In this post, I am going to share with you everything that you wanted to know regarding why and how to preheat oven for baking. Why is it must to preheat the oven, how to preheat and much more…

Preheating the oven is as important as is stretching before a run, or warming up the car, or letting the water get hot before you shower.

Importance of Preheating Oven

 

But What is Meant By Preheating? Why is it so important?

Whenever you bake anything be it cake or bread or cookies or anything else, the first and foremost line in the ‘method’ is to Preheat the oven at ….. for …. minutes. But why?

Preheating the Oven is the first and foremost requisite for baking. If you are wondering whether you can bake a cake without preheating the oven then the simple and straight answer is NO.

 

Ok, tell me one thing, Is Preheating required only in baking?

To understand the principle of preheating just do one simple experiment.

Like this, even oven needs to be preheated, however for different reasons that soon we will look into and understand.

Must Read:

 

 What is Preheating? What Does Preheat the Oven Mean?

 

Why is it Important to Preheat the Oven when Baking?

  1. Firstly and most importantly preheating is important to give an initial push of heat. Many batters and dough which are made using leavening agents either Baking Soda or Baking Powder or Yeast require a push- a good hit of heat at the beginning -for the optimal rise, texture, and browning.
    • If they do not get that push, the result is heavy, undercooked, hard, rubbery breads/ cakes. This can well be understood with the example of yeast.
    • Those of you who use yeast know very well that yeast needs to proofed in warm water. Try proofing yeast in cold water. If the yeast is added to cold water then later on, no matter how much warm water you add, it will not activate. This is because it needs that initial push, that too only in warm water. Hot or cold water just kills it.  This is exactly why an preheated oven is important.

 

 

How to Preheat Oven?

Preheating should be the first step of your preparations. For preheating,

 

How to Preheat Microwave Oven

 

How long to Preheat Oven?

 

Do You Need To Preheat A Microwave Convection Oven Or Fan oven?

YES! Microwave convection oven, also known as Fan oven, also needs to be preheated before baking.

Must Read: How to Bake in Microwave Convection (Video Included)

 

Can We Keep Metal In Microwave Convection Oven?

Here, I would like to share a very important thing with you and that is when in the convection mode, the microwave behaves just like an OTG. Therefore in convection mode, you can keep aluminum/steel/iron vessels in it. Remember, in the microwave but only in convection mode.

Metal in Microwave Convection

For example, the recipe says, preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Your microwave takes about 5 minutes or less to pre-heat as compared to the 10-15 minutes in an OTG. So you can pre-heat the microwave even when you are just 5 minutes away from getting your cookie dough/ cake batter ready.

Now start preheating it by first pressing the ‘convection’ tab.  The display unit will show 180 degrees by default. Set the desired temperature and the time. Press ‘start’ and wait for the beep to indicate that it is ready for baking.

Preheating oven
Preheating oven
Preheating oven

 

Do I Need To Preheat Cooker/Wok/ AirFryer, If Baking In It?

 

Can I put food in the oven while it’s preheating?

NO.  As mentioned above, the oven is preheated without food in it. Only when it is preheated, the food is kept inside for baking.

 

How Do You Know When The Oven Is Preheated?

Nowadays, oven thermometers are easily available through which you can know the exact temperature of the oven. But if you don’t have an oven thermometer then? Then, read below…

 

 Is Preheating A Waste Of Energy?

Some might think that energy is being wasted by letting the oven run empty. Actually, preheating is not a waste of energy. First of all, the thermostat in the oven takes care of this. As soon as the oven reaches the desired temperature, the thermostat starts its work.

So if you set the temperature for 200-degrees and the oven reaches 200-degrees, it will stop heating and stop using power or fuel until the heat drops below 200-degrees and the heating elements start back up and cycle on again.

 

What will happen if you Do not Preheat the Oven?

If the oven is not preheated then:

So, please never underestimate the importance of preheating.

Rather get in the habit of preheating your oven and get perfect baked goods.

 

Let’s Connect

I hope you have found this post on the importance of preheating the oven useful.

Thank you for reading this post. If you have liked this recipe then do let me know by leaving a comment below. Your feedback fuels my enthusiasm. You may share this post with your dear ones by clicking on the little buttons below. You may follow me on  Facebook   Pinterest  Instagram for the latest recipe updates. 

 

Happy Baking,

 

 

My acknowledgments to the following sites for providing me the relevant and valuable information regarding preheating the oven.

30 Responses

  1. Very useful info for begginers …
    I havn’t used my microwave for baking etc. But Only for reheating .
    Will u pl tell me what else cold b done with it other than baking which i understood. Like i want to know how to crisp cold petties,samosa, how to roasr cashew n other cooking.

    1. I am glad it helped you.
      In microwave, samosas etc do not get crispy infact get soggy. You can just warm them up for 30 seconds or so.
      Besides baking, you can do cooking also like cooking rice etc. You can find the details on you tube.
      Yes, you can roast nuts in it. The detailed procedure will be posted by evening. You can then check and make.

  2. Dear Mam, I use a microwave convection oven of Onida (20Ltrs) , for breads I preheat it exactly as u mentioned i.e for 5 minutes at 200degC and later bake my breads at 180Deg C for 30 or 40 minutes. Stil from inside the bread loaf is not baked evenly and there is some dough content left in the breads. Any suggestions please

  3. HI Samira Mam ,

    Went thru all ur posts . I have baked two to three cakes out of which only one came out well . Ur post was very useful . For beginners like me . I was happy to read that u use microwave convection as I do the same . Mam – I have few doubts
    1. While preheating- some recipe calls for preheat at this temp for … time . But in some recipe – it is mentioned like preheat at this temp alone without specifying any timings ( like cookies ) . What should be done in these cases ?
    2. And Mam – u have specified to keep the metal rack in microwave while preheating. I used to keep the cake tin ( mine is silicone tray ) over the turntable . Is using metal rack a must

    Thanks a lot
    Akila

  4. Hi Akila, thanks for going thru my posts and finding them useful.
    Preheating us mandatory as you also know. If not mentioned, preheat for 15 minutes. Now a days, we have microwaves/otg which do the preheating on their own once we mention the temperature. So, in that case don’t worry about the time otherwise 15 minutes.
    It is better to use the metal rack.
    Happy Baking

  5. Actually, there are some recipes that call for a cold oven start. My tried & true pound cake, passed down from my Maternal Grandmother, starts in a cold oven and it is one of the best cakes – Ever! Iced or “plain”.
    Google cold start pound cake and several recipes will pop up.

  6. You most certainly can bake a pound cake in a cold oven. Whomever says no, has never done it. It blowed my mind. Try it. Nothing ventured, Nothing gained. Trust me on this one.

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