Best way to 'grease' a baking tin

[Ella]

Whenever I grease a baking dish or tray I usually use butter, but I find it messy and it wastes a lot of butter. Is using oil and a brush better, or a spray? I find the spray oils don't cover everywhere you need to and I get a bit of sticking afterwards, what has worked best for you?

 

[GadgetGuy]

The best method is with the cooking spray, which covers a wider area in the pan and should reach and cover every area in the pan.

 

[DancingLady]

I only use butter, after years of using Pam, per my mothers request, with terrible results even if I used "too much" I tried butter and have never had a sticking problem since that I can remember. I tried oil but found that the oil seems to just absorb into the baked good and it still stick unless so much is used that it leaves oiliness on the bottom. Just make sure your butter is nice and soft and you will be able to spread it around thin enough to not be wasteful.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Are any of you using non-stick pans? That is, pans with non-stick coating?

 

[DancingLady]

Are any of you using non-stick pans? That is, pans with non-stick coating?

I avoid them when possible. I do not want to risk teflon chemicals getting into my food. When I don't have a choice because I don't own a glass pan that size, I line with parchment paper to protect myself.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I think it depends on what you have made and what oil it is.
If I am making something like scones, I don't bother greasing the baking tray, it has never needed it.
If I am making a cake, then I will use the same fat that was made to make the cake. So if I have used soya margarine (remember I'm allergic to dairy) I will use the same soya margarine to grease the tin. If I have used olive margarine then I will use that.

But there are some recipes where I will use oil rather than fat because they need greaseproof paper as well, such as my Christmas cake. Here I find using oil much easier, but you have to be careful about the choice of oil it can taint the takes of the cake, so I will only use a nut oil not a veg oil, olive oil or sunflower oil. (I actually use the oil to get the greasproof paper to stick to the baking tin, not to grease the greaseproof paper....

 

[GadgetGuy]

Seriously, I doubt very much that it was ever really proven that food cooked in non-stick cookware or bakeware causes cancer.

If that really were, or is the case, then all cookware made with non-stick coating would have been pulled from the store shelves per order of the FDA & possibly the Surgeon General of the United States! or the U.S. Gov't itself!

And if you use such cookware or bakeware, then as long as you use nylon utensils with them, you'd lessen the chance of any of the non-stick coating from loosening from the surface and coming up into the food that's cooked in them.

 

[Ella]

I do tend to use a soya margarine or butter, but I find it wastes a lot of butter which is expensive. Sometimes I use non-stick and sometimes they are ceramic dishes like ramekins or a pyrex dish , so that isn't the issue as I would still grease lightly with non-stick for ease of removing whatever I was cooking. Non-stick just makes it easier to clean rather then never sticking in my experience.

 

[missamanda819]

I usually use a cooking spray. But, if I do use butter, I just take a stick from the refrigerator and rub it across the pan. It's pretty easy and only takes a few seconds.

 

[winterybella]

I use what we call lard. I stopped and checked what lard was and saw that it was fat from a pig stomach. I was not very happy and started to be very concern. Then I read further and was told that it was not as unhealthy as it sounds. Here is what I found.

http://www.weedemandreap.com/top-reasons-eating-lard/

 

[sorrowscall]

I use cooking spray. I kept trying other ways and nothing would ever work out. I don't know if it was me or the products I was using but cooking spay works so much better than anything I previously used. Though, I try not to overdo it as the one I use becomes overly-liquidy quickly. Then again, I am using an off-brand until I can replace it with something nicer.

 

[Rosyrain]

I use non stick pans whenever I can. I have found that the coating wears out over time, though, so the pans have to be replaced every couple of years. For all my other baking needs I use olive oil cooking spray. I really have no issues with sticking.

 

[Arch]

To apply butter sparingly, keep the foil/paper wrapper from each pack of butter, and rub that round your pan or dish.

 

[queenbellevue]

I usually just use oil or butter, try to cover as much of the baking tin as possible. I obviously don't bake a lot, but I've never had a problem using that method.

 

[JoanMcWench]

I use a Misto. If you've never heard of it click the link. The thing is amazing & I love it. I'm a big fan of being able to customize which oil I'm using where & how, this thing just happens to make it a lot easier to do so with a lot less waste.