Do You Have To Preheat Your Air Fryer For Baked Potatoes?

Air fryers make foods deliciously crisp and cook them much faster than conventional ovens, and we love using them for baked potatoes. But while they look like mini ovens, they operate a little differently, and the divergences between the two appliances cause users to make changes to their cooking habits based on which appliance they're using. This begs the question: Do you have to preheat an air fryer like you would an oven for baked potatoes?

Preheating an oven is an important cooking step primarily due to food safety. With dishes like chicken, meat, and fish, it's best to get them hot as fast as possible, leaving little time for them to hover around the temperature danger zone. That doesn't apply in the same way to raw potatoes, though, and the small size of air fryers guarantees that they heat up very quickly. So preheating can be helpful, but it isn't completely necessary with an air fryer.

Preheating does help your food to cook faster, but baked potatoes are best when they're allowed to take their time, as evidenced by our super slow-cooked loaded baked potato recipe. The sentiment applies to both basket and toaster oven air fryers. Though the basket cooks a little faster than its counterpart, you'll still want your potatoes to cook low and slow either way.

All that said, things change when your focus switches to achieving crispy skin. Outside of safety concerns, preheating is typically done for an even texture and crisp surface that can be hard to achieve when starting with a cold oven. While the most important part of a successful baked potato is whether the interior is fluffy, some people like them to come with a crispy skin, too. If that's a non-negotiable for you, then failing to preheat the device is actually a mistake you've been making when air frying potatoes. Foregoing the step has no bearing on the creamy flesh within, but it's a must if you want the exterior to be a little crunchy.

Preheating your air fryer will also ensure that the baked potatoes are cooked faster. If you're someone who likes to give the vegetables ample time to soften and cook but still want crispy skin, you can preheat the air fryer and then reduce the temperature once the exterior has browned and wrinkled, just like you would with twice-baked potatoes. Heating it to 400 degrees Fahrenheit is the sweet spot for getting that delicious skin that's sought after. Let the spuds cook for around 40 minutes, then lower the heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit to allow them to cook for a while longer.