Settle an argument for me. Do you do this...

[PinkBalloon123]

When cooking frozen food, chips or a birds eye breaded chicken etc. I just whack it in the oven for half an hour job done. But...

do you heat the oven up first?

I did when I had an ancient gas one which heated unevenly - my new electric one is speedy enough that I switch it on, put stuff on trays and in it goes.

Always turned to 220ish and I pay no attention to boxes when I use freezer food - meat thermometer and common sense work for me.

Never died or had a tummy upset from it

Our oven takes 10 minutes to reach 200c so I switch it on, set the timer, walk away for 5 mins then come back and prepare anything that needs done (like washing the tray and putting stuff on it). Food goes in for the time stated on the box unless they are all within about 10-20 degrees of each other then they go on different shelves at the same temp.

I also used to whack the heating up in the car...DH, who has engineering training, says it makes no difference. I'm still not sure I believe him but I don't do it when he's in the car now.

Yes and no. I put the oven on (200 fan, but my oven came with the house and the numbers have worn off so 200 is a guess anyway), faff about getting the stuff out the freezer and arranging it on a baking tray, then whack it in, usually for about 45 minutes which is normally longer than it says on the packet. Sometimes the light is still on, sometimes it has gone off, depending how long it takes me to find said chips/chicken breast/ turkey dinosaurs in the freezer.

Incidentally, frozen broccoli and cauliflower go in too. So much nicer than steamed or boiled!

Husband religiously pre-heats the oven, waits for its light to come on, and even puts the baking trays in to warm up first as well. I don't bother, just add another couple of minutes cooking time allowing for the oven to warm up.

Turkey Dinosaurs?

Off topic but when I met DH, he used to preheat the microwave.....

On a related argument, does anyone believe their oven heats up more quickly if you set it to a higher temperature? I can't shake the belief that it will get to 180 quicker if I set it to 200 and then turn it down before it's fully heated up than if I just set it to 180 but DH (probably rightly) thinks this is magical thinking.

Your DH is right, of course. Setting it to a higher temp just means it will carry on heating until it reaches that temperature, taking longer. Not that it will work harder to get there faster.

I think preheating the trays helps cook the stuff better. If you whack frozen on cold metal there isn’t the same reaction straight off to crisp up the fish fingers or whatever

I always preheat the oven.

I definitely pre-heat - otherwise I'm putting frozen food in a cold oven.....

I don’t, but my DH does it obsessively!

preheat oven and tray.

No. And the food always seems cooked in the time stated or maybe an extra 2-3 minutes.
I've never actually cooked meat though (I've been semi-vegetarian for years and always at home)- if I did, I think I would be more inclined to pre heat.

I add some time on to make up for the time the oven takes to heat up.

I never bother but DH does. I can’t see the point of that time while it’s sitting there empty!

Yes because oven chips take about three years to actually cook properly.

I'd be dishing up raw chicken if I didn't pre-heat.

Well, only if you take it out before it's actually cooked...

Don't usually bother but sometimes add 5 mins to the cooking time if I think it needs it

On a related argument, does anyone believe their oven heats up more quickly if you set it to a higher temperature? I can't shake the belief that it will get to 180 quicker if I set it to 200 and then turn it down before it's fully heated up than if I just set it to 180 but DH (probably rightly) thinks this is magical thinking

My DP does this, and often forgets to turn the temperature back down afterwards so the food burns. Or sometimes he leaves it at a higher temp on purpose so "the food cooks faster". I usually turn the oven down a bit when he is cooking if I notice it's set to 200+c

I always pre-heat the oven

Nope, but I check the food is cooked before serving!

Get me! 😝

I only preheat for baking.

Yes, of course! I want my food to hit the ground / oven at full blast!

I preheat - old electric oven that takes an age to heat up - and usually leave stuff in for a few minutes longer as well, as the recommended cooking time rarely seems long enough for things to be fully cooked through/nicely browned.

I do if cooking chips, I think they cook better for some reason. Everything else I usually add extra five minutes cooking time.