Cooking spray is basically pressurized, watered-down oil, so feel free to use your favorite healthy high-temperature cooking oil instead. Our favorite is pure olive oil, but you can also use a neutral-flavored oil like safflower oil or avocado oil.
But you could use avocado oil, flaxseed oil, even fractionated coconut oil (but not regular coconut oil as that solidifies at room temperature). You could even press your own seed and nut oils at home.
Olive oil is one of the healthier options for cooking. I believe that coconut oil might be healthier, but olive oil is definitely better for you than canola or any blended vegetable oil. Using the Misto, I can buy olive oil in a big container and refill the spray bottle as needed.
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.
If you don't have a spray, ideally you'd use a neutral oil like vegetable or sunflower oil. Just pour a little in and use a paper towel to rub it onto the bottom and sides of the pan.
Butter, shortening, cooking spray, or a cooking spray with flour in it, such as Baker's Joy.
Cookware manufacturers agree. According to Anolon, "The use of cooking sprays is not recommended for use on non-stick cookware as cooking sprays burn at lower temperatures and will damage the non-stick coating of your product. An invisible buildup will impair the nonstick release system causing food to stick."
PAM is a cooking spray currently owned and distributed by ConAgra Foods. Its main ingredient is canola oil. PAM is marketed in various flavors, such as butter and olive oil, meant to impart the flavor of cooking with those ingredients.
Turns out, it's good for you, too. “Unlike many other cooking spray products, Chosen Food Avocado Oil Spray's only ingredient is heart healthy avocado oil with no added GMO oils,” Miller says. “It also is free of harmful additives, propellants, emulsifiers or other chemicals.”
That's when I noticed Avocado Oil Cooking Spray. Made from 100% pure avocado oil, it's a natural and sustainable option that's free of additives and preservatives. Plus, avocado oil is rich in healthy monounsaturated fats and essential vitamins, making it a healthier choice for those who are health-conscious.
PAM® High Yield Cooking Spray is made with extra non-darkening lecithin to be odorless, colorless and flavorless. Has zero fat, salt, calories and cholesterol per serving.
Use Butter or Lard
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.
Canola oil is one of the healthiest cooking oils available, with zero trans fat and the lowest amount of saturated fat of all common cooking oils. And because canola oil is so versatile and affordable, it's ideal for making a wide range of healthy foods, both at home and on a commercial scale.
The leading brand of non-stick cooking spray, Pam, contains canola oil, palm oil, coconut oil, lecithin (from soybeans, as a non-stick agent), dimethyl silicone, rosemary extract (which acts as a natural preservative), and propellants (butane and propane).
To help combat inflammation, choose oils that higher in monounsaturated fat or omega-3 polyunsaturated fat. Good choices for anti-inflammatory oils include olive oil, avocado oil and flaxseed oil.
As most non-stick sprays are generally a combination of vegetable oil and lecithin, shortening does a pretty similar job creating a non-stick alternative. Simply take a bit of shortening and rub it across your baking surface.
It's just not practical or cost-effective from a business perspective to buy non-stick pans when that means frequently replacing them as they get damaged. Those working choices often translate to home use for professional chefs too, although they might prefer a nicer metal brand than the standard restaurant supply.
Rubbing a stick of cold butter around the pan, applying melted butter with a pastry brush, using an oil-based spray, and spreading vegetable shortening like Crisco around using a paper towel are all common methods for greasing a pan, but which one is best?