I bought a refillable spray bottle designed for cooking oils. Unfortunately the oils I have tried don’t compare to the ones in the cans (PAM cooking spray with lecithin) Can anyone suggest a good refillable substitute for PAM? Anyone tried mixing up their own lecithin laced cooking oils?
What is it you’re looking to get from the lethicin? What do you think is missing from just straight canola? What problems are you having? I think this would help with alternative suggestions.
The oils definitely help keep the food from sticking, in fact butter/margarine seem to work the best for whatever reason, but they just don’t seem to compare to the non-stick ability of pam. I am using anodized aluminum pans. We were trying to find an alternative to throwing out multiple cooking spray canisters each month (we cook a lot and have a medium sized family). I’ve noticed this especially when cooking eggs (in the pans) and salmon on the grill.
I’m late to this discussion, but you might want to invest in a separate pan for eggs and fish. Here are two Wirecutter pages on pans – one non-stick (with lengthy discussion on non-stick surfaces) and one on the best pan (which is NOT non-stick, but also not what you want). Archived links so you don’t have to worry about paywalls, I hope : Best Skillet | Best Non-stick
tl;dr: Use an absolutely flat bottom with flared sides and good balance. 10-inches is perfect for omelettes, but use a bigger pan for multi-person meals. Beyond that, “Nonstick pans are best for cooking things like eggs or delicate fish fillets, but they’re not appropriate for high-heat jobs. The slick surface also can’t develop the fond (tasty brown bits that develop on the bottom of a pan) that’s integral for sauces.”
Anodized aluminum pans are really bad for non stock cooking without seasoning it.
Look up how to aluminum pans and drain the pan. Also don’t scrub off the seasoning, just keep building that up.
What’s your cooking surface? Cast iron? Carbon steel? Stainless steel? Ceramic nonstick? Teflon non stick?
Without knowing that, and also what you’re trying to use the spray for, it’s a bit hard to answer.
If you’re using pam as a means of creating a non stick surface a tip I have for using steel and cast iron pans is letting the pan prehead first and then throwing some oil/fat down and swirling it around the pan. The oil should polymerize and create a fairly nonstick layer.
Gonna need more info to give a definitive recommendation. What are you cooking? What material is the pan made of? Why can’t you use pam? Is it just the refillability that matters? Because if so then you can just use the same ingredients as Pam, which is mostly canola oil, coconut oil, and palm oil. You can also often use those oils individually as substitution, though the flavour and smoke point can vary for each so it depends on what you’re cooking and what temp you’re cooking it at. If it’s the lecithin in particular you want then you can use sunflower seed oil or add it to a mixture. I think Pam might also offer a non-aerosol version of Pam cooking oil that’s refillable if you wanna try checking out that route as an option.
Since I use Cast Iron I just put some Canola on a rag and wipe it on the pan before cooking. Works great
Only using mct, butter, tallow these days
I have a small 8 oz “condiment squeeze bottle” that works great. It has a small nozzle so you don’t shoot out a ton of oil at once. If you are talking about cooking on steel or cast iron in a way that’s likely to have food stick, then you’re probably cooking something with a spatula of some kind. Squirt a little oil around the pan, spread it around a bit with the spatula (or a paper towel or something) and then get cooking. For best results, cook on a preheated pan, immediately after you put the cold oil in. I pretty much exclusively use avocado oil because it has a neutral taste and a very high smoke point so it’s great for frying or searing.
