by Cassie 20 Comments
Homemade cooking spray is yet another of dozens of store-bought replacements to add to the list of replacements that we share.
Homemade cooking spray is super, super easy to make, plus you know the ingredients in them, making it a healthier alternative too. In addition, cooking sprays can be quite expensive. It is crazy how much a little bit of oil in a can costs! CRAZY!But a homemade cooking spray saves you loads of money.
You may notice on our site that we strive to find alternative solutions to expensive store-bought items. This quest just enables us to drop our grocery budget by a little more each month. It’s all part of helping us meet our 2% monthly goals.
Well, we learned this trick to homemade cooking spray a long time ago and it is easily made in a couple of minutes. What is sometimes tough…finding a good spray bottle. It is best to use glass, stainless steel or aluminum.
We found aluminum spray bottles at Dollar Tree! I was so excited as these are a cheap, helpful find! I have yet to find stainless steel spray bottles. So if you know where to find them, let me know. Glass is best, but the possibility of breaking is quite high. Ultimately, if all you have is plastic, that will work – it’s just that some oils can permeate and leach into the solution – so go with BPA free if you can and store in a cool, dark place.
How To Make Homemade Cooking Spray
Okay, so let’s get ready to rock n’ roll with the spray oil!
All you need is……
- 1 part oil
- 2-4 parts filtered water
That’s it! But before I move on, I wanted to talk a bit about the oils.
Olive oil is the most popular, which works well in some cooking circ*mstances. However, Olive Oil and others like grapeseed, flaxseed and walnut oils have a low smoke point. Because of this, I personally want to use an oil that can withstand a higher temp of heat before reaching the smoke point. Olive oil and similar oils are best for temps that are 325 and under as this is the smoke point. However, for some purposes and baking, this isn’t as much of an issue anyway as it mostly applies to cooking methods like frying, so in the end Olive Oil will be fine. You can always make a second bottle with the high heat option if you think you need it.
Regardless, just be mindful of what your typical cooking is like and decide what oil to use.
For us, I prefer to use a high heat oil because these can be used for any cooking up to a high temperature. So I just prefer to simply from the beginning and just have a universal oil spray. High heat oils are avocado, peanut, safflower, sesame, vegetable or canola.
From this list, I most frequently use avocado, safflower or sesame oil. In addition to saving money, I am also trying to make healthier alternatives in the process. So these three oils have been my “go-to” for my homemade cooking spray.
So… in the end, glass, plastic or aluminum and olive, avocado or canola oils will all work in some way. I just wanted to share the pluses and minuses of each container and oil so that you can decide what you want to use.
Here’s how to make it:
- Using a funnel, pour 1/4 cup of oil in your container.
- Then add 3/4 – 1 cup of water to your oil.
- Put the lid on and shake.
- Then use like you would normal cooking spray. We like to set the spray on a mist.
- You will need to “shake it up” right before each use as the water and oil separate.
- *Use the basic rule – you will use 1 part oil to 2-4 parts water, whatever size bottle you have.
I also wanted to add one final note: this works well for casseroles, cook top meals and dishes of all kinds – including most baking. However, sometimes, depending on what I am baking – I will also “brush” on an oil instead of spray for a denser coverage in baked goods. This is probably going to depend on each individual recipe and baker, so just experiment with using this vs. the few times that you may need a denser coverage. I have found if I make the homemade cooking spray any thicker, it won’t actually “spray,” thus the need to brush straight oil on the pan.
