Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Gadgets that might work (3)


As you might know I like to bake almost all our bread, and encouraged by the successes (and yes, the failures too), bake almost all our pies and cookies and cakes. One cannot help notice the amount of fat and sugar that disappears in those baking adventures... Wow I really didn't know that. Makes you conscious of what you bake and how.

In my breads I almost never use butter, sometimes a little vegetable/olive oil. In cakes and cookies....hmm difficult, but I'm learning how to reduce or substitute.

And then there is the inevitable spraying/buttering of the pans you use. I like to use Baukje spray (kind of Pam for english readers) but that is expensive, and the spray cans are small. So I tried other devices (my grandmother and mom use the emptied foil package of butter to grease the pan, dutch thriftiness?).
I bought plastic spray canisters, unofficial (read cheap) devices for spraying oil, nothing worked. I even tried (read that somewhere) to add lecithine to get a spray instead of a drizzle. I have yet to buy the official real expensive pump and spray bottle in the official cookshop. (As far as I've heard they don't work as well either and cost a shocking 20 €!)

Enters: this cute little gadget. At this moment filled by Ainsley Harriot himself (oh well, let's pretend) with balsamic vinegar but I plan to get rid of the vinegar a.s.a.p. and refill (yes it can be refilled) with vegetable oil to pump and spray and grease my bowls for the bread to rise in. Less mess, quick and easy. Or so I hope.
So far the vinegar sprays beautifully, but then again vinegar is like water and will spray out of almost anything.
I foresee lots of tomato and salads in our near future.. spray vinegar, spray!

9 comments:

  1. deze [niet heel erg goedkope] heb ik onlangs online gekocht & die bevalt mij prima [tot nu toe]!

    m.

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  2. Moi,

    En nu maar hopen dat de dikkere olie ook uit de pompfles van Ainsley kan worden gesprayed. Wel weer iets voor een (semi-)Groningse om zo lekker zuinig te doen. Ik vet mijn ovenschalen meestal in met een klontje boter/margarine in de vingers. Geen gedoe met een kwastje en zo.

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  3. Moi Peter,
    Tja...het gronings bloed verloochent zich toch niet kennelijk. Zal nooit in die zin een echte foodie worden...t moet wel leuk blijven.
    Ik vrees ook met grote vreze dat die dikke olie weer niet stuift maar druppelt, we zullen zien.

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  4. I really like the idea of vinegar spray. Someone gave me one of the fancy oil spray gadgets. It works sort of. And I guess that sort of is pretty limited because I don't use it any more.

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  5. Ik had ook (goedkoper dan die ik dus moet hebben) zo'n spray-ding gekocht eigenlijk voor azijn....nou die van mij wilde dus echt geen olie sprayen, alleen een knetterende rechte straal kwam eruit! Ach ik hoop voor jou beter, in ieder geval heb je nog fijn een poosje Ainsley in je hand ;D

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  6. So it really works??
    Ainsley Harriot doesn't look like an expert on Italian balsamic vinegar~ but I will take your word and give it a 'shot'.

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  7. If your oil will not spray but only splash, just ad a little water and shake before you'll spray. Works very well.

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  8. Hi Karen !

    As for greasing baking trays or molds I have never used a spray. You are right, our Moms used (or still use) butter wrappings. I ALWAYS drizzle a little olive oil (the cheaper one for cooking) into the pan or whatever and use a piece of kitchen towel (paper) to brush the pan all over.

    As for the vinegar spray, it is a good idea - but it hardly works for longer than just several times, right ?

    Spraying or not, have a super day and Happy Valentine's Day !

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  9. A while ago I bought myself a bottle of "olive oil salad spray".
    Plain old olive oil in some sort of plant-watering-device. And the thing worked too!

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