As much as I love the ease and convenience of PAM ("no calorie" oil spray), I recently stopped using it when I found out that it contained propellant (a chemical used to produce thrust). Propellant is used in all aerosol cans, but in most cases it is not cause for alarm, since most aerosol can don't produce something that we end up eating. Even worse, I've read that propellant, when combined with Teflon (the chemical used to make non-stick pans), causes a chemical reaction that is not good for your non-stick pan.Luckily for us, there are other ways to achieve the same effect as Pam in our cooking by using non-propellant oil misters that produce the same output. Oil misters aren't quite as slick as aerosol pans, because you have to manually pump them each time that you want to grease a pan. But, the benefit to using them is (1) the lack of propellant and (2) the ability to pick your own oil to grease your pans with!
There is one spray mister on Amazon that I personally use called the Norpro Stainless Steel Sprayer Mister
. But, any manual spray mister that you find and buy at your local store should work as a sufficient Pam substitute.I'll be referring to manually greasing pans in future recipes on Yummy Diet Food, so now you'll know what I mean. :)
Enjoy!
Juliet
16 comments:
hi ! :) big fan of your site :D
i just wanted to share this with you, i found it tonight but haven't tried it yet: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbsidedishes/r/caulirice.htm
very neat i thought.
take care!
-lian
great info, it's really important to pay attention on the little details! :)
Interesting!!
interesting - could you use that with baking, also?
Should "propellant" and "food" be used in the same sentence? Pretty scary. And I was actually thinking about picking up a can after a very long break from the stuff. Not now I won't.
I agree that Pam and its propellants are to be avoided. I had a manual mister quite some time ago, though have long since given it up in favor of just brushing the pans with a bit of olive oil. I had issues with cleaning the mister! Funny, but not. I felt like I could never get it clean enough, even if I ran it through the dishwasher. How do you clean yours?
I recently purchased an oil mister from Bed Bath and Beyond, and I don't like it. It is messy and takes a lot of pumping to get the oil out. Also, the mister does not work well on an angle when spraying; I hold the pan at an angle and the mister up and down. But, since I have Teflon pans, I will still continue to use it. I do use a lot less oil now in my pans, which means fewer calories!
I'm really glad you posted about this! People think of PAM as this wonderful thing (and I do use it occasionally) but it's really not the wonder product that it's made out to be. If you use more than a tiny spray it can even pack on a significant amount of calories.
I bought the Misto a while back at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I enjoyed using it, but then stopped for a while and haven't cleaned it since. I did find some tips on how to clean it via their website http://www.misto.com/troubleshooting.shtml but, like the Diva on a Diet, I'm not sure I could ever get it clean enough.
If you pour a little oil on a paper towel, and just use it to lightly grease the pan, are you using just as much as you would with Pam or a manual mister?
I find that Pam isn't enough to keep an egg from sticking to my pan anyway. I end up making my eggs in the microwave...not as yummy, but it works.
For veggies, I found this "healthy saute" method from The World's Healthiest Foods that uses chicken or vegetable broth instead of oil.
Here's the link...
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=preptip&dbid=8#preptipdescr
Thanks guys. I love your alternate ideas -- using a paper towel, or using a brush! All are great ways to address this issue!! :)
As for clean, ours gets pretty clean in our dishwasher. I guess we are lucky.
Hey Juliet, I have been doing oil manual pump spray for a while. The cool thing is, it is green! There is no imbued energy in the compressed gas because there is no compressed gas. And, as you say, no propellants and the possible environmental consequences with those. Just use good ole elbow grease to pump it.
Here is another thing I use the spray oils for: lightly spray the outside of your meat on both sides before you grill it. This prevents it from sticking to a nicely preheated grill. Usually by the end of the cooking the oil is cooked off, but the meat has a nice caramelized outer coat and tastes great. Also, if you lightly spray the raw meat with with oil, you can then put salt and pepper on it and leave it for an hour in the fridge for the flavours to penetrate. The oil will help the salt and pepper stick to the meat during marinading, and then help the meat not stick to the grill later during cooking.
Hmm hmm!
wow.
good to know!
thanks juliet.
I LOVE my oil mister. Best purchase ever.
I bought a Misto about the first of the year. I didn't work well and made a mess. I read a post on another board about using a an empty I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray bottle. After filling with oil I found it worked very well and didn't cost a thing. Less mess and cheap. Works for me and no propellants.
Cool. Thanks for the additional idea!
After consuming many cans of the generic butter spray Pam I am not using it anymore! I've been dieting & spraying tons of it on my hot air popped popcorn. Many evenings that would be my meal. In trying to get healthy I have probably done myself a great unjustice by eating such a "thing" even though I have lost over 70 lbs.
Post a Comment