Friday, May 7, 2010

About those oil spray bottles

Lion and others have asked me about which bottle to buy to use for spraying oil. The ones I have don't have a brand name on them and were purchased at a local hardware store. I do know that Home Depot occasionally sells the bottles as well as the garden supply stores. The key is to get one that has a mist setting, not just a spray setting. The bottles run in price from $1.99 to about $6.

However, bottles made expressly for food oil purposes are sold online also. They are not quite as cheap as the plastic bottles but they are manufactured specifically for food oil so there is no problem with clogging of the nozzle. Those prices run from about $10 for the bottle up to the sky is the limit for the "fancy" designer-named bottles. For the $10 bottle please see http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=oil+sprayer&tag=googhydr-20&index=garden&hvadid=2883883881&ref=pd_sl_322cckshis_b

Before you dismiss the $10 price, keep this in mind. Those ready prepared spray oil cans sold in the supermarkets cost from $2.99 to $5.99 per 3-ounces of oil. At the lowest price that is $33 for a quart's worth of oil. Buy that $10 bottle from Amazon and buy a quart of oil for even $4 and you have already saved yourself $19. And the empty bottle that you buy is reusable. If you should use 3-4 quarts of oil a year? A savings of $57 to $76 a year. And let's not forget that using the sprayer allows you to use less oil in food preparation.

Addendum to the Original Posting: In doing some checking on the commercial spray oils I found that soy lecithin is a standard ingredient. While there are some health claims made for the addition of the lecithin and a few references to the non-stick qualities of the lecithin, most cites referred to the fact that the lecithin is used to thin down the oil so that it will spray correctly. However, the spray oils available for Pesach DO NOT contain the soy lecithin for kashrut reasons, nor any substitutes for it, and they spray every bit as well as the non-Pesach products do.

9 comments:

tesyaa said...

Thanks for the link. I just ordered an oil sprayer! It really helped that you embedded the link; I was meaning to do this for a while, bu I must have been too lazy to actually navigate to Amazon myself :)

Leahle said...

Amazon is going to have a good day in part at least thanks to you. I ordered 5 of the bottles. I have a bunch of showers/engagements coming up and it occured to me these bottles would make good gifts.

Ruth said...

Thanks for the link. But while I was scrolling down at Amazon I saw a three bottle set being sold for 19.99. The bottles look like they are smaller than the one you referenced, but I use more than one type of oil and the set looks like it will be perfect for me. Only problem is that it is on backorder and they don't say when it will be available, but I waited this long so a little longer will be okay. You can see that set at http://www.amazon.com/Hoffritz-Stainless-Steel-Gourmet-Oil-Mister/dp/B00004RHNJ/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1273238914&sr=1-12

Anonymous said...

Dumb question here. I usually use a canned non-stick Pam-type spray for baking, broiling, frying eggs, etc. Will using oil in a mister bottle have the same non-stick effect or is there something else in the canned sprays that make it work? Also, what type of oil do you use for the spray bottle - olive, cannola?

ProfK said...

Anonymous 9:57,
Not a chemist here, but there seems to be no difference in use between the Pam oil and all the other spray oils that are sold commercially when compared to oil you yourself put into a spray bottle. If you are using the spray to coat a non-stick manufactured pan then the non-stick on the pan is what is producing the effect, not the spray. If you are using a "regular" pan such as stainless steel then there is no difference between the various kinds of sprays when you look at the finished cooking items. Spraying oil means that you will get a better coverage of the pan than just pouring some in will, and better coverage leads to less sticking.

As to what kind of oil I use, my preferences are canola and grapeseed oil. I use olive oil only for certain dishes where the strong flavor adds to not subtracts from the flavor of what is being cooked.

Masha said...

Thanks for the info. I'm going to order the bottle but a question first. Do you think that same bottle will be good for putting salad dressing in to spray on salad instead of pouring it?

ProfK said...

Masha,
I'm going to hedge here and say "maybe." If the dressing consistency is close to that of oil I'd say it will spray fine. So an oil and vinegar based dressing should work. If it is one of those thick mayo-based dressings or has small pieces of veggies like onion or chopped herbs in it I don't think it will work.

tesyaa said...

Re your addendum: I have found that the Pesach sprays don't spray as well as Pam, but I don't think it's due to the lack of additives - I think it's due to the inferiority of certain Pesach brands in general. I'm looking forward to using my sprayer once it arrives. I did read the reviews and I chose one that was priced a little higher than the $10 item, but had better reviews.

tnspr569 said...

I've read that it's best to use regular oil, as opposed to non-stick spray, for non-stick coated pans, to prevent the coating from coming off (which can even happen with high-quality non-stick cookware). If this is true, then this spray bottle solution is better than the traditional non-stick sprays.

Thanks, ProfK!