Don't Preheat Your Oven

Linda Bittle
Linda Bittle Posts: 1,500 ✭✭✭✭✭
in Cooking

I've always felt kind of guilty for just throwing stuff into the oven without preheating it. According to this article, it only matters for recipes that have a leavening agent. And I do love crispy skin on my chicken.

Don’t Preheat Your Oven Before Cooking Chicken Thighs (lifehacker.com)

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  • kbmbillups1
    kbmbillups1 Posts: 1,314 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Depending on what I'm making I just stick it in and turn the oven on.

    I'm finally figuring out how to make nice fluffy rolls and I leave them to rise in my oven on 170 degrees and then turn it on 350 degrees to bake.

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  • marjstratton
    marjstratton Posts: 1,132 ✭✭✭✭

    For many years, I have felt that it is a waste of energy to preheat the oven. It does make sense to preheat for a final rise. But in all other circumstances, I don't.

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  • jowitt.europe
    jowitt.europe Posts: 1,411 admin

    When I bake my bread with sourdough I never preheat the oven. 2 hours, 200C. No pre heating.

    this preheating habit came later when I saw other people doing it and when I started following recipes and started doubting whether I cook the right way…. @Linda Bittle thank you for posting it. When cooking is a creative process, then the precise following of recipes is not that important. The taste comes from tasting, experience what one has at hand. And from the oven. They are different. This discussion makes me think again and return to my earlier way of cooking based more on tasting, checking, intuition. Then cooking is art.

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  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,911 ✭✭✭✭✭

    If you don't preheat the oven, it may mess up the timing. You will probably need to bake longer to offset the fact that at the beginning of the heating process, it wasn't warm enough to start cooking.

    However, I often put in the food after 10 minutes of preheat even if it hasn't beeped that it is at temperature. The impact of this on cooking should be minimal.

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  • Marjory Wildcraft
    Marjory Wildcraft Posts: 1,584 admin

    I always thought I was lazy... not doing the preheat thing. Definitely agree with the sentiment on not wanting to waste heat.

    And my roasted chicken did always come out with crispy skins so I was happy. Glad to see this confirmed by someone else, although I'm not sure I needed confirmation? LOL

    Yes, @VermontCathy it does mess up the timing. I add another 5 to 10 minutes on.

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