You be the judge: should my girlfriend preheat the oven before cooking?

The prosecution: Adam

Recipes tell us to preheat for a reason – so that food will cook the way it’s supposed to

My girlfriend Cathleen doesn’t preheat the oven to the required temperature when she cooks, which I find unbelievable. Delia Smith tells you to do it; all the top chefs do. It’s normal and necessary. If you stick something in the oven without waiting for it to preheat, its temperature will vary and your food won’t cook evenly. That results in a less satisfying eating experience, and often the food has to stay longer in the oven to compensate.

“Preheat-gate” first came up six years ago, when I visited Cathleen at university just after we got together. We were cooking a pizza and she tried to whack it straight in the oven before it had heated up. I just couldn’t believe it. It tells you to preheat the oven on the packet, so why wouldn’t you do that? I genuinely don’t get it – you should follow the instructions to a tee.

I preheat the oven for everything. Say you’re cooking chicken, for example: if you put it into a cold oven that gradually heats up, the meat will cook unevenly.

I’m also worried about food poisoning. It’s safer to cook in a preheated oven, although Cathleen disagrees with me. I also believe that if you preheat things, you’re less likely to burn or undercook your food. If it says “preheat the oven then whack it in for 25 minutes”, that’s what I do. Then I know that everything will cook exactly the way it’s supposed to.

I don’t have to keep checking on my food, unlike Cathleen, who just throws nuggets into a cold oven without reading the instructions, and hopes for the best. I’m the type of person who also turns their food in the air-fryer, which Cathleen does not do. She says I’m “over the top”, but I just like making sure everything is evenly cooked and crispy on both sides. I like to maximise flavour. What’s wrong with that?

I’ve become more relaxed in the kitchen over the years, as Cathleen is so chill it’s rubbed off on me. But if we’re cooking together I still preheat the oven. Cathleen has burnt food before, which I’ve never done. If she preheated, it wouldn’t happen. Preheating keeps you in control.

The defence: Cathleen

We did a pizza taste test once and I couldn’t tell the difference. I don’t think Adam could either

Adam’s argument makes me laugh. I’ve never heard anyone speak so passionately about preheating an oven, but it doesn’t make any difference in my opinion. Has anyone ever eaten something and then complained because it came out of an oven that hadn’t been preheated?

The answer is almost definitely no. I don’t think you’re at risk of food poisoning, or eating something that is undercooked, as long as you time it properly. I fundamentally believe that not preheating makes no difference to the end product. And surely the food takes the same amount of time to cook whether you preheat it or not. I just like to whack it all in and forget about it for 30 minutes. Adam would rather read the instructions, preheat to the given temperature, then get up again to put the food in. That’s too much work.

Growing up, I think my family preheated the oven, but I’ve never bothered. I am known for burning food though. I had a flatmate at uni who I never saw and who never left his room, but would text me to say “your pizza is burning”. I don’t think it had anything to do with not preheating the oven – I just wouldn’t get to it in time, even though I’d set the timer on my phone. Maybe I’m just lazy.

Adam is really organised and meticulous in general, whereas I’m not. He follows the instructions for everything , I don’t. The first time he told me off for not preheating the oven, I was baffled. I said: “Who actually does that?”

But then he was baffled too, and said “What do you mean, you don’t preheat the oven?” But I can’t be arsed to stand up and walk back to put something in the oven after I’ve already turned it on and sat down. I’d rather just leave it in for a bit longer.

It’s exactly the same difference. We’ve done a taste test on a preheated pizza and a non-preheated pizza and I can’t taste any difference. I don’t think Adam can either, but he said the edges are too crispy in the non-preheated one. He’s exaggerating.

The jury of Guardian readers

Should Cathleen start preheating the oven?

skip past newsletter promotion

Cooking is chemistry, and there’s a big difference between starting food in a cold rather than a preheated oven. In a cold oven, food leaks liquid instead of releasing it as steam. Cathleen can see the evidence in her burnt pizzas and undercooked nuggets. She should listen to Adam.
Deborah, 66

There’s some confusion here between heating pre-cooked processed food and baking. When reheating a ready-made pizza, the oven temperature makes little difference, but try actually baking one in an oven that isn’t already hot! I’m appalled that both parties seem so removed from the concept of cooking a wholesome meal from scratch. Both of them are guilty.
Melker, 58

If Adam wants his dinner preheated, he should offer to cook more so he can call the shots. Cathleen is burning food because she can’t keep track of time, not because the oven wasn’t preheated.
Alex, 34

Food cooks more evenly when you preheat the oven. Even if it doesn’t bother Cathleen, it does bother Adam, and it only takes a bit of effort so why not just do it?
Joe, 33

Cathleen is ignoring the cooking instructions that have been researched and tested over years by food scientists. They are recommended to protect us from nasty and sometimes dangerous effects that can come from eating poorly cooked foods.
Sally, 66