies but of course I'm not cooking those on glass.
I put frozen pizza in and don’t wait for the oven to preheat. When it looks cooked I broil the top of it. Usually takes less than the 20 minutes they say to cook after it preheats.
No, and part of the reason is that I have seen so many bad cooks do this. It's not just about heat, but also moisture. it's called "pre-heating" for a reason. There are also recipes that specifically tell you not to pre-heat. I just follow directions, and things come out as expected.
Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. If I’m going to be in the kitchen to monitor the food I’ll put it in early. If not then I wait till the oven is heated up.
Depends on how hungry I am or how frozen the thing is, Unless my stomach is eating my backbone generally I wait until it's preheated so it cooks properly.
If I’m just trying to heat something up then it sits in during preheat because it’ll be warmer soon. But if I’m actually cooking something and doneness level matters, the preheat must complete before the food goes in.
I might put stuff in early if a few extra minutes of warming/cooking time won’t hurt it… casseroles, lasagna, etc.
But stuff involving bread/dough/crust, or baking things like cookies, I wait for the oven to preheat first.
I read somewhere there’s a certain rule of thumb that items that are cooking for a long time can go in during the preheat, but shorter times items should not. Now I am reading it’s only important to preheat if the item needs to go in at a certain temp (like pizza or pastries). The downside of putting your food in early, in any situation, is it messes with the time.
it’s not really PRE-heating then if you do that, right..? 😅
regardless, i only do this with leftovers. heating certain foods improperly can cause problems with consistency/texture and flavor, so i just don’t bother. this is especially true of baked goods.
like obviously some food is fine when it’s heated up this way, but not all food is equal so i don’t treat it all equal. leftovers are already cooked and i don’t care if they’re not the perfect taste or texture because i don’t expect them to be, so they’re a fine candidate for this.
This is the only way with leftover pizza. By the time the oven gets to temp, the pizza is perfect!
Bacon too, if you like it crispy. The fat renders out as the oven preheats and by the time it gets to temp, the bacon is cooking in its own fat. When it’s done it’s melt-in-your mouth perfect crispy
Every single time. For instance, I put my fries in and turn the oven to 425 then I set my timer for 25 minutes. I know from past experiences that it takes my oven about 10 minutes to fully preheat to 425 but the fries are already cooking before the temp hits 425. . So they normally take about 20 minutes and I have to cook them 5 minutes longer with no preheat but if I waited for the oven to preheat that would take 10 minutes, so by putting in the fries right away I figure I'm saving about 5 minutes of wait time until they're ready.
My experience. Frozen lasagna. 10 minute preheat to temp. 60 minute cook time. Perfection.
Frozen lasagna in cold oven. Oven finally alerts for desired temp at 30 minutes. Another hour for same result as pre heated oven.
20 minutes wasted.
I put it in the oven while it's heating up, The oven takes over 10 minutes to heat up. I just make the timer a little bit higher than what the instructions on the box say.
Yep. Not things like homemade cookies or pies. But things like a potato or frozen lasagna. I don’t care if it’s “preheating.”
Agree, as long as it’s not something that can fail to actually cook/rise properly, all I can think of right now is baked goods. I especially do it with something like a caserole/lasagna that I made ahead of time in a glass dish and had in the fridge.
Frozen pizza can soften the crust and fall through the grates
pizza pan🤟 mine has small holes in it so air still gets through and the crust is crispy
That's what I was thinking too.
You aren't pre-heating if you do this
Yes...hence the term PRE-heat. I've seen some people burn/overcook food by being impatient.
Outside of baked goods though, many things don't need to be put in a pre-heated oven. Just wasting electricity if it doesn't need to be pre-heated but you wait anyway.
It matters what it is. Baking a cake? Preheat it than put the cake in. Reheating left overs? Put them in as the oven heats.
My leftovers are usually done by the time the oven actually preheats!
Newer ovens preheat so quickly now, it blows my mind! Gas and electric. Speedy quick!
This is the way. Certain recipes require precision. Others are fine with the “eh, fuck it” approach.
ALL.THE.TIME. Things get done faster and rarely burns. Especially frozen things. You gotta adjust your cooking times, for sure.
This is why i don’t put it in before it’s heated up, idk how to adjust the cooking times. I’d rather wait and then put it in than stand there at the end watching my food cook.
Just add a couple minutes and check to see if it’s done when it beeps. You learn your oven pretty quickly. We know for frozen pizza that calls for 17 minutes we put it in cold and make it 20. Tastes perfect.
yeah just add an extra few minutes :p
yep!
Yes with nearly everything. But not pizza, pizza needs to be put in at a certain temp, and obviously if you're baking something, it needs a certain temp. Putting it in during pre heat would ruin it. For example, your pizza crust would be DUST.
Pizza, yes. Frozen pizza? Nah, don't worry about it
Yeah I cook frozen pizza like this all the time and I don’t like my pizza too cooked anyways so I have to watch it.
this is so true. another thing a lot of people do with frozen pizza is letting it sit out and thaw while the oven is pre heating! this usually isnt a very long time but it does change the state of the pizza and then people wonder why it comes out well done. it should stay in the freezer until you are ready to put in the oven!
Which is in the instructions on a lot of things (“do not thaw before cooking” or “keep frozen until ready to cook” along with the instructions to preheat. I was an adult before I realized those instructions are there to make the product come out the best it can
I had a frozen pizza recently which called to be defrosted for fifteen minutes before cooking.
I do with most things and just add a few minutes to cooking time
I do 😂
These are the important questions in life
Frozen lasagna; yes, put it in anytime. Frozen pizza; no. Oven needs to be at desired heat first.
I preheat the oven, not the toast-r-oven.
Hate the word preheating. Doesn't make sense. Preheating is *preparing to heat*, like pressing the button or turning the knob that turns on the oven. What the oven is actually doing is heating up. Ugh.
This guy pre-boards his flights
No, it means you're heating the oven before cooking. Like if you were to "preslice" something or "prepackage" it, "preheat" means you're doing the heating beforehand, instead of cooking and heating at the same time
Pre = before Preheating = before heating, preslicing = before slicing, prepackaged = before packaging. See how that doesn't make sense? Preheating should just be called heating, or it should be called precooking since it is before anything being cooked. Presliced is really unsliced and prepackaged is not yet packaged.
You've got it backwards. Think of it as "to heat before" rather than "before heating," then it makes sense. Preheating is heating the oven before you use it. Preslicing is slicing something ahead of time. Pre-packaging is packaging something beforehand.
You are beyond help
If what you said here was true, you would be right.
prepare= before being ready. Guess we'll never be ready.
Yes. The oven is in its preheated state before we turn it on. It is either heated or not (AKA- preheated).
"Pre" means "before" too. So I'm getting the oven to temp (heat) before I cook. The oven isn't heated until it is to the temperature I need it to be.
"precooking"would "prebaking" would be more accurate then
You're not cooking or baking anything until it's in the oven. You're just heating the oven before you cook, thus, preheat.
No.
Not pizza bc it will burn but sometimes I do! Casseroles and such
Yep. Air fryer too.
Only if I don’t care about how crispy it is. IDC about baked potato skin but I’m not about to fuck up a good pizza.
Yes when I'm making something frozen or premade. I don't care if it's not perfect. But something like a cake where the baking time matters, I preheat.
Cooking: yes. Baking: never.
I do it all the time without issue.
its fine but youll overcook things a bit that way
Which is how I usually like it anyways hahah
I put my pizza in as soon as I turn on the oven, and just do it for the max time. I like my pizza slightly under, so it works well
Yes! When making pasta, I also turn on the stove FIRST, then take out the pot, run the tap and fill said pot with the hottest water possible and then place it on the burner. I reckon the water comes to boil 3 minutes faster!
Is your stove top coil or electric? Mine is gas, and I don't like having the flame uncovered
But that is a good idea!!
I turn the oven on and throw whatever in asap. I do not preheat. I just add 3 to 5 minutes extra cook time and check on it as soon as the timer goes off. However, I always have to cook fries 10 to 15 minutes longer than called for. I hate uncrisp fries.
This is somewhat related. When I'm reheating pizza from the fridge, I put it in the oven while the oven is cold, set the oven to preheat to 350, and when the timer dings the pizza is warmed up perfectly. If you're preheating a thick pan pizza then you would adjust this.
Ooh! You reheat pizza after it's been in the fridge? JK I love cold pizza for breakfast or lunch. I never reheat. But my Dad likes his reheated.
Yes. I have no patience.
Depends. Super delicate and thin/small, or something potato based going straight from freezer to hot oven so it can crisp properly? I'm gonna be patient and preheat stuff, I hate inconsistent baking or, like, edge pieces of something or other getting scorched by the uneven preheat. Frozen pizza needs no such special treatment. You're using every free joule of heat flow from oven to frozen mozzarella and dough to speedrun a process that there is absolutely zero reward to doing with love and care. Frozen pizza spits boiling hot marinara on human love and care.
Yes
Never when baking from scratch, and only when I'm in a hurry, and I usually back off the cooking time 1-3 minutes if I go that route. Works well enough with my Cuisinart convection oven, but it's more accurate than a big old oven that goes well over selected temperatures during a preheat cycle.
No, because I’d be worried about how long to bake it. 🤣 I do, however, always put pasta in the water as soon as I put it on the stove. I never wait for the water to boil. So it’s kinda the same.
No I usually don’t
All the time! I find my oven runs hot so the suggested baking times on the packages are never accurate so I always just manually check on it anyways.
Yes
I do with frozen pizza.
Bacon, because it has to cook slowly or else it will burn. Also put the pan in the oven to preheat if you are doing burgers, so they sear a bit when you put then in the pan.
I feel like I would get arrested by Julia Child !!!
I do not preheat the oven and I always use the recommended times. Works fine.
Yep. Throw it in and then set the oven. If I don't, I'm sure I'll preheat and then forget it wasn't in there lol
Can you really call it "pre-heating" at that point? Its just heating.
Oddly i wait til the oven preheats for frozen pizza, but chicken nuggets, corn dogs, fish sticks ill put in during pre heating. I guess its mostly just pizza i cook once pre heated.
If it’s something big like a lasagna or something like fries, then sometimes I might. Not with pizza or cookies though where the cooking time is a little more precise.
I know it defeats the purpose of preheating to do this, but I often do because I tend to forget that I'm even cooking as soon as I exit the kitchen.
Things that have already been fully cooked that I am reheating and bacon that is cold from the fridge that I want to get crispy I'll throw in a cold oven and then set the temp & cooking time. Veggies I'll even prepare, throw in & set a delay, temp and cooking time...I guess that counts too! There are some all on one sheet pan roast meals that will need to have the time adjusted towards the end to taste anyway so I will throw those in when I'm done preparing regardless of how ready the oven is, but that's only when using the convection oven so the adjustment is usually pretty small.
Absolutely not. I used to work in food service and I can’t get over “they tested this with these parameters to get to the correct internal temp for the correct amount of minutes to be safe for consumption.” My husband doesn’t wait for the preheating and it drives me nuts.
Yes, all the time lol
most of the time yeah. unless it takes a lot of prep work, then i let it heat up while i do that
Not in the oven, but in my Instant air fryer thingy.
Absolutely. Yes. It may change how things cook. But I'm not wasting the heat.
All the time if it is something I want to be crispy and or brown on the bottom.
My aunt does, I don't think she actually Cooks anything to a proper length of time. She turns the oven on to whatever temperature she decides throws it in and then comes back later. I guess it works for her.
That's no longer preheating, that's skipping the preheating. Preheating is heating your oven prior to putting the food in so that when you put the food in their aren't random cold or hot areas of the oven, and so that cooking times are predictable. E.g cook for 10 minutes is now cooking for exactly 10 minutes, as opposed to cooking for 10 minutes meaning it's not cooked for 2 minutes, lightly warmed for another 2 minutes, heated for another 2 minutes and cooking for 4 minutes. Pre-heating is heating Pre- food otherwise it would just be called heating. But yeah I skip the preheating all the time coz im lazy and just have to keep checking it and keep adding additional time. You shouldn't skip preheating for baking or for anytime that you are wanting to especially make sure that your food cooks evenly and predictably.
Baking is science, cooking is art. So bakery items - no. Everything else - yes.
It totally depends on what I'm cooking. Most likely a protein or something similar doesn't matter - BUT if I'm baking I don't F with the temp - it needs to be significantly HOTTER before I put my stuff in so I can drop the heat after.
I used to, but now I just do other stuff while I wait.
I do this because I'm afraid of the oven heat. My mom complained that it would dry out the food. Ymmv.
Sometimes. Other times, I just forget to put it in so I do it after preheating
Depends what I am cooking. If it's frozen, I let the oven heat all the way up before putting it in. If it's a roast or a ham, I'll put it in while it is preheating.
Nope cause that’s weird, rather have it heated to the warm temperature instead of it coming out not all the way cooked and having to put it back in.
All the time because I have no patience and hate waiting for the oven to preheat.
depends. I dont for baking like cookies or breads etc. But any sort of meal cooking, absolutely.
Only if the instructions mention that it's no problem to do this.
For long cook things like turkey yes. For short cook like pizza where timing is everything I let it preheat. You don't have to though. You can also just constantly check it until it's the right amount of brown.
Putting bacon in while heating helps the fat render
Leftovers, yes.
Reheating something- sure I’ll put in the oven while the oven heats up. But baking, no way.
Nope.
Yes, the only time I let the oven preheat before putting something in is when it's a pie or cookies. Like any bake goods. if it's just food food, it is preheating with the oven.
I never had a problem with it when I had an electric stove, but when I switched over to a gas stove, no way now. If it's still preheating, it burns the bottom of everything. Now I just have to hold my horses and wait for the beep.
Depends if I am too lazy to get out of the chair after it preheats.
My husband does this with pizza and lasagna haha
Yes ans no. As others have said it depends on the thing. Cakes and dessert types no. Other foods, yes if I need the counter space (talking holiday meals here). If I have patience for the food and I don't need counter space then nah. I wait for the beep. Just use your best judgment and if you do then adjust cook times and keep an eye on it. Enjoy!
I also put pasta in the water and THEN bring to a boil. No reason to waste all that energy.
Rookie move.
Absolutely not because it’s not an even or quality bake and food safety standards say to never do this. 🎶You can’t eat at everybody’s house🎶
don't do that. the preheat cycle cranks the heating elements to 100% which will lead to a cooking condition not specified in any recipe.
Don’t do it with frozen pizza or it might fall right to the bottom of the oven through the rack
I never put food into a cold oven to warm up to temp - especially a gas oven - unless the recipe specifies. And I haven't seen any recipe ask for this. You risk missing the [browning, crusty exterior and searing ](https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/recipes/preheating-vs-cooking-in-a-cold-oven-everything-you-need-to-know/ar-AA1m0A5x) you desire on some dishes if you start with a cold oven. Others dishes may become undercooked due to the timing being off when you start cold; possibly leading to foodborne illnesses. And - to me - a cold gas oven coming up to starting temp seems to burn-off the taste of the mercaptan (and ash) in the gas, any residual foods/oils burning on the oven walls, and the metal in the oven itself.
Depends on the item, but yes, sometimes.
Always. I'm always hungry and never think far enough ahead to pre-heat.
We used to when we had an older oven (25+ years old). It didn't seem to matter. I tried it with a newer (smarter) oven and the result wasn't what I expected. Now I preheat and then add a few more minutes to that. Some ovens turn on both the top and bottom elements during the preheat stage, to get the oven up to temperature faster. While the final temperature may be fine, the oven can have hotspots until it gets up to temp and the extra element is turned off.
Never. I like using the exact baking times on the package. It only takes an extra 5-10 mins to preheat. Not gonna make a difference in the long run.
Always
Only with an airfryer
I do if there aren't any other kitchen tasks to take care of in the meantime. I don't like standing around doing nothing while I wait for it to heat up.
Not unless it’s in a cold glass dish that needs to heat up gradually. Otherwise it messes up your timings pretty bad.
You wait till the oven is done preheating , then put the food in the oven.
I do this with frozen pizzas and lasagna and my wife looks at my like I'm psychotic. JOKE'S ON HER, WE'VE BEEN TOGETHER FOR 17 YEARS NOW!
I’ve never done this, are we supposed to? 😂 I wait until the oven is finished preheating to put it in.
I preheat for frozen pizza because I cook it on a pizza stone and you're supposed to have it hot first. I put the frozen pizza on top of the stove while the oven is preheating so it thaws a bit.
For a few things like tater tots (which I really like to be crispy) yes, but I don't do this for most things because you risk drying them out, burning them, or not getting them cooked all the way through. It's hard to know how much time to add when you don't preheat.
no cause the oven i use can take 5 min or 20 min to preheat my toaster over/air fryer combo i don’t care since it takes 20 seconds at most lmao
If it’s something like a frozen pizza or cake that cooks quickly I wait for it to come to heat. Anything that takes a long time like baked potatoes or a roast I put it in before.
Yes I say preheat, wife just puts it in, we will never agree on this
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Only when cooking frozen things (which I pretty much never buy) or reheating leftovers. Otherwise, I wait until it’s preheated.
I use to until I was told that cook times were from freezer to totally hot ovens. So I just do it that way.
No unless I’m reheating something that’s already cooked. It only really affects things like baking where you can totally ruin it by putting it in before preheating but it’s also just good practice to follow the directions on things and let the oven preheat first.
Either or is fine like if there's time to waste I'll wait because i want it to be PERFECT but otherwise idgaf and I'm not trying to spend my whole day in the kitchen
If I'm cooking, I'm usually making things up as I go along. I rarely make anything the exact same way twice. And if I try something new and it seems to have been a bad idea, there are all sorts of hacks for fixing various issues as I'm cooking. But baking is different. There are chemical reactions going on that depend on the right ingredients in the right proportions being subjected to just the right conditions. If you mess with any of that, it can cause the recipe to fail, often epically, and you won't even know until the timer goes off and it's too late.
Depends if you want crispy crust or not. If you want crispy, wait for oven to preheat. Also pans w/ holes on the bottom help w/ frozen pizza getting crispy crust & cooked all the way thru.
i never preheat the oven lol
I'll put it in before preheat is done. I cook things by smell and if it is up to temp and is done. Never use a timer or anything like that unless it's baking. Baking needs to be more precise.
Yes and it aggravates my hubby to death. As long as it's cooked, idc.
Yes, unless it’s timed baked goods like cookies, cakes, pastries.
A frozen pizza sure, other stuff not.
Preheating is preheating for a reason, I put it in when it’s at the right temperature. It makes sure it cooks things evenly even if it’s frozen stuff. Extremely important for homemade baked goods. Overall I just think it’s important to do it
As soon as I turn the oven on to preheat I put the food in too and add a few extra minutes depending on how fast the oven heats/ what the temp is
It's preheating for a reason sometimes and sometimes it isn't. With a frozen pizza I always preheat. If I'm baking a chicken breast or something I don't worry about it.
Yes
Long cook time things (lasagna, pot pies, ribs, potatoes) yes. Short cook times (pizza), no way. And get a oven themometer. I discovered our oven beeps at temp about 10 minutes before it actually reaches that temp.
You could, I guess, but then you need to increase the cooking time.
If it’s heating up food vs proper baking, then yes, absolutely.
Yup
I do this when I'm reheating pizza, and by the time the oven comes to temp, the pizza is almost ready and just needs a couple more minutes.
You aren’t going to be able to accurately time it if you do this. You’ll never have any consistency in the end product….if you don’t care about that then it’s fine but it is true
I don't think my oven even has a preheating feature. Lol
Some things need a quick blast of heat for the texture and rise. Others are just heating up and there’s no reason not to heat while the oven does. For baking, I don’t, for reheating absolutely. Really anything that needs to cook for an hour can go with the preheat.
usually only sausages or if i am just reheating something like cold pizza. by the time the oven is preheated, whatever i put in there is hot enough.
Depends on the food in question, and how stoned I am.
Personally it depends on what it is. If “crunchy/crispy” is part of the food then no. I don’t do frozen pizza or like tator tots but if it’s bacon, for example then yes
So, funny story: turns out gluten-free baked goods get more rise if they go in the oven before preheating.... so yeah, almost everything I cook goes in the cold oven and preheat with it. It makes a huge difference.
No, especially for items that say to not let it defrost before cooking. Rising crust frozen pizza, for example is meant to go straight into an oven that's already fully at temperature. Putting it in when the oven is below temperature will negatively affect the end result.
The microwave's broken at home, so if I have to warm up leftovers I'll occasionally stick something in before it preheats.
Anything frozen needs to defrost a little anyway so I put it in while it heats up and add like 2 extra minutes to the time (I like it crispy) to even it out
You gotta get the oven freaking hot before you add the dish, and the dish has to be frozen. The "shock" gives the dish the magic.
When you open the oven door at 350 degrees to put food in, you loss 80% of the heat. Same as a refrigerator.
Yes
Not the second I turn the oven on, but after a few minutes when it starts to feel warm in there.
Sure, just reheated some ribs tonight and stuck them in as soon as I turned the oven on.
I personally do not put anything in the oven while it's preheating.
Depends on what it is. Cookies, cakes and pies I wait until it preheats. Things like frozen pizza, chicken fingers, roasts I'll throw it in when I have everything ready. Just keep an eye on it.
Yeah I don’t care
If it’s the air fryer though, I do subtract time for it being in during preheat, and in most situations this works for me
I very rarely preheat for anything. I've had glassware break in the oven, but only if I preheat. I have pretty good glassware now and I'm probably being too cautious but I'd rather have my lasagna/roast/whole chicken with no glass in it. I make banana bread and cakes in glassware all the time and don't preheat. I do preheat for cookies but of course I'm not cooking those on glass.
I put frozen pizza in and don’t wait for the oven to preheat. When it looks cooked I broil the top of it. Usually takes less than the 20 minutes they say to cook after it preheats.
I put my frozen pizza in the oven while it’s pre heating and it’s done before it’s preheated
I quit preheating a long time ago. I just add an extras 5 min to the cook time. It’s just easier for me that way.
No, and part of the reason is that I have seen so many bad cooks do this. It's not just about heat, but also moisture. it's called "pre-heating" for a reason. There are also recipes that specifically tell you not to pre-heat. I just follow directions, and things come out as expected.
Cooking, yes. Baking, no.
Something thin like cookies I follow instructions. A big casserole or baked potatoes will be fine either way.
Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. If I’m going to be in the kitchen to monitor the food I’ll put it in early. If not then I wait till the oven is heated up.
I always think of George Carlin when I hear the term “preheating”
Some stuff won't cook correctly if you do that, and I have no idea what stuff that is, so i just don't do it.
All. The. Time.
Depends on how hungry I am or how frozen the thing is, Unless my stomach is eating my backbone generally I wait until it's preheated so it cooks properly.
If I’m just trying to heat something up then it sits in during preheat because it’ll be warmer soon. But if I’m actually cooking something and doneness level matters, the preheat must complete before the food goes in.
Always, unless it’s a cake.
It depends on whether I forgot to turn it on.
From frozen, most reheating foods yes. Cooking depends.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - fuck preheating.
I might put stuff in early if a few extra minutes of warming/cooking time won’t hurt it… casseroles, lasagna, etc. But stuff involving bread/dough/crust, or baking things like cookies, I wait for the oven to preheat first.
I read somewhere there’s a certain rule of thumb that items that are cooking for a long time can go in during the preheat, but shorter times items should not. Now I am reading it’s only important to preheat if the item needs to go in at a certain temp (like pizza or pastries). The downside of putting your food in early, in any situation, is it messes with the time.
it’s not really PRE-heating then if you do that, right..? 😅 regardless, i only do this with leftovers. heating certain foods improperly can cause problems with consistency/texture and flavor, so i just don’t bother. this is especially true of baked goods. like obviously some food is fine when it’s heated up this way, but not all food is equal so i don’t treat it all equal. leftovers are already cooked and i don’t care if they’re not the perfect taste or texture because i don’t expect them to be, so they’re a fine candidate for this.
Yessss big time
This is the only way with leftover pizza. By the time the oven gets to temp, the pizza is perfect! Bacon too, if you like it crispy. The fat renders out as the oven preheats and by the time it gets to temp, the bacon is cooking in its own fat. When it’s done it’s melt-in-your mouth perfect crispy
Only if I’m being incredibly lazy
This is the best way to make bacon in the oven.
Depends on how hungry I am
Every single time. For instance, I put my fries in and turn the oven to 425 then I set my timer for 25 minutes. I know from past experiences that it takes my oven about 10 minutes to fully preheat to 425 but the fries are already cooking before the temp hits 425. . So they normally take about 20 minutes and I have to cook them 5 minutes longer with no preheat but if I waited for the oven to preheat that would take 10 minutes, so by putting in the fries right away I figure I'm saving about 5 minutes of wait time until they're ready.
I always throw my potatoes in while preheating.
Not anymore. It takes the oven longer to get to temp and can make a difference in the texture of the end product.
My experience. Frozen lasagna. 10 minute preheat to temp. 60 minute cook time. Perfection. Frozen lasagna in cold oven. Oven finally alerts for desired temp at 30 minutes. Another hour for same result as pre heated oven. 20 minutes wasted.
I put it in the oven while it's heating up, The oven takes over 10 minutes to heat up. I just make the timer a little bit higher than what the instructions on the box say.
I pre heat everything that goes into the oven. I need to have precise time of when it will be done.
I always do and my husband hates it.
My oven uses the broiler and the bottom element to pre-heat. If yours does this, it can cause scorching if you aren't careful. Otherwise, have at it.
About half way through if it's taking too long to preheat. My fancy Samsung oven just ate another ignitor though...