Do You Really Need to Preheat Your Oven Before Using It?

Whether you are baking homemade bread, roasting a whole chicken, or making a comforting casserole, one of the first steps is almost always to preheat the oven. It is one of those steps of a recipe that we often do instinctually, without putting much thought into it. But is it really necessary and, if so, why is it so important not to skip this step?

A very simple answer to this question is yes, you should absolutely preheat your oven (for almost all recipes), but the why requires a bit of culinary knowledge. For starters, consider that not all ovens heat up at the same speed, meaning it may take my electric home oven 10 minutes to reach 350°F but your gas oven may take 25 minutes. That may seem drastic, but it’s true. When I was a recipe developer in the EatingWell test kitchen, we typically tested a recipe in multiple ovens, knowing they all performed slightly differently. Perhaps we’d need to adjust our recipe to make it more forgiving depending on the oven.

Steam Heat

Aside from the simple fact that not all ovens heat at the same speed, there is a more scientific explanation that can help us understand why it’s important to preheat your oven. We wanted to get some perspective from a pastry chef, someone whose job it is to bake delicious desserts and breads. So we put this topic up to Albi Rodriguez, pastry chef at Don’s Prime at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas.

“From a pastry perspective, there is a lot that is happening in the initial 10 to 15 minutes of baking that is crucial to achieving a perfect product,” Rodriguez said. “‘Oven spring’ is what we call the initial rise, for example, for a cake, cookie or bread. You need hot temperatures to create the steam within the batter to start this process. If you start your baking with a cold oven, you will most likely end up with a dense and dry baked good.”

This idea of trapping steam, or evaporation, also applies to non-baked goods. If you were to place a whole chicken in a cold oven and then crank the heat to 425°F, the moisture from the chicken would essentially melt out of the meat, creating a very dry roast chicken. The other problem with this method would be seriously uneven cooking. The outside would cook much faster than the inside. Plus, there’s a food-safety risk of the raw meat not coming up to a food-safe temperature quickly enough.   

Cold Oven Starts

We stand by the idea of following a recipe if it calls for preheating an oven, but that same idea applies to a recipe that calls for starting in a cold oven. You don’t have to look far on the internet to find a recipe from a reputable site instructing you to start baking a pound cake in a cold oven. Cold-oven pound cakes have a long history, so don’t be surprised if your mom’s or grandma’s secret to that delicious cake you had as a kid was, in fact, not preheating the oven first.

This method effectively makes for a low-and-slow cooking method. The result is a pleasantly dense, caramel-like thick crust. And the longer cooking time allows the leavener (baking powder) to make a lighter, almost taller cake under that delicious crust. Next time you make your favorite pound cake recipe, try starting it in a cold oven. Just be sure to give it plenty of extra time for the crumb to properly set (yes, sometimes it’s OK to veer a bit from a recipe). 

Another food that actually benefits from starting in a cold oven is bacon. That is, if you want perfectly chewy yet crispy bacon. The slow heat helps render fat from the bacon and provides more even cooking. Starting bacon in a cold oven takes a bit longer, but when I have the patience, it’s by far my preferred method. 

Preheating Tips

Rodriguez recommends getting in the habit of turning on your oven as you start to cook, even if it’s at a low temperature. “I never want to be waiting around for an oven to heat up,” he said. Here are some other tips related to your oven:

• Having a preheated low-temperature oven is especially helpful if you are busy cooking a large meal for the holidays or a party. A low-temperature oven can keep items warm as you work through a large menu.
• If you are concerned that your oven isn’t well calibrated, Rodriguez recommends using an oven thermometer to ensure that you have an accurate reading.
• Pizza stones or steels left in the oven should have little effect on the preheating of the oven itself, Rodriguez said. However, if you plan to cook on the stone or steel, it’s important that you give the oven extra time to properly heat. “You will also want to keep in mind that stones hold heat longer and can affect the oven’s temperature,” Rodriguez said.
• Finally, be mindful that opening the oven for too long can drastically drop the temperature. Give it plenty of time to return to the desired temperature. 

The Bottom Line

A good recipe from a reputable source should have been tested to perfection, and if the developer of the recipe calls for cooking in a preheated oven, you should trust their process. The same is true for a recipe that calls for a cold start.