Not always — but 3 to 5 minutes helps anything you want crisp: fries, wings, breaded food, a steak. Skip it for reheating, for baking in a dish, and for most frozen snacks, where it adds little.
When preheating helps
Food that should sear or crisp on contact — breaded chicken, fresh-cut fries, wings, steaks and chops, salmon skin. A hot basket and hot air start browning the surface at once, before moisture comes out and steams it.
Recipes written with preheating built in. If a time was tested in a preheated machine, a cold start needs a few more minutes.
When it does not matter much
Reheating leftovers, which are already cooked — see can you reheat food in an air fryer.
Baking in a dish or pan, where the dish heats with the food.
Most frozen snacks, whose packet times often assume a cold start; read the packet.
How to do it
- Set the cooking temperature and run the machine empty for 3 to 5 minutes — or press its preheat button if it has one.
- Basket in, so it heats too.
- No liner, no foil, no paper while it preheats.
- Then load the food in one layer, quickly, and close the drawer.
Why it is shorter than an oven
An air fryer heats a few quarts of air with a fan, not a whole oven cavity. Two or three minutes does what a full-size oven takes 10 or 15 to do. That is also why many makers include the warm-up in their speed claims — and why some machines skip a preheat step entirely.
In an air-fry toaster oven
Preheating matters more, because the cavity is larger and the walls take longer. The BLACK+DECKER toaster oven publishes a ten-minute preheat. See preheating and what it is for and setting up a first air fryer.
The appliances that always need it
Anything with thermal mass — a pizza stone, a cast-iron pan, a grill plate. See do I need a pizza stone.
Check your own manual before you follow anything here. Temperatures, fill limits and pressure ratings differ from model to model, and the manufacturer’s figures take precedence over anything written on this site. We report what makers publish — an oven’s range in degrees, a cooker’s maximum fill line, whether a part is declared dishwasher-safe — and we never turn those figures into food-safety guidance. Cooking temperatures and holding times for particular foods are set by manufacturers and by your national food safety authority, and this site points you to them rather than restating them.
What readers want to know
How long do I preheat an air fryer?
About 3 to 5 minutes at the cooking temperature, with the basket in and empty. A small basket heats in 2 or 3; a large one or a dual-basket model may take 5. Many machines have a preheat button or start a countdown on their own — your manual says which.
What happens if I do not preheat?
The food cooks, just a little more slowly and less crisply at first, because it sits in warming air for the first minutes. Add 2 or 3 minutes to the time and check. For raw meat, the internal temperature decides doneness either way.
Should I preheat with parchment or foil inside?
No — never preheat with a liner in an empty basket. The fan lifts loose paper or foil into the heating element. Preheat empty, then add the liner with the food on it. See can you put parchment paper in an air fryer.
Last reviewed 18 October 2026