Oil for cooking???

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Are there any oils that I can cook with that doesn’t have 120 for a tbs like Vegetable oil?

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  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,955 Member
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    No. They all have the same calories.
  • alexisfraser1340
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Are there any oils that I can cook with that doesn’t have 120 for a tbs like Vegetable oil?

    No...all oils, butter, etc are 100% fat...they are all right around 120 calories for a Tbsp. I learned early on that I didn't need to cook with nearly as much oil as I was cooking with in most cases.

    I use avocado oil spray quite a bit. All sprays are listed as 0 calories, but that's a bit deceiving...it's 0 calories for like a 1/4 second spray because they can list it as 0 if it's lower than 5...but if you did enough spray for a Tbsp it would be 120 calories.

    Thank you! That’s helpful
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,955 Member
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    @cwolfman13

    Butter is 100 per TBS, presumably because there is some water in it...and it's not really an oil - it just has animal fat in it.

    Margarine is also around 100 per TBS. I assume that's also due to the processing/water.
  • sarabushby
    sarabushby Posts: 784 Member
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    It’s a bit of an eye opener as to how many calories you’re losing to just cooking oil huh! You might like to poach more foods, use good quality non-stick pans or first fry the meat with fat that you’re using for sneaky ways round this. Or, as others say, spray oil can help if you are sparing with it. I use just 6 sprays now for my stir fry whereas before I’d have used 1tbspn of oil. And I always poach my eggs now too.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
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    @cwolfman13

    Butter is 100 per TBS, presumably because there is some water in it...and it's not really an oil - it just has animal fat in it.

    Margarine is also around 100 per TBS. I assume that's also due to the processing/water.

    Ah true...I was thinking more "in the neighborhood of" than exact calories.

    I have yet to figure out why my avocado oil list 1 Tbsp as 130 calories and my olive oil lists as 120 calories. They are both identical in regards to total grams, grams of saturated, and grams of poly and mono. The only thing I can think of is that the avocado oil lists as 1 Tbsp or 14 grams weighted and the olive oil notes 1 Tbsp or 15 ML.
  • Luke_rabbit
    Luke_rabbit Posts: 1,031 Member
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    It's amazing how well one teaspoon subs for a tablespoon when pan frying! I do have all non-stick cookware.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,966 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    @cwolfman13

    Butter is 100 per TBS, presumably because there is some water in it...and it's not really an oil - it just has animal fat in it.

    Margarine is also around 100 per TBS. I assume that's also due to the processing/water.

    Ah true...I was thinking more "in the neighborhood of" than exact calories.

    I have yet to figure out why my avocado oil list 1 Tbsp as 130 calories and my olive oil lists as 120 calories. They are both identical in regards to total grams, grams of saturated, and grams of poly and mono. The only thing I can think of is that the avocado oil lists as 1 Tbsp or 14 grams weighted and the olive oil notes 1 Tbsp or 15 ML.

    Maybe there's something about the slightly different chemical formulations (due to different proportions of PUFAs, MUFAs, and sat fats) that make avocado oil slightly denser -- i.e., needs slightly less empty space between the molecules, so more oil, and hence more calories, fit in a tablespoon?
  • Yesenia882018
    Yesenia882018 Posts: 10 Member
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    I honestly do a little spray put the meat then add water and close it with the lid and just let it cook like that. Also I found baking eggs makes them interesting my kids like em.
  • KevinWH87
    KevinWH87 Posts: 74 Member
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    I've recently been sticking to using a spray, then adding just a little butter or toasted sesame oil towards the end for taste. Fewer calories without a loss of taste.
  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
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    It's amazing how well one teaspoon subs for a tablespoon when pan frying! I do have all non-stick cookware.

    Agreed! For a lot of the cooking I do with oil, cutting down on the amount made little to no difference in the end product. Sometimes it actually made it better, lol.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,900 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Are there any oils that I can cook with that doesn’t have 120 for a tbs like Vegetable oil?

    No...all oils, butter, etc are 100% fat...they are all right around 120 calories for a Tbsp. I learned early on that I didn't need to cook with nearly as much oil as I was cooking with in most cases.

    I use avocado oil spray quite a bit. All sprays are listed as 0 calories, but that's a bit deceiving...it's 0 calories for like a 1/4 second spray because they can list it as 0 if it's lower than 5...but if you did enough spray for a Tbsp it would be 120 calories.

    @cwolfman13 I was thinking of your post when I sprayed this AM and decided to put the pan on the scale and weigh the spray - was 2 g, so clearly longer than the 1/5 second / 0.37 g I'm supposed to spray. I'm just going to go back to regular oil - it's cheaper and doesn't smell weird, so I don't have the concern about "what the heck is in this spray?" (This brand does not contain silicone like lots of other brands.)

    I was using 3 g of oil in this non-stick pan previously, and may have done a longer spray when I didn't do this observation experiment.
  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Are there any oils that I can cook with that doesn’t have 120 for a tbs like Vegetable oil?

    No...all oils, butter, etc are 100% fat...they are all right around 120 calories for a Tbsp. I learned early on that I didn't need to cook with nearly as much oil as I was cooking with in most cases.

    I use avocado oil spray quite a bit. All sprays are listed as 0 calories, but that's a bit deceiving...it's 0 calories for like a 1/4 second spray because they can list it as 0 if it's lower than 5...but if you did enough spray for a Tbsp it would be 120 calories.

    @cwolfman13 I was thinking of your post when I sprayed this AM and decided to put the pan on the scale and weigh the spray - was 2 g, so clearly longer than the 1/5 second / 0.37 g I'm supposed to spray. I'm just going to go back to regular oil - it's cheaper and doesn't smell weird, so I don't have the concern about "what the heck is in this spray?" (This brand does not contain silicone like lots of other brands.)

    I was using 3 g of oil in this non-stick pan previously, and may have done a longer spray when I didn't do this observation experiment.

    This is my second major attempt at weight loss, and one of the best food changes I made was going back to butter or oil for pan frying rather than spray. Everything tastes so much more satisfying that it's worth the 20-40 calories extra. I've realized a little bit goes a long way.
  • Luke_rabbit
    Luke_rabbit Posts: 1,031 Member
    edited February 2020
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    I use these (although mine are an older version):

    https://www.amazon.com/Evo-Oil-Sprayer-8113RD-Non-Aerosol/dp/B07PKQV4SP/

    One for avocado oil, one for olive.

    Sprays 1-3 grams at a time, depending how quick on the trigger you are. I've had them for almost 5 years and they still work great.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,955 Member
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    I use these (although mine are an older version):

    https://www.amazon.com/Evo-Oil-Sprayer-8113RD-Non-Aerosol/dp/B07PKQV4SP/

    One for avocado oil, one for olive.

    Sprays 1-3 grams at a time, depending how quick on the trigger you are. I've had them for almost 5 years and they still work great.

    That thing is $20!! No way, I'll just stick to pouring a tiny bit in the pan and spreading it with a silicon spatula. It's just a few calorie, like less than 10 for what I use.


    How do you keep those nozzles from gumming up? I had one of those non-aerosol things, but I couldn't get the oil out of the nozzles without boiling it.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,966 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Are there any oils that I can cook with that doesn’t have 120 for a tbs like Vegetable oil?

    No...all oils, butter, etc are 100% fat...they are all right around 120 calories for a Tbsp. I learned early on that I didn't need to cook with nearly as much oil as I was cooking with in most cases.

    I use avocado oil spray quite a bit. All sprays are listed as 0 calories, but that's a bit deceiving...it's 0 calories for like a 1/4 second spray because they can list it as 0 if it's lower than 5...but if you did enough spray for a Tbsp it would be 120 calories.

    @cwolfman13 I was thinking of your post when I sprayed this AM and decided to put the pan on the scale and weigh the spray - was 2 g, so clearly longer than the 1/5 second / 0.37 g I'm supposed to spray. I'm just going to go back to regular oil - it's cheaper and doesn't smell weird, so I don't have the concern about "what the heck is in this spray?" (This brand does not contain silicone like lots of other brands.)

    I was using 3 g of oil in this non-stick pan previously, and may have done a longer spray when I didn't do this observation experiment.

    I don't like the sprays because they get on things I wasn't intending to spray. For baking I really prefer shortening or butter, as spray oils and to a lesser extent non-spray oils make these brown spots on my pans that are hard to clean.
  • Luke_rabbit
    Luke_rabbit Posts: 1,031 Member
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    I use these (although mine are an older version):

    https://www.amazon.com/Evo-Oil-Sprayer-8113RD-Non-Aerosol/dp/B07PKQV4SP/

    One for avocado oil, one for olive.

    Sprays 1-3 grams at a time, depending how quick on the trigger you are. I've had them for almost 5 years and they still work great.

    That thing is $20!! No way, I'll just stick to pouring a tiny bit in the pan and spreading it with a silicon spatula. It's just a few calorie, like less than 10 for what I use.


    How do you keep those nozzles from gumming up? I had one of those non-aerosol things, but I couldn't get the oil out of the nozzles without boiling it.

    Yeah, mine didn't cost that much. It was a 2 pack and cost maybe $15? I guess they have gotten more popular in the last 5 years.

    Unlike the Misto brand, these never gum up. I threw away about 4 of those.

    I was at a cooking class and the chef/ teacher recommended it.
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
    edited February 2020
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    I use those spouts that are on bar back liquor bottles because the delivery is so precise. 12 pack at Amazon for $6. Still using one from several years ago.