Apply your grease evenly. If using a nonstick spray, hold the can several inches away from the pan and spray in a back-and-forth motion to apply an even coating to the inside of the pan. You can also use a pastry brush or paper towel to evenly apply melted butter or oil by hand.
When it comes to greasing pans, vegetable oil and shortening are actually better choices. They may not impart any extra butter flavor to the ``crusts'' of your cake, but they are both more effective at preventing cakes from sticking than butter. Remember that little bit of water I mentioned?
Butter, shortening, cooking spray, or a cooking spray with flour in it, such as Baker's Joy.
To properly grease your nonstick pan, rub a small amount of butter or oil directly onto the pan before putting it on the heat. You don't need a lot of fat here—you are using nonstick after all. Depending on the size of the pan, one tablespoon or so should do.
Once the pan is preheated, add oil or cold butter and allow the fat to heat up before adding food. “This 'hot pan, cold fat' method prevents food from sticking,” Staley says.
Try boiling water with a few tablespoons of bicarb soda. Usually if you experience sticking, it's due to a thin film over the coating. This should remove that and get you slipping and sliding again!
Butter and lard are great cooking spray alternatives. They're soft enough to spread into loaf pans and muffin tins with your fingers. You don't have to get your hands messy to use these products, either. Use a piece of parchment paper or paper towel to help grease.
The extra step of lining the bottom of the pan with parchment paper is an even surer method for getting the cake out of the pan, especially those that are more likely to stick (we're looking at you, carrot cake). Keep in mind that you can only use this method for cakes baked in flat-bottom pans.
There are several different types of grease that are suitable for greasing cookware, including shortening, nonstick cooking spray, olive oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, coconut oil, bacon fat, and butter. Be aware that a little bit of the grease's flavor is likely to make its way into your baked goods.
Works well: Low-fat, low-calorie cooking
If you're counting your calories, cooking spray is the way to go. A one-second spray contains about 7 calories and 1 gram of fat. By comparison, a tablespoon of butter and olive oil both contain over 100 calories and 12 to 14 grams of fat, respectively.
A high-smoke-point fat is recommended, such as avocado, peanut, coconut, or extra virgin olive oils. You can also use clarified butter like ghee. An oil's smoke point refers to the point at which the oil gets too hot and begins to break down (aka: to smoke).
Pour in enough oil to the pan to coat the entire surface of the pan. Some food, like eggs, may require more oil, or else they will stick to the pan. Fatty foods, like chicken thighs, need less oil. For butter, start with a thin layer of oil to prevent sticking or burning.
There are a number of ways you can damage a nonstick pan, from spritzing it with cooking spray to scraping it with metal utensils to putting it in the dishwasher.
So, when non-stick pans are left to heat sans any oil or grease, they are prone to reach this temperature even quicker and that can gradually ruin them. Unless you want your non-stick pans to lose their great properties, it's best to always use some grease when using them.
Canola Oil
With its neutral flavor and low price point, canola is another popular oil among chefs. It has a smoke point of 400-450°F. It works very well for general-purpose frying and is ideal for a pan of fried potatoes.
Nonstick cookware is easy to use and clean, as the slick coating helps to keep food from sticking, and it's easy to clean afterward. Health-conscious cooks like that they can use a lot less oil than they would with uncoated cookware. That helpful cooking surface also carries some potential risks.