Using less oil when frying. Alternative to sprays

rubadub

You can get sprays with oil in them, the intention being you can apply a really thin layer of oil to a pan, rather than having to swirl it around. Many of these have stuff like "1kcal per spray". They are very expensive, the price is exposed now most supermarkets have the price per kilo/litre. In tescos they are over 10 times the price of normal veg oil!
They are also full of weird stuff, like alcohol, lecithin and other stuff. So not only is it expensive it is full of crap.

I had a go once and found the spray would mist up and go on the hob & burn or onto a counter if I sprayed there.

Instead I just have a tiny bit of sponge cut from a (new) kitchen cleaning sponge for pots & pans. Put your tiny bit of oil and just wipe it around the pan. I keep it in a little shot glass next to my oil, just clean it in washing up liquid every so often. You could also use those brush things you use to put egg wash on buns. Or just use a tiny bit of kitchen towel or greaseproof paper and toss it out, I used to keep the old wrappers of butter which had traces of butter on it. But I no longer really eat butter.

A great thing I got is a "magic sheet", they are black tough plastic sheet, I think it is silicone based but not stretchy. You get them in the tinfoil/greaseproof section in supermarkets. They are €5 and reusable. The are more nonstick than any pan I have ever used. Very verstile since they can take the shape of your frying pan, georgeforeman grill, baking tray, wok etc

Like this
http://cgi.ebay.ie/COOKING-BAKING-SHEET-MAT-REUSABLE-NON-STICK-TEFLON-BNIB_W0QQitemZ110194477304QQihZ001QQcategoryZ20627QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

ali.c

okay so now i definately have an mad scientist image of you!! The magic sheets are definately great, i love the way how versatile they are.

Good tip on the oil but is it not possible to get a refillable oil spray container?

rubadub

ali.c wrote: »

Good tip on the oil but is it not possible to get a refillable oil spray container?

sorry forgot to mention that, some are refillable, just take the cap off in the supermarkets. But they have oil, water, alcohol etc in the mixture to make it "sprayable", must need a certain consistency, and I dont think other spray guns work well, e.g. ones for water based substances, different densities etc.

I dont like the sprays since it tends to atomise and cover the counter or hob. With a wipe you get it exactly where you want.

The magic sheets wear out eventually, and get small holes or tears, at that stage I cut them up. They are great for steaks & burgers etc. You get your pan absolutely smoking hot, and can prepare the meat on a section of sheet, no need to dirty a chopping board. You can make a superthin burger, then wait till it is really hot and just drop it on. The put the spatula under the sheet and take the whole thing off, stick it on a plate, now it is not spitting and you can turn it far easier. No oil needed at all for burgers.

With steak you can sort of pat it out so it is bigger and tenderise it, then dump it on the same way.

seaner

personally i like to use real oil over the spray stuff. I think they are a waste of time. My gf has the '1 kcal' spray one. But by the time you put on the right amount to fry a decent amount of meat / fish etc you're only codding yourself. Its the equivalent if you just put a teaspoon of olive oil in the pan in the first place!? And then with the spray oil, you find yourself adding more and more of the stuff throughout the cooking process, whereas I don't need to do this if I'd just used real oil from the start.
Anyway I don't think that one or 2 teaspoons of olive oil would really do you any harm. I need to use proper oil in order to fry my onions / garlic etc.
So i'll try your sponge tip now and see how it goes. Cheers

dylbert

I thaught olive oil was good fat, so does it mater how much you use?

rubadub

dylbert wrote: »

I thaught olive oil was good fat, so does it mater how much you use?

Yes, I think the RDA of fat for a man is 90g. So it should be as low in saturated fats as you can manage, but portion size does matter. But some people are already getting their 90g from other sources, e.g. peanuts are 50%+ fat.

You cant just go cooking loads of chips in olive oil and think they are healthy because it is good fat, you could still be taking in way too much.

Fat is high in calories so some people might want to avoid excess fat for this reason, even if it is "good fat". Or there maybe other reasons, I think I have heard people recommending low fat recipies after weights workouts.

cozmik

I like the sound of those magic sheets

Thanks for the tip!

dylbert

rubadub wrote: »

Yes, I think the RDA of fat for a man is 90g. So it should be as low in saturated fats as you can manage, but portion size does matter. But some people are already getting their 90g from other sources, e.g. peanuts are 50%+ fat.

You cant just go cooking loads of chips in olive oil and think they are healthy because it is good fat, you could still be taking in way too much.

Fat is high in calories so some people might want to avoid excess fat for this reason, even if it is "good fat". Or there maybe other reasons, I think I have heard people recommending low fat recipies after weights workouts.

I get what your saying, but I'd still rather use a drop of olive oil rather than a spray.

rubadub

dylbert wrote: »

I get what your saying, but I'd still rather use a drop of olive oil rather than a spray.

Definitely, I am recommending not using sprays. If you already have a spray it might be possible to refill it with olive oil. But I do not think a spray intended for water will work as they are different fluid densitites.

If you only put oil on a pan and swirl it around you need a fair bit to cover it. It is viscous/thick and will not fully cover a pan easily, unless you wipe it on. Also if you have a large pan and dump your oil after each usage it is wasteful.

Some might not be getting enough fat in their diets so have no need to do it.