Tuesday Tip | How to avoid overspray with nonstick spray
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(I thought about it for a long time and could not come up with a better title than that. It'll be what it'll be.)
So, you know how when you spray a pan with nonstick spray, it's easy to get spray outside the pan and on your countertops?
To avoid this, place the pan on your dishwasher door and then spray.
Any overspray will end up on the dishwasher door, where it will get washed away during the next cycle.
A slightly related tip:
This refillable Misto sprayer promised to be an eco-friendly, less expensive version of cooking spray.
I wish SO MUCH that I could tell you it works as well as commercial nonstick sprays, but unfortunately, it does not.
I think the chemicals they put in the commercial sprays are what make them work so well or something.
So.
If you want a greasing method that involves spraying, I do think you are better off with a commercial spray.
And if you don't want to use that, you can opt for oil or butter, applied with a pastry brush or your fingers.
P.S. I made a Facebook group! It's better than a Facebook page because you make posts and talk to each other rather than just hearing from me.
Come join us! I think it'll be a fun place to hang out with each other.
Aww that's a bummer you didn't like the spray mister. I had one from pampered chef that I used for YEARS that was great - then it wore out. I bought this one and it did well for a while until my husband left it outside for a week.
I bought the Pampered Chef one a few times and I thought it seemed to break/wear out too soon for the money spent.
I agree Stacy. I hated the Pampered Chef oil mister. It clogged way to quickly to be worth its cost.
It's lecithin in cooking sprays, an emulsifier, that does the real work, not so much the oil.
Alton Brown had a segment about that somehwere. We always buttered our pans for eggs which and cleaning up was a nightmare (stainless steel and cast iron pans here), and once we started spraying our stainless steel pans after seeing Alton Brown explain the difference between original spray and butter (the reduced fat or just olive oil sprays aren't as magical), cleaning up after eggs was a breeze.
I had the same experience with the Misto. I wanted it to work, it seemed like such a great idea, but it never worked right 🙁
Yeah, I can see its usefulness if you wanted to spritz veggies with olive oil, but for baking purposes, I was not impressed.
I always put the pans in the sink to spray. I’m imagining frantic dishwasher licking by the pups!
Ooh, the sink is a great idea too!
I like the sink idea! I don't have a dishwasher.
I finally quit using cooking sprays at all when I realized one day that I was spending more time scrubbing the little dots of tenacious baked-on spray from the edges and handles of my baking pans than I was eating the baked good. I went back to greasing it the old-fashioned way.
My grandmother used to save the butter wrappers from softened sticks of butter to grease her pans - there was always some butter clinging to the wrappers after she softened it. My mom used to use a small piece of waxed paper to grease her pans because she was in the "tubs of margarine" generation and rarely had stick butter. I use butter wrappers, my fingers, or the waxed paper like my mom.
I never thought of using my dishwasher for overspray. I used to use my sink, though, back when I was spraying. The dishwasher door is clever -- you don't have to lift a finger to wash it clean after spraying.
Not a fan of the spray mister either. I typically spray a little down the center of the pan and then wipe it on the rest of the pan with a piece of paper towel. (Yes, it uses a small piece of paper towel, but I can live with that.)
Thanks for the handy tip about spraying pans on the inside of the dishwasher. Always happy to avoid mess.
Same experience here with the Misto....I received one as a gift, and I could *never* get it to work right. I think I donated it to Goodwill after trying multiple times to get it to work.
Love the idea of using the dishwasher door for overspray.
I also save butter wrappers for greasing baking pans.
I disassembled my Misto and recycled it, thinking no one needed to be un-blessed with it used. Ha. Have you noticed how Bridget and Julia on ATK have those ginormous deep sinks, and they just plunk the pan in the bottom to spray it? #kitchengoals
I haven't! Much as I love the magazines and books they produce, I don't know that I've ever actually watched an ATK TV show.
But the sink idea is such a good one.
I dislike non-stick sprays with a passion. It leaves a residue in baking pans that never comes off. It ploymerizes.
Back in my bread baking days I'd line bread pans with parchment if using bread pans. I use mostly non-stick pans for baking and wash them carefully so as not to ruin the coating. When something needs greasing I use butter I rub on with the wrapper or a paper towel. I use silicone liners for cupcakes and muffins.
For cakes I use Wilton cake release. It's oil and flour mixed together you brush on (with a washable silicone brush). This is the best thing for cakes, especially my rose shaped bundt pan with tons of little crevices. Cake does not stick and it leaves no residue.
BTW, we love our Misto. It does work, but you have to follow the directions carefully to pump it to get pressure and then they recommend opening it to release pressure and leaving the spray assembly just a little loose until you're ready to use it again. It's not great for baking because thin oil beads up, but we use it to spray a pan we are going to saute in or a griddle for pancakes, and for "basting" root veggies in olive oil before roasting it's awesome.
My generic oil "sprayer" is just "OK"- it seems to squirt rather than spray, which kind of defeats the purpose, but oh, well. If anyone knows one that really sprays, that would be great. And I will try jan's hints.
Anyone know how to get the baked-on gunk from the PAM-type sprays off, after it's baked on??? It gets brown and sticky and won't budge. I saw some other comments mentioned the same problem. Thoughts?
An SOS pad seems to work pretty well, but you wouldn't want to use it on nonstick surfaces.
I too had the Pampered Chef Mister and it didn't take long to break. Love the dish washer idea, but my husband and I just became empty nesters (all 3 kids have moved out and are living their lives on their own) so I don't use my dishwasher very much. Just the two of us so I just wash the dishes and put them away. I will pass this idea on to my daughter and daughter-in-law. Thank you