No-stick cooking sprays

[rotuts]

Pam , has various ingredients .

 

if you heat the pan you use it with 

 

above a certain temperature 

 

and that temperature is lower than you think 

 

Pam polymerises

 

and turns to a Gunk that you can only remove 

 

w very caustic oven cleaner   ( NaOH , not easily avialable , for good reason these days  ' EazyOff '  the paste was great  )

 

or BartenderFriends , and someone else to do the grunt work.

 

 

[ElsieD]

This is what i use:

[AlaMoi]

2 hours ago, Shel_B said:

I want to use a spray of some sort for the particular use I mentioned. I'm quite familiar with the technique you describe and have used it often for other things. Works well ... thanks.

if it works so well, why do you desire knowledge of 'options?'

[Shel_B]

17 minutes ago, AlaMoi said:

if it works so well, why do you desire knowledge of 'options?'

Different dishes, preferences, situations. "The more you know, the better your luck."

[MaryIsobel]

4 hours ago, Shel_B said:

Different dishes, preferences, situations. "The more you know, the better your luck."

I have two mister bottles - one for olive oil and another for vegetable oil. I bought ones for my daughters for Christmas; you can either pour from the spout or mist. No idea how long they will last - but they weren't expensive. They were from the big A.

[DesertTinker]

We’ve had these for more than a year now. (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) Note that the price depends on your color choice. (I see there is also a stainless steel version available now)

They work well, clean up between refills very well.
The only trick is to be sure there’s no excessive oil buildup on the outer “nozzle/spray area” and to firmly and deliberately squeeze the handle, when correctly used they dispense 1/4 teaspoon of oil per squeeze.

Baking Spray, in my experience, refers to this or similar, (eG-friendly Amazon.com link).

Edited February 3 by DesertTinker
Added eG friendly link (log)

[AAQuesada]

Not sure you need something this 'fancy' but the most common food release spray I've seen in restaurants is Vegalene. It's not going to be the least expensive option though.

[Shel_B]

20 hours ago, MaryIsobel said:

I have two mister bottles - one for olive oil and another for vegetable oil. I bought ones for my daughters for Christmas; you can either pour from the spout or mist. No idea how long they will last - but they weren't expensive. They were from the big A.

 

Thanks. Mister bottles is the direction I've chosen to go. I'll look at the ones you posted and some others as well. 

 

[Shel_B]

17 hours ago, AAQuesada said:

Not sure you need something this 'fancy' but the most common food release spray I've seen in restaurants is Vegalene. It's not going to be the least expensive option though.

Interesting, and thanks for the info. Decided to go with a mister bottle.

Edited February 3 by Shel_B (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I may be too late, but I had a mister bottle that worked well for a while until it clogged up.

 

[Shel_B]

10 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I may be too late, but I had a mister bottle that worked well for a while until it clogged up.

 

Not even close to too late.  I've heard about issues with mister nozzles.  I have some sprayers here and I'll soon see about using them.  The nice thing about this thread is that it helped me clarify what I want.

 

Thanks again for everyone's suggestions.

[RobertM]

Sorry I’m late to the party, this is what I use.  Best spray I’ve ever used

 

[Tropicalsenior]

32 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I may be too late, but I had a mister bottle that worked well for a while until it clogged up.

 

Ditto for me. Couldn't even get it clean so I finally just pitched it.

[AlaMoi]

PSA for those using non-stick bake ware . . . .

every spray product mentioned that I've tracked . . . has lecithin as an ingredient.

it is an 'emulsifier' - used to ensure all the other spray ingredients 'behave as one'

 

if you have encountered a brownish unremovable coating - turning your non-stick into to stickware, , , ,

it's likely the lecithin component.  not even pure Teflon 'sheds' lecithin.

 

fwiw

Edited February 3 by AlaMoi (log)

[paulraphael]

I don't know how significant lecithin is, but most of these products probably use an oil high in unsaturated fats, to make sure it stays liquid and thin at wide range of temperatures. These are oils that will polymerize when they oxidize—either from sitting around a long time or from high heat. Oil polymerizing on a teflon pan is bad news. You're basically seasoning as if it's cast iron. That polymer coating is hard to get off without likewise removing the teflon.

 

There was a thread a while ago where someone said they had a chemical solution—something caustic enough to take off the oil gunk without harming the teflon. Maybe worth checking out. 

 

I'm inclined to try one of those refillable spray bottles, but don't know if they're designed to deal with oil polymerizing in the nozzle and the little pump. I'd want to know there's a good way to clean and dekunk the things.

[weinoo]

5 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

I'm inclined to try one of those refillable spray bottles, but don't know if they're designed to deal with oil polymerizing in the nozzle and the little pump. I'd want to know there's a good way to clean and dekunk the things.

I tried one of these things years ago.  Impossible to properly clean, but that didn’t matter - it basically sucked at its job.

 

my alternative is simple - parchment paper. At approximately $.08/sheet, a pretty good deal…

 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Katbite-200-Pcs-12x16-inch-Heavy-Duty-Unbleached-Flat-Parchment-Paper-for-Baking-White/899307061?wmlspartner=wlpa&expiryTime=1739721453174&c=mWebSmartBanner&vtcWeb=Xwhj-IoRalSTNxs9H6Co-s

[Shel_B]

20 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

I don't know how significant lecithin is, but most of these products probably use an oil high in unsaturated fats, to make sure it stays liquid and thin at wide range of temperatures. These are oils that will polymerize when they oxidize—either from sitting around a long time or from high heat. Oil polymerizing on a teflon pan is bad news. You're basically seasoning as if it's cast iron. That polymer coating is hard to get off without likewise removing the teflon.

Pam spray has been applied to the nonstick pan used for cornbread for about five years. Never once have I encountered the polymerization issue you describe. Maybe the temp at which the cornbread is baked isn't high enough to cause the problem? It's baked at about 350-deg F.

[rotuts]

@weinoo

 

Parchmnet paper is a good idea 

 

I use the rolls , readily available @ MarketBasket 

 

Ive found that the brown paper works better than the white 

 

Its splipery-er.

[mgaretz]

I have bought avocado oil in an aerosol spray at Costco.  I gave up  on misters some time ago.  These days I simply pour a little avocado oil in the baking pan and spread it around with a paper towel.  A lot less mess than a spray (which I usually had to spread around with a paper towel anyway).  For something like a grate, I put the oil on the paper and then spread.

Edited Monday at 05:47 AM by mgaretz (log)

[TdeV]

I use a silicone paintbrush to smear the oil around. Sort of like the one below (Walmart) 

Mine came from King Arthur which they don't have any more.

 

 

[paulraphael]

On 2/16/2025 at 10:48 AM, Shel_B said:

Pam spray has been applied to the nonstick pan used for cornbread for about five years. Never once have I encountered the polymerization issue you describe. Maybe the temp at which the cornbread is baked isn't high enough to cause the problem? It's baked at about 350-deg F.

That's right ... not an issue at that temperature. It becomes a problem when you preheat a frying pan.