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I'm trying to preheat my oven to make pizza, but there is no preheat option. Does the "bake" setting mean the same thing as preheat?

RosePumpkin
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Jeff
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  • If "preheat" is indicated at all it's generally just the oven/stove saying that. What you do is just pick a temperature and tell it to start baking. Some ovens will add the broiler element in when preheating, others will not - some will indicate that they are preheatng, or that they have reached the set temperature - others will not, or will only do so by turning off a lamp indicating that the element is on - they vary, widely. – Ecnerwal Oct 26 '22 at 22:38

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Yes, that is the same thing.

pre-heat just means that you bring the oven up to the right temperature before putting the food in.

John Gordon
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    Also, a lot of people assume that just 2-3 minutes will be fine - but usually, you do have to leave the oven on for some time. – just-a-hriday Oct 27 '22 at 12:17
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    @Moustache I have yet to see an oven that does not indicate when it is finished pre-heating. Typically with an oven temperature gauge or an audible tone when the set temperature is reached. – SnakeDoc Oct 27 '22 at 18:34
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    @SnakeDoc the problem is that the oven thinks it's preheated when the air inside reaches temperature, but it's important for the oven *walls* to reach temperature as well, otherwise as soon as you open it the temp goes down a ton and takes time to re-heat. – Esther Oct 28 '22 at 14:03
  • @SnakeDoc Well, my oven does no such thing. – just-a-hriday Nov 01 '22 at 01:28
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Yes - simply put, pre-heating is setting the oven to come up to temperature in advance of cooking. Specific to making a pizza, it can be beneficial to use a pizza stone to radiate more even heat. When pizza is place directly on the stone, it offers the additional benefit of creating that crispy crust on the bottom.

goodoldamy
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  • Welcome! We usually discourage answers that repeat what was already posted in an existing answer. Can you perhaps flesh out your answer or bring another aspect? – Stephie Oct 28 '22 at 17:01