On the Importance of Pre-Heating

I know, I know, you already know that you need to have your oven hot before you put food into it. But do you know that it takes a lot longer than you think for your oven to fully heat up? To get the most out of your home oven, you need more than hot air inside (which will mostly escape as soon as you open the door). The interior surfaces must be as hot as they can get, and that takes time. A minimum of 45 minutes, preferably an hour, no matter what the little beeping preheat indicator light says. The oven ain’t hot until it’s hot, my friends.