Not all cooking oil sprays are as wholesome – or as helpful – as you assume

As the recognition of sprays rises, it’s essential to have the ability to differentiate the pure oil choices from the curious cocktails.

This week, the oil spray discovered its approach into the nationwide procuring trolley for the primary time. The Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) basket of products and companies, an inventory compiled yearly by the National Audit Office, goals to be “updated and consultant of shopper spending patterns”. So this yr, it’s out with hand sanitiser (gone the way in which of washing palms for 2 rounds of Happy Birthday) and bye-bye rotisserie hen – however there’s a re-entry for vinyl records, together with the brand-new itemizing for that helpful oil spray.

I’ve acquired a love-hate relationship with oil sprays, however there’s little doubt they’re helpful – or at the least a few of them are. There are two varieties. Some are simply straight oil, though I think they select a thin-textured “low-viscosity” instance to run by the nozzle simply. Others, generally subtitled “cooking spray”, are curious cocktails of ultra-processed elements, emulsifiers, thickeners and preservatives. They are billed as non-stick, and sound about as interesting as consuming a Teflon pan. Talking of which, apparently you shouldn’t use a non-stick spray on non-stick cookware – all these bizarre components find yourself forming a build-up of gunk on the pan.

The pure oil ones are a nifty retailer cabinet addition, each as an ingredient and a method to prepare dinner a bit of extra healthily (and sure, I do know good oil is wholesome – however not in enormous portions). There are rapeseed, sunflower and coconut oil variations out there, however for me it’s all about olive oil, for the flavour – attempt the Odysea 100 per cent Cretan oil model for a terrific instance. I may very well be tempted by hazelnut oil or walnut oil as each are sturdy sufficient tasting {that a} brief spritz would ship flavour aplenty, however I’ve but to search out both in a twig.

One that has caught my eye is the Sizzola Air Fryer Spray Oil, which appears synergistic as air fryers have additionally entered the CPI basket this yr. With high-oleic sunflower oil and avocado oil, each ready to deal with very excessive temperatures, and no added nasties, this may very well be the reply for low-fat chips.

Back to olive oil: for good crostini, misting a slice of baguette earlier than baking it to a crisp is the one method to go. Drizzling the oil on doesn’t make for a good unfold, whereas fiddling round with a brush simply makes extra washing up. A sprig is sweet for a lightweight contact with roasted greens too: anybody who’s counted energy (possibly that’s coming again, together with the vinyl records) will know a single teaspoon of oil has a jaw-slackening 40 energy, whereas a single spray is only one tiny cal. Best-selling Frylight suggests 5 sprays per “prepare dinner”, which equates to 5 energy, a substantial discount on the 120 energy that the one tablespoon of oil usually utilized in recipes carries. It offers a complete new that means to “calorie management”.

But oil sprays are additionally a supply of frustration. Mostly it’s the way in which the nozzle will get clogged up after about three low-fat suppers. This turns the spray right into a squirt, so that you would possibly as properly have simply drizzled and been finished with it. And all that packaging (largely plastic) feels positively profligate nowadays.

Some of the bottles are refillable when you can prise off the cap, however don’t attempt that with a pressurised can. You might skirt all that by investing in a reusable oil spray bottle. Lakeland shares the Misto (lakeland.co.uk, £11.99 or $25.25), which you pump to extend the stress inside so it puffs out steadily like hairspray. Despite the preliminary outlay, with grocery store vegetable oil priced round 19p per 100ml versus 80p per 100ml for the spray equal, refilling your individual will nonetheless stack up in your favour, when you plan to make use of it usually.

But what about clogging? “We advise to scrub it each six to eight weeks to maintain it working easily,” says a Lakeland spokesperson. “To do that, you fill it half-full with sizzling faucet water, add one drop of liquid detergent and shake to combine. You then pump 10 to fifteen instances and spray for 10 seconds. Leave the soapy water within the sprayer for a number of hours and even in a single day, as this may permit any oil that has solidified to interrupt down. Rinse and repeat the sequence above with contemporary sizzling water.” It means you possibly can put the oil you need in there (even hazelnut or walnut) with out paying by the nostril for some presumably third-rate pattern. And pay you do: the costs for among the sprays are undoubtedly pumped up. Some issues keep the identical, nonetheless a lot you replace them.

Six intelligent methods to make use of cooking oil spray

1. Spray a lightweight movie of oil on the within of measuring spoons when utilizing sticky elements corresponding to honey and nut butter. It will assist guarantee a extra correct measurement, and in addition make washing-up a bit of simpler.

2. Spritz some oil onto a baking tray to assist grease-proof paper keep fastened in place when piping biscuits or meringues.

3. For efficient safety in opposition to browning, spray reduce greens corresponding to avocado or aubergine with a skinny coating of oil earlier than wrapping properly.

4. Save time through the use of a impartial vegetable spray oil to grease aluminium cake tins – notably helpful for bundt and different elaborately designed bakeware. Unless you’re utilizing a pure, additive-free oil, sprays aren’t really useful for non-stick surfaces.

5. Ensure bread dough doesn’t type a crust throughout proving by spraying the floor with olive oil earlier than masking the bowl with a tea towel.

6. Help seasoning and spice blends coat meat and greens extra evenly by giving them a lightweight spray of oil first.