do you preheat the oven before cooking..

I usually start the oven before I prepare whatever I am going to be putting in it. I think it is a good idea. Gives the food a fair chance to cook completely. And it would stand to reason that it would taste better if cooked as it should be. The recipes and such wouldn't be having us do so if it wasn't a good idea.

Yup, I do preheat :) When recipes are written, the specified cooking or baking time assumes that you are putting the food into the oven at the correct temperature. Depending on the oven, it can take 5 or 10 minutes to reach the pre-set temperature and that means the food is starting to cook at the wrong setting. I just set the oven to the desired temperature while I'm doing other things and it signals me when it's ready to use. I've actually never thought of doing it differently, come to think of it LOL Even if I'm cooking something without a pre-written recipe, I will know in advance what temperature it should be cooked at and I'll make sure it's at that temperature when the food goes in. It's really not that safe to cook food at an incorrect temperature (especially if you don't use a separate thermometer to check the internal temp on things like meat, for example) because you could end up eating food that is improperly prepared.

Hi laken02, I always take the time according to the recipe stated to preheat the oven. The required heat would make the food to be ready right in time puntually as well as it would taste as delicious as mentioned in the recipe too Have a nice day

For me, I have to say that it depends on what I am cooking. There are some things that I will cook that I know will not make a lot of difference if the oven is not preheated when I cook it, such as when I am making a pizza or something like that. However, when I am baking chicken or something like that, I always make sure that the oven is preheated because of the fact that chicken always has to be cooked all the way through and it seems to be a little bit tough if you start it from a cold oven.

Yes I learned the art of preheat since I learned from Grandma that had a wood cook stove. Couldnt bake anything unless the fire was hot and stoked LOL Mother always preheated, and even when I took Home Ec in cooking there was always the importance of preheating. Especially with breads, cakes and cookies. I have a convection oven that certain things I will stick in the oven and just start it and it seems to get finished a bit quicker but still taste the same to me. An additional 6 to 10 minutes to preheat is not that long. I turn my oven on to preheat as I am making the dish up (like meatloaf) Then the heat is proper and I don't have to wait for it to cook longer with a cold oven. Enjoy cooking its a blessing.

Usually the recipes tell you to preheat the oven to a certain temperature.The reason for that is ,that the food cooks in a certain way,at different temperatures, for different amount of time.If you change that,the food might get tougher,burn.loose its taste.

I do preheat the oven. I do not always let it get all the way to the temperature that I want, but I do let it get a good start at heating up.

I never preheat it as i hardly bakes...But it does come with an instruction that you should preheat it before you bake/grill...

I don't preheat the oven since I think it wastes the electricity. I don't think this process is necessary. When I want to bake something, I always just put it in the oven and then turn on it directly. I love China

I'm one of the person same like you, never preheat the oven before cooking. I hate waiting time. Now, I think I will preheat first as you say the food taste better. Thanks for the tips!

I always preheat my oven when baking or cooking meat or cassaroles. It start the cooking process a little quicker than turning it on when the item was just put in the oven. Thanks Unique16

Of course I preheat my oven. I'm not particularly fond of undercooked food. Anyone who ever took home ec in high school knows to preheat the oven.

I preheat my oven is not just the food cooks faster, it is also my oven needs to be sterilize by dry heating through preheating for couple of minutes. It is better to preheat the oven every time we need to use the oven than not planning to preheat the oven.

It is a good idea to preheat your oven before putting food in it because when it comes up to the temperature your food needs the cooking time should be about right. My problem is the stove I have is a newer kind but I find it takes a long time to preheat and if I'm anxious or pressed for time it's sometimes annoying to me to have to wait.

I always pre-heat my oven for at least ten minutes before places the food in to bake or cook. Pre-heating the oven helps the food cook or bake more evenly. It also cooks within a certain time. Like say I was following a recipe. If it says ten minutes than ten minutes it will be after pre-heating.

I only preheat my oven when I need to bake. But when it's roasting or just cooking, I don't. There is a reason why the oven has to be hot when you're baking, especially if it's bread or has rising agents. The cake or bread won't rise if the oven is cold (done this once and all I got was flat breads). So, it's just for baking for me.

I dont usually I just know it will take longer to cook. I have never noticed a difference in the quality of food though. I guess I could pay better attention though. I figure I am spending the time and energy to preheat the oven and I might as well make use of that heat.

i never preheated my oven till i got this one. it does a preheat cycle, so i have no choice but to wait for preheat. everyone else in the house has noticed a difference in the food. me, i get agitated because i have to wait. i'm not a very patient cook/baker. i want it done and i want it now. i can't stand waiting. :(

hi there, i also used to not preheat the oven, but like you i would do it about the same time too. it really is better that way. the food is cooked evenly

I always preheat the oven at whatever temp the recipe calls for. When the oven goes off, I know that it's hot enough for whatever I'm making to go in. If you don't preheat, your food won't cook properly because it's not at the right temperature yet. You can't let something bake at the wrong temperature. Baking is very exact, all measurements have to be perfect or else it won't come out right and that includes oven temperature. I think it's good that you started preheating, now your food will probably taste a lot better and cook more evenly.