Don’t pre-heat your oven. Turns out, it’s not necessary and it’s just wasting energy.

[The Straight Story]

Don’t pre-heat your oven. Shocking advice, right? Turns out, it’s not necessary and it’s just wasting energy.

http://fuelfix.com/blog/2011/11/24/how-much-does-that-thanksgiving-meal-cost/

Which links to this article:

Myths That Waste Energy In The Kitchen: The Baking & Roasting Episode

Superstitions about baking and roasting account for much energy wastage in the modern kitchen. "Preheat your oven" is an old wives tale that, with perhaps a few exceptions, can be ignored in the interest of energy saving.

When European and American cooking tools and classic recipes were developed, wood- or coal-fired home ovens were slow to come up to temperature and ovens were unevenly heated until the cook had time to spread the embers and wait for heat to disperse from all sides: hence, preheating made sense to our ancestors and early cookbook authors. (I make this assertion having baked and roasted in wood fired ovens as well as in various modern gas and electric models.) With modern electrical or natural gas ovens, especially the smaller volumed ones - preheating is a cook-time saver but otherwise is little more than an energy waste, so much the worse if food preparation ends up taking longer than you had estimated while the oven "preheats". Yet, recipe books all call for preheating. Worse, parents continue to teach their children to follow the practice without thought of the energy consequences.

Conceivably, the baking of elegant soufflés or such may benefit from preheating the oven. Just maybe. Otherwise it's largely bunk and especially pointless for roasting of meats. We wish the Myth Busters would have at this issue; but, it's probably not macho enough a subject for them to tackle. Logic will have to suffice.

Think about how much energy is wasted if you bring the oven up to 425 degrees Fahrenheit for half hour before baking begins, then open the oven door all the way to insert the pans. It's every bit as crazy as opening the door multiple times to "peek" at the results while the food bakes or roasts. (If you must peek, clean the glass and look through it. Leave the door closed.)

http://www.treehugger.com/kitchen-design/myths-that-waste-energy-in-the-kitchen-the-baking-roasting-episode.html

Heh - fuelfix website linking to treehugger site.

[fasttense]

1. Here on the cusp of a high altitude location.

I find that most baking powder/soda recipes rise better if left to sit, uncooked, for 10 minutes before cooking. The 10 minutes it takes my oven to heat up may actually help the rising.

[kristopher]

9. Your thought isn't clear to me.

How does wasted energy going to the inside of the oven help? You stipulated it was time but went on to endorse preheating as being relevant...

??

[elocs]

2. So, this is an article from October 27, 2007. Not exactly recent, is it?

In reading the comments to the article, most of which disagree with it, I noticed that some were 3 and 4 years old.

[The Straight Story]

3. Aye, but the article linking it is new. And I don't think time changes some things

I could be wrong, give it time.

[pipoman]

4. I agree and disagree

I would never bake without preheating, baking results are best when the object is in the oven the least amount of time allowing the proper outside color and texture while still cooking the item through Too hot and the outside burns while the inside isn't done Too cool and the outside layer can dry out too much while the inside isn't done. I do agree if roasting a turkey, preheating in unnecessary. I would venture a guess most pastry chefs would call bs to not preheating.

[Drahthaardogs]

122. Baking is one of those things you usually NEED to preheat for

since rising baked goods often depend on steam as well as leavening or chemical reactions to get the required air into the product. A hot oven, (for some recipes even a hot pan) help sear the bottom and sides and send the steam upwards causing your baked good to rise. Preheating for meats, vegetables, etc...not really necessary.

[Vinca]

5. Tell that to my baking powder.

If you want a biscuit with the texture of a hockey puck, don't preheat the oven.

[emcguffie]

80. It certainly makes sense to preheat when using baking powder --

-- or particularly double acting baking powder, because it works twice -- once when liquid hits it, and again when heat hits it.

If the biscuits (which only need to cook a few minutes anyway) start to bake and the structure is fixed, then the gas expansion that comes as it heats up can't increase the volume any.

The same principle, I think, is in effect with baking French bread and providing steam to keep the dough soft, so that it can keep rising with the second push the yeast makes with the heat. How much more can the dough rise before it is too rigid to rise any more?

So I guess I'm saying it has to depend on what you're doing. Baking is indeed much more complicated than roasting, I think.

[Vinca]

119. If you want to seal juices into whatever you're roasting,

it's better to start with a hot oven. I have one bizarre recipe I use when making roast beef that calls for the oven to be preheated to 450 or 500 degrees. You cook the meat for a little while, then turn the oven completely off and let it sit for a few hours, then turn it back on at the end.

[DCKit]

6. Try that when cooking fish sticks or any other frozen, prepared food.

Fish sticks cooked from room temperature are soggy. I like to bake bread in a preheated oven as well.

If you want to save energy, use your oven when you need the extra heat in the house (aka "winter"), and it's zero sum.

[pipoman]

10. Frozen pizza too..like soggy crust? Don't preheat..

[LynneSin]

7. I rarely pre-heat my oven. Usually an extra 1-2 on the cook time will do just as well.

And when I'm done cooking I turn off the oven and open the door - no reason why that heat should stay trapped when I could warm the kitchen I am in.

[ProfessorGAC]

71. You Don't Have To Open The Door, Lynne

The heat is still going to release to the room, whether the door is open or not. Sure, it takes a little longer, but BTU's are BTU's. Opening the door could leave a risk situation where you touch the edge or internal of the door and get burned.

You'll still get the waste hear and minimize risk by leaving it closed.
GAC

[DCKit]

123. Doesn't matter either way.

If the door is kept closed, it'll just release the heat more slowly. It's not as if the heat has anywhere else to go but the kitchen.

[elias7]

8. Makes no sense

I always thought preheating meant wait for the oven temp to hit cooking temp before putting food in. Doesn't matter if the food is sitting outside the oven or inside the oven while it heats up over 5-10 minutes. Better control if you wait, it seems to me.

What I want to know is if people actually preheat their oven for a half hour, which would be a waste, albeit not a huge one from a kilowatt standpoint.

[pipoman]

13. Good catch...if it takes your oven 30 minutes to preheat, you'd better preheat

or buy a new oven..

[kristopher]

14. Read these answers to "How long should you preheat your oven..."

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070406082254AA5sesB

[FSogol]

23. Do people really use Yahoo Answers for anything? The one or two good answers are

always drowned out by the dozens of idiotic answers.

[kristopher]

26. It is a good sampling of beliefs.

And you'll note that "preheat for at least 30 minutes" is a widely accepted practice.

[elias7]

29. If you interpret it correctly...

What I note is that most people say 10-15 minutes, not 30 minutes as you suggest. What's your angle anyway?;)

[Bluenorthwest]

56. You do know that there are 'cook books' and all?

That is not a 'widely accepted practice' at all. It is nonsense. Never have I seen such a thing, in all my reading and watching and cooking. Yobs on the internet can say anything. This does not mean it is a 'widely accepted practice'. Tis the internet.

[Mimosa]

87. Amen BlueNorthwest!

I'm an experienced better than average cook. My grandmother and stepfather were professional chefs, restaurant owners. I know how to cook and how to bake.

When I first read articles claiming preheating wasn't necessary I experimented. As others have said, for most purposes it is necessary to preheat an oven.

My stoves/ovens have always been gas and never require more than 10 minutes to preheat. I imagine electric ovens would take longer.

[Yo_Mama]

102. I've never preheated longer than 10 minutes with gas

Of the electric ovens I've used, one needed to be preheated about 15 minutes. I think it was flaky. The other was about 8-9.

I think the article is hilariously inept:

Conversely, by not preheating, you won't have to wear oven mitts while loading in your pans, reducing the risk of burns to you and the climate.

I've never used oven mitts to put a cold pan INTO the oven. There's this handle thingie on the door and all, and the pan is cold. I use them when I am taking the hot pan OUT. The article reads almost like a parody. I've never, never met anyone who preheated an oven more than 10 minutes. Sometimes it's just five. Who sets the oven on 425 and preheats it for half an hour? Maybe that might be necessary with a large commercial oven, but I doubt it.

And the guy gets it exactly wrong on the wood ovens - there you had to build a fire, wait for the fire to fully flame up and mature (generally produce more of an ember bed), then start your cooking when the fire and heat was controlled and often had dropped from its max. Preheating isn't a custom that comes from wood ovens - if you were baking then you would have to start the fire long before time.

[emcguffie]

81. But don't new ovens tell you when they've reached the set temp?

Mine beeps when it gets there. And it gets there very quickly.

[Blue_In_AK]

97. Yes, mine beeps, too, and it doesn't take very long.

[JVS]

42. Yeah, me too. But with frozen pizza, I never pre-heated because I knew it wouldn't matter

Only with something that could actually be uncooked or something time sensitive did I wait for it to fire up.

[krispos42]

84. My oven beeps when it hits the set temp.

Not that I really bother with preheating that much when I'm cooking frozen foods.

[sammytko]

113. Yeah - what is this half hour business? No oven takes that long!

I've used stoves that had a pre-heat function - they heated up faster at a higher temp and then leveled.

My new stove doesn't have that - it just beeps when it reaches the temp I punch in. Then I use the convection setting so things bake and roast faster.

[ThomWV]

11. Toss a Pizza into a cold oven and see how that works out for you.

Sure, if you're roasting a side of beef or a turkey it won't make any difference if you start from cold, but anything you bake needs preheating and of course there's Pizza.

[Bluenorthwest]

30. It does make a difference with roasting meats as well

A turkey does well with 20 minutes at 450 followed by 350 for the remainder. There are many ways to do a roast, you want to high heat at first, in pan or in oven.

[Lyric]

46. I actually do mine the opposite way.

I roast for a few hours at 325, covered in a foil tent, then jack the heat up to 425 for the last 45-60 minutes or so in order to make the skin come out brown and crisp. It works better that way, at least in my opinion, because the low-temp roasting beforehand helps to get the excess water and liquid fat rendered out of the skin, which makes browning and crisping a lot easier.

:hi:

[Bluenorthwest]

58. I'll try it....

Have a roast planned for this week, and I always like trying the new way. Always. Yummmm, new roast....

[Lyric]

60. Me too! Cooking is one of the things I love best.

I also rub the skin with soft butter or margarine, season it with rosemary, thyme, and salt, and put salt and crushed garlic cloves into the cavity.

Let me know how it turns out! Are you making chicken or turkey?

:)

[Bluenorthwest]

64. Just did a turkey, so this week will be beef....

Turkey got stuffed under the skin with bacon and stuff, then basted with the drippings. It was actually in too long, but still it rocked. Next time, out 20 minutes earlier. It was delicious!

[Lyric]

70. We did a turkey and a ham.

I made a fantastic dressing with mushrooms, fried sage leaves, and andouille sausage--yum! I was going to put apples in it too, but I wound up using all my apples for the pie, lol.

[joeglow3]

96. I would guess that dries it out too much.

I could see doing it if you have a fatty cut of meat. I had friends over who about died when they saw me pull some steaks out of the oven. I explained that I jack the grill up as high as it will go and put the steaks on the grill for a few minutes. I then put them in the oven to cook them the rest of the way. Of course, they changed their tune when they tasted the steaks.

[emcguffie]

83. That's pretty traditional, but nowadays there are differing views on that.

That was pretty standard for a long time, the notion being to sear the outside of the meat with the first high heat to seal the juices in, and then slow the temp down for even, gradual roasting that would leave the meat succulent.

But nowadays lots of time-honored practices are being tested in good test kitchens and found not to hold true. Like salting your meat ahead of time.

Is it America's Test Kitchen? I forget their name. BUt they do test their recipes, and they explain what they tried and how it came out. As far as always starting high and cooling down, I don't remember what they say, but I do know that many recipes no longer call for that. I do remember what they said not too long ago about salting meat, and we've tried it and it works.

If you salt meat just before, or a few minutes before, cooking, yes, the salt pulls juices out of the meat. But if you do it long enough before, say at least 30 minutes or so, the juices at first are pulled out, but then the salt and the juices both go back into the meat. And you get a result sort of like brining, without the hassle of brining -- the salt gets into the meat and the juices stay there as well. This has worked for us with chicken, hamburgers, pork chops and steaks.

All of my life, I wouldn't have dreamed of salting my meat beforehand. I had always cooked meat in a hot, salted cast iron skillet -- to sear the meat and seal the juices in. And yes, that works. But it tastes better to me to have the salt get into the meat some, as long as the juices stay in and don't get pulled out.

I'm a stickler for meat that's not dried out.

[madokie]

12. Now to get my wife to do that

She won't let me in the kitchen as thats not my job she says. My job is taking care of the rest of the place.

[kristopher]

15. This thread is a great example of how we tend to resist change... nt

[pipoman]

17. Or how journalists don't hesitate to speculate and proclaim their speculation as fact..

[Brickbat]

19. Or how a journalist doesn't think a story through and ask the right quesitons of the right people.

[kristopher]

22. I don't think the physics support the "you must preheat" position.

And the article does a good job of showing how the belief becomes an established cultural truth that persists in spite of losing its validity. Our world is filled with similar myths, it is how we function.

[DCKit]

28. If you don't cook, or don't care what you put in your mouth...

I see no reason for you to be commenting on this thread.

Those of us who preheat were quite clear as to EXACTLY why we do so and what foods we preheat the oven to cook.

As I said, I use my (gas) oven(s) in the winter time. It's not costing me a penny in extra energy.

[kristopher]

39. I do cook.

And I enjoy being good at it.

[FedUpWithIt All]

101. I am an excellent cook and have never been one to preheat an oven.

The only time i do is when baking something like a souffle or a cheesecake. Everything has always come out just as well as it does for those who cook the same items in a preheated oven.

[Bluenorthwest]

32. That is really silly talk. Physics? Just go stick some cookies in

a cold oven, or some biscuits. Then you will know. Cooking is a huge money game, and there are competitions and a constant striving for perfection. Think it through. Every cook as neglected the preheat, and seen the results. Duh. For many, many foods, it makes a huge, definitive difference, that is simple fact. Simple fact that is easy to prove. Easy as pie, the saying goes.
In addition, the evolution of the oven follows the evolution of cooking. This author speaks of wood ovens in the opposite terms my Mom, who grew up with wood ovens, used to explain when to cook what. A wood fired oven, one waits for the cooling, not the heating, as the fire starts at extreme temps, too hot to cook. So then it was not preheat, it was cool to temp. And the temp sought is the same coming from lower or from higher.

[Brickbat]

69. I don't think article does a good job of supporting its position, or of explaining away my and other

people's experiences with cold-oven baking. Putting anything with cold butter in a cold oven to bake is asking for a mess. Putting anything with baking powder in a cold oven will undermine the point of the baking powder. And putting frozen items in a cold oven to "bake" through "preheating" is just silly.

Roasting meats? Sure, knock yourself out with not preheating the oven. But pretending that only the occasional high-quality soufflé will be affected by a cold oven is just ignorant.

[kristopher]

72. Like someone said upthread - this would be a good one for mythbusters to test.

[Brickbat]

73. Only if it involves something exploding.

:)

[kristopher]

74. I'm sure they could work a pressure cooker into the scenario somehow.

[MayHamm]

100. I'm not sure asking men who blow up cars

Asking them for to evaluate cooking methods may not be the best way to go here.

Personally I'd rather ask a professional cook whose reputation depends on great oven advice, not those who work better with welding masks and fire bombs.

[snooper2]

57. This thread is a great example of all the people who can't bake

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Tsiyu]

85. I was thinking the same thing!

If you plan on not pre-heating before you bake your holiday cookies, better expect the first batch to burn to a crisp! Yum!!!

Baking is a science, not a convenience. lol. If the recipe says the oven must be a certain temperature for bread, cake, cookies, custard, etc. to properly cook, that's a scientific fact, not just an "old wive's tale."

[Hassin Bin Sober]

111. My neighbor, who has a masters in accounting and CPA, a very smart woman...

.... took culinary classes last year. She says the baking piece was the hardest class she ever had.

But boy oh boy did I, and my waist-line, benefit from her defeats and victories. Oh, and the school pot-luck dinner she held with her classmates? mmmmmm mmmmm mmm Bar-b-q, brisket, deserts.

[Yo_Mama]

99. Clearly you do not bake - you have to preheat to cook baked goods properly

But seriously, you will waste a lot of money and energy if you do not preheat for certain types of baked goods - breads, cookies, most cakes, etc. When it's ruined and you have to start over you haven't saved any energy.

The basic rule is that the shorter the cook time, the more important it is to preheat. If I were slow-roasting meat or cooking a casserole, I wouldn't. It's a waste. If you try to cook muffins or eggs or most breads or pastries or even some frozen/prepared goods with short cook times, you will need to preheat.

[pipoman]

16. Imagine that..

John Laumer

Writer / Philadelphia

John Laumer is an independent consultant with recent service with a multinational chemical firm included environmental management systems development, training in product stewardship, product introduction management, scenario planning, and risk assessment.

Before coming to the Philadelphia area from Chicago, John was senior staff member of a regional planning agency, consultant to an EPA Regional Administrator, field biologist, videographer, and many other near-forgotten things.

As a young man, John studied environmental science and engineering at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

John’s loves to cook/read/hunt/fish/build/think/talk, just like his ancestors did.

John’s last name is embedded in the Catholic tradition going back as far as the year 590, although he, early on, found himself alienated from its dominionist traditions, excommunicating himself near the end of his 6th grade year.

No blood relationship to Keith John Laumer, the well known SciFi writer

Not a single reference in John's bio about being a professional cook or baker. No mention in the article of consulting any pro cooks or bakers..hmmm

[kristopher]

38. Seriously? You think that makes a valid point?

From my view the point your post makes is how stongly you resist the idea that a part of your belief system might not be correct. Don't worry, your entire world won't collapse if you learn something new that contradicts something you've believed all your life.

Honest.

[pipoman]

82. Well

Maybe my belief system is based on facts and actual experience in the field? Say, for instance, I manage 2 commercial kitchens, hold the actual title of 'chef', and employ 3 full time professional bakers? Say I am responsible for production of 600 meals per day? Would that give my opinion more weight than the authors? Or, because this chemical engineer has something published on the internets does his opinion automatically become fact? Go ahead, don't listen my my actual knowledge on the subject in favor of this meatballs, just don't come looking for a job in one of my kitchens.

[Tsiyu]

89. Thank you

Have been professional baker in a few kitchens. If you don't pre-heat, you are asking for recipes to fail. The waste of $20 worth of ingredients won't be offset by the dollar you save not pre-heating

As I said above, baking is a science. Those of us who actually have baked for a living know what happens when you ignore the science.

[pipoman]

118. Exactly

There is also different when baking a birthday cake for your own child vs baking things people are willing to pay for..people expect consistency if nothing else from professional cooks and bakers, you can't have consistency without replicating the same recipe cooked in the same conditions every time. Yeah, I have to go call my podiatrist now..my motorcycle is acting up.

[Atman]

18. We rarely use our regular oven anymore. Got a countertop convection oven.

Not a crappy little toaster oven, a real oven. It's just small, and has the option of convection, which cooks a bit faster. We're empty nesters now, and it just became ridiculous to heat up the giant oven on our range just to prepare dinner for two. The countertop oven is big enough to roast a chicken and bake a pizza, but so small that preheating just isn't an issue.

[Poll_Blind]

86. What's the make and model of that, if you don't mind me asking? I've been thinking about...

..moving over to a convection oven for a while. I like the idea of it, especially a countertop version. I'm not sure if I even knew a countertop convection oven existed!

PB

[OxQQme]

91. DeLonghi Ovens

http://www.delonghi.com/us_en/family/electric-ovens/

[Atman]

93. Ours is a Kitchenaid.

It handles two 12" pizzas, or a 5 lb bird, comes with two racks and broiler pan. It is very quiet and it doesn't take up much counter space. It comes in convection and non-convection models, but be careful...I've seen it priced anywhere from about $130 (what we paid) all the way up to $499, though I can't imagine anyone actually paying that much for it. It has a full one-year warranty. It got mostly good reviews everywhere we looked.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=Kitchenaid+countertop+convection+oven&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=11252505464103008223&sa=X&ei=W9LTTt2AFtK9tgfq5dm5DQ&ved=0CJcBEPMCMAM

[tomm2thumbs]

20. I always preheat my microwave oven

it takes a second, but I think it's worth it

[Lyric]

45. ....

:spray:

:rofl:

I think you win the thread.

[Robb]

21. Of course it's not necessary. No more than careful measuring of ingredients is.

If you require consistency, however, preheating is helpful in eliminating one variable element -- the heating times of different ovens at different starting temperatures.

[Bluenorthwest]

37. In baking and in some cooking, careful measure is essential

If you do not preheat, baked goods will suck. The end.

[Robb]

40. We agree.

Alert the media. :)

[Bluenorthwest]

65. It is rare, food is the great diplomat of humanity....

Peace and yummies to you...

[mwb970]

24. There's too much temperature variation if you don't preheat the oven walls.

At least with an electric oven like mine, its cycle is on full, totally off, on full, totally off, etc. If the walls of the oven are not up to temperature to "smooth out" the resulting wide temperature swings, it can be detrimental to the baking process for some kinds of food.

I thought this was common knowledge among people who bake.

[TorchTheWitch]

25. clearly this person doesn't cook

Might not make a difference with most meats whether you preheat or not but with most baked goods and frozen foods, hell yeah it matters whether or not you pre-heat.

And where the hell is the energy waste if the pre-heat time is knocked off the cook time? Time wise, it's all the same anyway.

Frankly, I doubt this person has ever used an oven at all. It doesn't take anywhere near a half and hour to bring a cold oven to 425 degrees. Ten or twelve minutes, tops. And if that ten or twelve minutes is taken off the cook time, then where the hell is the energy waste???

In the winter I use oven heat after I cook something to help heat the house by keeping the door open until it's gone cold again. Why shut the door and trap that heat in the oven when it could help to heat the house?

[kristopher]

27. See post 14 above.

I sample some advice sites and the belief that you should always preheat for at least 30 minutes is very widespread.

[Bluenorthwest]

34. 10 minutes is a long, long preheat

Half an hour is just running your oven for no reason. This is common knowledge. Never have I seen anyone advice a 30 minute preheat. If I did I'd howl with laughter.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

112. I just KNOW there have been directions requiring 30 minutes or better...

I distinctly remember howling with "hunger" pains when I had to wait. But I'm thinking like 30ish years ago.

One that comes to mind was a small chain of a couple Italian restaurants that sold half-cooked frozen take home pizza. I distinctly remember bitching and moaning about pre-heating the oven for so long....

But I agree with you. I chalk it up to part of my squandered youth.

[Bluenorthwest]

47. Do this, Mr Science, as lab work. Cold Oven Lab

Prep some biscuits and line a cookie sheet with foil. Place strips of bacon on the sheet. Place both in a cold oven then set the oven at 400. In 17 minutes, you will have great bacon, leave it in for two more if you like it crispy. Now remove those biscuits and take a look. Now eat them to prove your physics, no, all of them. Gluey, gummy, heavy. Oh, now that the oven is hot, do some more bacon. Only I will not tell you how long in the hot oven, you say it makes no difference, so good luck. Hint: 17 minutes will be too long. Far too long.
So the kitchen is a lab. Make two cakes, preheat, do not preheat. Note the difference, as hundreds of cooks have over thousands of years.
Let me know how your lab work goes.

[kristopher]

61. Did you even read the article in the OP?

It appears to me you are in your own little world on this one.

[TorchTheWitch]

68. I've never seen any cookbook that says that

Nor any package instructions. They just say "preheat oven to ____ degrees". Modern ovens since I was a kid have timers that let you know when the oven has reached the temperature it had been set at. Even my granny's first ever electric oven from the 1950's had a light that came on when the oven had reached the proper temperature. It was also one of the first that had a built in clock but it had hands since digital hadn't either been invented or wasn't yet widespread.

Me and two of my brothers ended up blowing it up on Thanksgiving years ago. We ended up eating Pop-Tarts and Cap'n Crunch for dinner, but it was hands down the most fun and memorable Thanksgiving ever.

[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[The Straight Story]

33. You need to #occupyyouroven

:)

[Name removed]

36. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Atman]

35. DU is obviously starved for something new to talk about.

:hi:

[Blasphemer]

79. Heh.... at least it's been educational and not overly contentious

'Tis the season....

[Atman]

108. You may have spoken too soon.

Deleted threads and sub-threads. Heatahs versus non-heatahs. Hey, this is DU. We'd argue about the color of the sky if someone would just start the thread.

:hi:

.

[Blasphemer]

116. Ok... but I stand by the educational part :-) nt

[quinnox]

41. I broil a lot and it always says to pre-heat

in the directions, for example I broil lamb and fish. I don't think they would come out right if I didn't pre-heat.

[Atman]

49. It makes even less sense to pre-heat for broiling.

When you broil in your oven, the heating element just comes on full blast, never shuts down. All you need is for the element to heat up, which takes very little time. You regulate the cooking time just like on a grill, by moving the food closer to/farther from the constant heat source.

[Bluenorthwest]

53. Maybe in your oven, my broiler takes a few to get hot and if

your food is under there while it comes to heat, it will not come out well enough for me to serve to myself. Also, when you are preheating to broil, it is the element and the pan that are preheating, the cold pan is also a lousy idea.
Of course, a gas oven has no element and the preheat is faster. You do want a hot broiler, just as on the grill you would not place the food on the grill, then start the fire. Just as on the grill, the moment you start is an important choice. Too hot,not hot enough...you say it yourself, 'constant heat source' and yet to have constant heat from a non gas fire, you have to let the fire grow, then die down, and reach consistent heating. You do in fact preheat your grill.

[quinnox]

54. I use a toaster oven mostly

So I don't think it works as fast to get to the broil temperature as a full size oven.

[Lyric]

43. I preheat for delicate baked goods like certain cookies, cakes, and biscuits.

I never preheat for meat, casseroles, fruit pies, pot pies, or anything else that doesn't need to quickly rise.

[Bluenorthwest]

50. Many times I start a roast at very high heat and drop after 20 min.

Searing, oven style. Works well, particularly with fowl. It is a method, there are others. Rising is one reason for quick heat, there are others. I usually brown the fuck out of meat roasts prior to the oven, so the meat is hot, to place it in a cold oven would stop the process which is not the best idea.
Cold oven favorite, bacon, in cold, set to 400 17-20 depending on cut and taste, watch in in those last few and snag it out when it looks perfect. And it is perfect, as is the rendered fat, oh so great for other uses, clear and golden in the pan, as opposed to the sputtering skillet method.

[Lyric]

55. Yes, I sear roasts too.

But I've never had a problem going from a sear to a cold oven. If anything, it helps--I don't want the meat to keep cooking on the surface once the searing is done. That just makes it tougher than it needs to be. Then again, I tend to cook my beef and pork roasts at a very low temp for extended time, rather than cooking at 350. I just get more tender and flavorful results that way. YMMV, of course.

:hi:

[Bluenorthwest]

62. Tough meat does not happen here, trust me.

Of course, we have the good stuff. Low and slow rocks. I'm still not sure about stopping the cooking process fully in order to wait for the oven, not sure I see the point in that. I'll try it and compare, that is what good dinner is made of, try the new thing, I love to try the new thing. One of the best roast beefs I ever had was done at crazy high temps, when I tried to replicate it I failed, it was the worst roast I ever made. Go figure.
As I type this, I realize that when I'm in roasting mode, my oven is almost always hot already anyway, so do sear and go to cold oven I will have to not bake bread first!

[Liberal Veteran]

63. My cookies, cakes, and biscuits are never classified as "delicate".

For some reason, my oven has two settings: Meat and kiln.

[slackmaster]

44. I generally agree, but if you are using a pizza stone pre-heating is essential

:hi:

[RevStPatrick]

48. This person obviously never cooked a souffle...

SOMEONE ON THE INTERNET IS WRONG!!!

[JoeyT]

59. Or a cake.

Or anything else that has to rise.

I guess you might be able to get away with it for biscuits, as long as you didn't mind cutting them with a hacksaw.

[Mimosa]

88. LOL! LOL! N/T

[Motown_Johnny]

51. I have a degree in Culinary Arts and I disagree

When cooking any meat you want to sear the outside as quickly as possible (without burning) so as to lock in the juices. Not preheating the oven when cooking a roast would cause it to dry out.


You might be able to get away with it on some items, like cookies, but not many.


The problem here is that they ask about leaving the oven preheated for half an hour. That is insane. Once the oven is at the desired temperature there is no reason to wait. That is where the waste comes into play here.


I actually tend to over heat my oven. If I want to cook at 425 I will heat to 450, then place the item or items in the oven and turn the temperature down to 425. This guarantees that the heat loss from opening the door and placing in cooler items in minimal.

[Major Nikon]

66. Alton Brown put that myth to rest

Searing doesn't lock in any juices. It is important for maillard reaction and caramelization.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW9npAc2Sgw

[Romulox]

76. Searing might not lock in juices, but a *short cook time* on high heat sure as shooting does.

Don't believe me? Cook a nice ground chuck hamburger on a gas grill--that you light at the very same time you put the patty on. Just as juicy as one cooked for 3-5 minutes on a charcoal grill?

Bon apetit!

[alc]

52. depends on what you're cooking

I don't preheat for most things and there's no difference in results. but breads/cakes (they mention souffles) don't come out so well without preheating.

If you're worried about how much heat that comes out when you put food in the oven, you should probably be eating non-refrigerated, raw food by candle light. And don't even think of turning the heat/ac on.

[JNelson6563]

67. It matters in baking.

For best results in baking, especially cake, even temp from beginning to end matters.

Other than that I agree completely.

Julie

[Romulox]

75. I baked some lovely French style baguettes this holiday. Know how I know the article author didn't?

:silly:

[LynneSin]

77. The other day my mother tried to convince me to do this when I use this dishwasher...

Mind you, in my 40+ years of living I have never heard of this nor did my mother hear of this.

Recently, my stepfather fixed up an old house he owned in order to sell it. He redid the kitchen and put a dishwasher in it. The house had never had a dishwasher before. Mind you, he didn't get some state of the art dishwasher, just a reliable but cheap kenmore.

My mother read the book and in the book it said that before you run your dishwasher, you should run the kitchen sink tap for about 5-10 minutes to ensure you'd have hot water for your dishwasher. After she read that she is now convinced we should all be doing that.

Mind you, my dishwasher isn't state of the art and it does take about 5-10 minutes to heat up but really?

Just run tap water because god forbid for a few minutes your dishes could be washed in lukewarm water even though eventually hot water will be used on them along with soap and heat for sanitizing them.

I yelled at my mom that doing that trick was nothing more than wasting water. Hopefully she has stopped doing it.

[Poll_Blind]

90. Tell your mother a stranger on the internet begs her not to run water for 5-10 minutes just....

...to do a load of dishes in the dishwater. Granted, it's far from the kind of waste of precious water that fracking is but, really, it should be impressed on her that modern cleaning detergents including laundry detergents do not require heat in order to be effective. This also goes for the cleaning powder, "pills" or gel which are likely to be used in a dishwasher.

And I rarely wash laundry in anything but cold/cold since I read that. I haven't noticed a difference at all and it saves money from not using the hot water.

PB

[LynneSin]

105. Only time I do laundry not in cold water is sheets & towels. Even then...

I do those in medium water.

[sammytko]

114. My new dishwasher instructions had that same thing - and I do run it, but not 5-10 minutes

more like maybe one minute and when I do that I'm also running the disposal and cleaning the sink, so no water is actually "wasted" - in my view anyway.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

115. Uh-oh

:hide:

Yeah, it's in the operating instructions.

I live on the third floor and hot water takes a while to travel up three stories so I waste some water. I try to fill a britta pitcher or the dog bowl etc. but water does get wasted.

I figured there is a reason the instructions/engineers require you to hook the supply line to the HOT side and not the cold side. They designed the system to work with hot water. If you are in my condo, hot water takes a while to get here.

I'll have to re-think this.

But I'm not ready to toss the research that goes in to dishwasher science - and it is a science - anymore than I am ready to discount the experience and the science of the bakers on this thread.

This Old House did a visit to a dishwasher testing lab. They just don't make up instructions for the sake of it. On a side note: the visit to the toilet lab was interesting as well (flushing hot dogs and golf balls).

We'll the new dishwasher sucks anyway. Shoulda kept the old cheapo. Two of my neighbors agree - we all changed out the same old cheapo builder installed GE for new higher end GEs, an LG and a Bosch. We all agree the old GE worked better.

[Cairycat]

78. My rule of thumb has always been

preheat if it's cooking for less than half an hour. Think about the kinds of foods that cook for under and over half an hour, it works out pretty well.

[bengalherder]

92. Gotta preheat for baking.

Otherwise the yeast doesn't react right.

Issues with baking powder too.

As for roasting meat, you are just trying to get it to a correct center temp. Preheat doesn't matter much then.

Also, have to open the doors near the end to test. Visual inspection is NOT going to tell you when the cake is done. Sorry.

PS: I leave the oven ajar after use (turned off) to try to recirculate the heat to warm my apartment. When I cook at night I don't have to heat my place, so there's a trade-off.

[Blue_In_AK]

94. I completely disagree with this,

especially for baking.

[Yo_Mama]

95. You need to preheat for your Christmas cookies, and some baked goods.

For meats and casseroles I never do.

[laundry_queen]

98. I generally don't preheat but sometimes you just gotta

Frozen pizza on the rack (ie without a pan) will literally fall through the rack if you don't preheat. That is one mess you DON'T want to have to deal with, trust me on that.

If it's something 'touchy' that you are worried about having the time exactly in the cook book (ie cream puffs) then I always preheat.

But I'd say about 95% of the time I don't bother. I mean, if I am roasting meat, or cooking a casserole, I just stick it in without preheating, set the timer for what it says in the recipe, and then if it's not done by then, I put it in for a little bit longer and if it IS done, well good thing I didn't preheat or it would be overdone. Works well for me.

[Blue_In_AK]

104. So if you have to add more time at the end

for your dish to be done, you're not saving any energy by not preheating. Not a criticism of you, just pointing out a possible fallacy in the original article.

[LynneSin]

106. If I do pre-heat it's only for about 5 minutes tops. Not when the alarm goes off

Of course I never cook anything in the oven without a pan.

[McCamy Taylor]

103. Depends on what you are cooking.

[JuniperLea]

107. It depends on the oven, and the food...

My oven gives a short alarm tone when the oven hits the set temperature... and every oven is different, so giving a set time frame for preheating will never be accurate and I've never seen it used. Always use a thermometer, and know your own oven.

Never put a cake or bread into a cold oven... recipe for disaster.

[KurtNYC]

109. Oh yeah?! Well just for that I AM going to preheat my oven!

and my microwave oven too!

[RebelOne]

110. My range is gas. I just turn it on and wait for the flame

to come up and pop whatever I am cooking into the oven.

[nadinbrzezinski]

117. For roasting, no I don't.

For baking on the other hand, you need to at least be close to temp for bread to do fine.

[-..__...]

120. Pro tip... invest in a decent digital oven thermometer.

More than likely... the thermometer on your oven is inaccurate (easy to recalibrate/adjust if needed... mine was off 30-35 degrees F).

The one I bought doubles as a meat thermometer and is easily one of the best kitchen gadget purchases I've made.

http://www.amazingribs.com/BBQ_buyers_guide/thermometer_buying_guide.html

[pipoman]

121. I would also suggest a digital instant read probe thermometer

without, consistency in cooking and baking is guesswork. I ask all cooks and bakers to chart internal temps and times until optimal internal temp is determined for each recipe then we put that temp on the recipe right beside times..we have temps to shoot for even on bread and pies.