It's only partially cooked and is still pretty firm. It's just a partial cook to keep the eggplant from soaking up so much oil when you fry. The slices I cut for moussaka are about 1/2 thick, though some were a little thinner or thicker for the last cuts. Out of 6 of varying sizes (poor selection at market that day to get all same size), 2 were fairly small and they did get kind of soft compared to the others to slice as easily (although they still sliced cleanly), that's why I suggested less time if they are small eggplants. The larger ones I probably could have peeled whole after baking but I didn't want to take the chance on them falling apart while frying since they go in "nude," so I just sliced off the skin after. I was using a fork to turn them and lift out of pan so even after frying they were still fairly firm.