[shimmer]

I like the convenience of spraying a pan before baking brownies, but I do NOT LIKE WHAT IT DOES TO THE OUTSIDE EDGE OF MY BROWNIES!!!

The taste is funny, the texture is weird, the color changes. I guess I'll go back to butter....

~~Shimmer~~

 

[kokopuffs]

The word, PAM, never existed in my vocabulary. Shame on you.

 

[pooh]

Tried it once and it made me so !!

I ALWAYS use butter! It makes me !!

 

[monpetitchoux]

Pam is evil. And so are all its cousins. Anyone familiar with Vegelene? besides leaving a sticky film on sheet pans that the dishwashers curse about, it does us no good to be breathing that stuff in. Not to mention how the spray also falls through the air and leave a slippery floor. Maybe one day we can sue the makers of this stuff the way States are suing tobacco companies? Oh who am I kidding? They'd create reasonable doubt just by sifting powdered sugar or mixing flour in a Hobart.

 

[murrmaid]

Hee! Hee! Yes, P** is an instrument of Satan, but I do have a little can of it in my cabinet. I was making a low-fat cheeseckae (yes, I know - how ridiculous) for all of the points-counting Weight Watcher junkies in my office and it does shave off a few calories and a wee bit of fat. Everyone else was quite pleased, but all I could taste was PAM. Blech!

Bakers' Joy is a bit less offensive, but nothing beats butter.

 

[mezzaluna]

I also hate PAM. I have used Weight Watchers Buttery Flavor Spray when I was eating low fat. It also left a nasty film on my pans, but the flavor wasn't bad. In fact, I was so fanatic that I sprayed it directly on freshly popped popcorn. Now I use only good oils and butter and never eat popcorn!

 

[m brown]

I bake in individual pans for everything and use industrial Pam, the stuff is a god send and saves my butt daily. I rarely have a problem with cleaning because the tins are mostly disposible. It helps with terrines and frozen mousse too.
Maybe the industrial stuff is better than the store bought stuff.?

 

[pastachef]

This is an interesting board. At home, I use butter, but at work, because the girls have fits over calories, etc., I use Vegelene. I know what you mean about the film, but I first cover all of my baking pans with foil for quick clean up. Sometimes I use parchment paper. The girls and my boss beg for my cakes, so I've never had complaints about the flavor. Maybe the industrial stuff IS better.

 

[w.debord]

Ditto with m brown I couldn't live with-out it in my work kitchen! Rarely can it be noticed on a baked item...if so you doing something wrong! But many items aren't appropriate for a light spray...like brownies they need something heavier to release properly. P.S. I foil my pans alot at work, makes for perfect releases and perfect cut bars.

You want to buy a release product that lists oil/fat as it's first ingredient. Some of the "pam" type products list h2o as their first ingredient. The more water content the more likely sticking and excess moisture will accure. Butter has more h2o in it then my release spray and it isn't a good choice for many baked items.

If your tasting the spray your using too much.

 

[pooh]

Ever heard of oil misters/sprayers?

this one is from Tavolo.

this one is from Williams-Sonoma.

Would this work with melted butter?



[ May 18, 2001: Message edited by: pooh ]

 

[mudbug]

pooh,

These have become very popular in the last few years. They Started out at $20 and now I see them for $5. They tend not to be consistent in their spray unless the pressure is just right and it has just the correct amount of oil in them. A fantastic alternative is to go to your beauty supply store, get a few small plastic bottles with nozzles and fill them up with your various cooking oils. You could probably get them for $0.50 each and they won't be as finicky as the one's you're referring to.

As far as melted butter, if you're willing to handle the prep work and clean up, yes, you can do it. But you'll have to make sure you clean it out before it solidifies, or you can nuke it in the microwave (make sure it's all plastic) for a few seconds but not so long as to melt the plastic. A really good basting brush would work just as well. Look for one with many thin bristles at least 1/2" thick and 1" in length. This will retain a lot of whatever you choose to baste with and make it much easier.

 

[pooh]

Great advice cchiu.

Thanks.

 

[shimmer]

But see, I don't always want to spend the time clarifying butter at home just for a pan of brownies! We use it at the restaurant I work at, and it's amazing how long it can stay in pans and never burns! That was my problem even using butter before- it made everything stick and burned onto the pans.

So is there a fast way to clarify a small amount of butter?

If I were to use tinfoil, should I cook at a lower temperature?

~~Shimmer~~

 

[monpetitchoux]

Nope. It's just as much work to clarify a small amount of butter as it is a large amount. What I do is clarify about 2 lbs at one time. I actually boil the butter until it separates. Then I stop the cooking from below with a bowl of warm water. You won;t believe how fast the solids sink. Then I strain through a large coffee filter in a big strainer or double cheesecloth in a fine strainer. I keep the clarified butter in a container and keep that in the fridge or freezer well wrapped. Then I have clarified on hand. It's just a smaller version than the restaurant. The other thing I can do is buy a jar of ghee, since it's already clarified. But Ghee tastes stronger than butter. Sometimes desirable, sometimes not.

As for the foil, I've never baked brownies without it. Be sure to butter the foil and don't modify the temp.

Btw, a trick I use to get the foil into the corners of the pan without breaking is that I mold it on the pan turned upside down. Form the corners. Lift foil up. reinvert the pan and fit the molded foil in gently.

[ May 20, 2001: Message edited by: monpetitchoux ]

 

[mudbug]

Shimmer & monpetitchoux,

Paddy has a point with ghee... I don't find it too much trouble to make 1/2 a cup. I put some butter in an individual ramekin and heat it in the microwave for less than a minute. Skim and you're done!

 

[momoreg]

I agree that Pam is disgusting, but I do use it for cakes and brownies, because the fact is, I don't serve the edges. That part gets cut off anyway, and I use so little of the Pam, that there is no way to tell that I've used it. Some recipes just don't release with butter, or even oil.

 

[svadhisthana]

Funny, I was just thinking about coming here and reccomending clarified butter in a mistio. I have one in my cabinet with all my oils, but have yet to use it. (it was a gift)
The tip about the beauty supply store was a great one. They also have squeeze bottles cheap that can be used for coulis.

[ June 14, 2001: Message edited by: Svadhisthana ]

 

[isa]

In The Art Of The Cake the authors talk about an experiment they did with cake. Some pans were sprayed with Pam or the equivalent. Butter was used in the other pans. Everyone present said they prefer the cake where butter was used. Too bad they don't give numbers thought.

I wonder if I could use those spray bottle to spray nappage, in it’s liquid form, on my tarts...Has anyone ever tried it?