I have been trying to find more ways to save money in my household and while some would think this wasn't a good reason, I do. I have decided that I am not going to buy cooking sprays anymore. Why? Because they are too costly and they leave a horrible brown residue on your pans that you have to really scrub to get off. Usually it takes a good scrub with a paste of baking soda and water.
I use cooking sprays quite a bit and when I reached for the spray today I realized that I may be using it a little too much. It seems as if I go through this stuff quite fast.
The can says that a "serving" is a 1/3 second spray. Yeah, right. When I spray a pan with a light coating, it is more than a 1/3 second spray. I don't over coat, but it doesn't take long to go through a can of this stuff.
Today as I was checking the grocery ads they had canola oil on sale for $2.99 for a 48 oz. bottle whereas the cooking spray was on sale for $1.99 for oil thinned with water with an emulsifying agent (lecithin) added.
I've decided that while it is nice to have the convenience, I am going to give up on the cooking spray. I would rather spend the money on a 48 oz. bottle of canola oil. A drop of oil spread around a pan with my finger tips will do the same job with a little less convenience and it will be one less thing I have to store in my cupboard.
I have searched the net and yes there are "recipes" for making your own cooking spray by mixing water and oil in a spray bottle, but honestly I would rather not go to the bother of having one more item in my cupboard. A quick swipe with my finger tips will do a great job.
8 comments:
I have never used spray oils, right from day 1 I decided that it was too expensive and unnecessary. My Daughter left a can behind one day after a BBQ and the first time I decided to give it a try the nozzle broke, and I had no alternative but to throw it in the bin.
Maybe I was frugal before I even knew it LOL
I use an oil mister. Ever seen one? It's a sprayer that you fill with regular oil, nothing else, and then pump it a few times to build up pressure in the little compartment attached to the stem. Then it becomes aerosol when you push the button. It really works well and you can use your regular oil right from the bottle into the sprayer. This is the one I have. Got it maybe 15 years ago and it is still going strong http://www.pamperedchef.com/our_products/catalog/product.jsp?productId=610&categoryCode=KW
good idea, I use the wrappers from butter most of the time but hubby likes the spray foe the outdoor grill
I think that's a great idea! There are so many items that our grannies and great grannies never had or knew about and they did jusy fine. I'm sure butter and lard was what they used all the time =] I won't replace mine either when it's out! I bet if I think about it....there are more items I could simply try NOT getting. That would help the budget for sure! Thanks for getting the brain churning!!
I recently purchased an oil mister and will switch to it when the last can I have is used up. I like the ability to put a light covering spray on baking dishes, etc. Otherwise we just pour a bit of canola oil in our pan and spread it out.
I gave up cooking spray as well. I also noticed the residue the aerosol left behind and who wants to be eating that? I have started using bacon grease to grease everything. I use it in my pan to cook eggs, fry potatoes, or whatever. I use it to grease cookie sheets, cake pans, and muffin tins. It does not give your baked foods a bacon flavor. And since I have already paid for the bacon, I don't have an extra expense. I simply have a jar I keep in the fridge, and when I fry bacon, I put a mini sieve over my jar and drain the grease into it. It is handy and I love it.
We use an oil mister filled with organic olive oil.
Hope you are fine and just busy- and just stopping to in to say I've missed your posts.
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