Cooking spray is a spray form of an oil as a lubricant,

lecithin Lecithin (, from the Greek ''lekithos'' "yolk") is a generic term to designate any group of yellow-brownish fatty substances occurring in animal and plant tissues which are amphiphilic – they attract both water and fatty substances (and so ar ...

as an

emulsifier An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Altho ...

, and a

propellant A propellant (or propellent) is a mass that is expelled or expanded in such a way as to create a thrust or other motive force in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, and "propel" a vehicle, projectile, or fluid payload. In vehicles, the e ...

such as food-grade alcohol, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide or

propane Propane () is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used a ...

. Cooking spray is applied to frying pans and other cookware to prevent food from sticking. Traditionally, cooks use butter, shortening, or oils poured or rubbed on cookware. Most cooking sprays have less food energy per serving than an application of vegetable oil, because they are applied in a much thinner layer: US regulations allow many to be labelled " zero-calorie"; in the UK sprays claim to supply "less than 1 calorie per serving". Popular US brands include Pam, Crisco, and Baker's Joy. Sprays are available with plain vegetable oil, butter and

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...

flavor. Cooking spray has other culinary uses besides being applied to cookware. Sticky candies such as Mike and Ike that are often sold in bulk vending machines may be sprayed with cooking spray to keep them from sticking together in the machines. Coating the inside of a measuring cup with the spray allows sticky substances such as

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

to pour out more easily. Vegetables may be sprayed before

seasoning Seasoning is the process of supplementing food via herbs, spices, salts, and/or sugar, intended to enhance a particular flavour. General meaning Seasonings include herbs and spices, which are themselves frequently referred to as "seasonings". Ho ...

to make the seasonings stick better.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooking Spray Cooking oils