In search of ways to save money, I have run across liquid lecithin. This is good for making non-stick cooking spray by combining half liquid lecithin and half grape seed oil and flavoring with imitation butter, to taste.
What is interesting is that there is also soy free liquid lecithin available. Do not stop there, the claims of lecithin being good for your brain make it also good in salad dressing, gravies, applesauce, smoothies and blended drinks. I try to make sure what ever I buy it has multiple uses only. This saves another trip to the market and being stuck with to many products. Happy cooking.
Source: My source is financial desperation and comparing my recipes to see if I can have more than one purpose before going to the market to buy a product that I do not already have in the pantry. This I found is the best way to shop so that stocking is simplified and the grocery list is reduced of products I do not need to buy.
By shannah from Tigard, OR
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Sounds like a good idea but people who already eat a lot of lecithin rich foods or supplements or have certain health issues should be cautious about adding more to their diet, even when just using to coat a cooking pan, without a doctors advice. Lecithin is a blood thinner and can also cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Nothing wrong with using it but please use caution.
As a physician myself, I think it's an excellent idea to use liquid lecithin in place of aerosolized cooking sprays. The propellants used in the commercial sprays are harmful to one's health. This option for a make-it-yourself spray is both thrifty and health-conscious. I do this myself. Granted, many people will not NEED extra lecithin if they have a varied diet, cauliflower, cabbage, legumes, organ meats (esp brain and heart) and some other foods do contain lecithin. However, many people take supplements to increase lecithin intake, and it's not really harmful in any way, although it is known to cause body odor and digestive upset / symptoms if taken in very large quantities. But the negligible amount one would get in a homemade oil-pump spray containing lecithin is negligible - it would be neither noticeably helpful or harmful (unless one had soy allergies and used soy lecithin, or had some other tremendous sensitivity perhaps). On the whole, great idea. I use it myself!
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For greaseless and stick free cooking. About 12 years ago I read about a product called liquid lecithin that could be used as a nonstick alternative to PAM , butter, etc. Being skeptical, I spent the money and have been hooked ever since. This product is available at health food markets and could probably be mail ordered.
It lasts for years, and since you need to use very little it is economical. I have probably used 3 bottles in 12 years and even nasty items like spaghetti very rarely stick. It is a very thick product and one would need to smear it on with a small piece of paper towel, I've found that this works best.
The manufacturer also says that you can use it as a fat substitute, etc. (It is one of the ingredients found in some cooking sprays, it may seem a little pricey at first, about $5 - 7 (I think, I'm still using the last bottle that my husband bought a few years ago, The bottle is glass so it can be recycled).
Jane
Also check on the back of the labels for 2 liter bottles for coupons. The coupons are usually very good, like 75 cents off the purchase of two, which our store doubles. You can usually find a two liter bottle for about 89 cents, so you wind up paying 28 cents for two 2-liter bottles. It's also a good idea to look around the shelves. The bottles with coupons on them are usually marked as such. You may find a few of them in the back of the shelf, which you should grab (obviously) instead of the ones without coupons. - Anthony (09/04/2001)
