How Cooking Sprays Can Be Bad for Your Health
Ways to Cook without Cooking Spray
Have you ever read the label on your cooking spray? After years of using a favorite, I decided to try a healthier choice. Taking the time to read the new label's ingredients, I was shocked to find that it and every other cooking spray on the shelf contained propane, butane, or some other form of propellant. Wow.
Let's be clear here. Propane heats homes and burns on gas grills. Butane is useful in cigarette lighters. Both are flammable fuels. One might think the Food and Drug Administration would outlaw the use of these fuels in 'cooking' sprays, considering the unhealthy thought that the American public is consuming them daily. Instead, their use has been decided 'okay' since the canned sprays only use 'trace' amounts.
I don't know about you, but I don't want to use fuel as an ingredient in my food at all. Immediately realizing I would need to learn a different method for not having to scrub pots and pans, I took on the challenge of finding out how to cook without using cooking spray.
I looked for the easy way out first, searching for cooking spray that didn't contain fuel. A few options were available but were unreasonably expensive and still contained some type of propellant. Oil misters, a good alternative, can clog easily. Non-stick pans, okay for quickly frying items like eggs, are excellent unless you prefer cast iron or stainless steel, as plenty of good cooks do. Sometimes, a thicker layer of fat is the only thing that will work on a baking pan to keep a confection from sticking. So, the question remained: what is the best way to cook without cooking spray? Eventually, the answer became clear – there is no one way, but many ways.
The old-fashioned butter coating with a flour or cornmeal topping still works well for baking. However, I like coconut oil (watch out if you have an allergy or other health concern) as a better choice since it is vegan, doesn't burn like butter, and has a complementary taste for sweet and savory dishes.
There are a couple of great liquid choices for frying without food sticking. Mixing 4-5 parts water to 1 part oil in a spray bottle is an excellent choice for replacing the store-bought spray can. The mixture must be shaken thoroughly each time you use it. As a tip, use a blender or juicer just before use instead of shaking to keep the mixture from separating. You can also practice adding mustard, honey, or egg yolks as emulsifiers. Perfecting this process will require work but will keep the mixture from separating for a much longer period. Keep these do-it-yourself mixes in the refrigerator for up to 4 or 5 days.
Of course, depending on what you're cooking, you can coat your pan with an oil and not have food sticking to the pan. You'll want to test different flavors and heat points, but with choices like olive, avocado, canola, and so many more vegetable oils, you'll be cooking healthier, without the cooking spray, in no time.
Have a healthy, tasty rest of your month!
This article first appeared in the Traveler Weekly Newspaper February, 2024
