Non-Stick Frying Pans and Cooking Without Oil?

I want to cut the oil I use to saute my meat and veggies since one tablespoon (which isn't alot) contains around 130kcal, and I'd rather have that in my salad as dressing for the extra taste. So my question is... *drumroll*

Can you saute / cook meat, eggs (mhh... scrambled) and veggies on a non-stick pan without ANY oil, or will the food stick nontheless? Has anybody tried this?

And another one: Do you need a high quality pan for this (Tefal etc.), or will the run-of-the-mill low-price teflon pan do just as well?

Any help appreciated! 

Yes.  You can saute food dry in a teflon pan, or add a little liquid.  You won't get the crispy browning as you would with fat in the pan.  One way to deal with it is to use an non stick spray to help with browning. Sometimes I use a little water and just a half teaspoon of oil.  The water cooks away and then the tiny bit of oil helps brown the food.

I don't invest a lot in teflon pans because, no matter how careful you are, the surface develops tiny scratches.  I find that my better cookware (caphalon stainless steel) doesn't stick as long as you get the pan hot enough.  But for things like eggs, I have a couple of inexpensive T-Fal teflon pans.  When the non stick surface wears out, I replace them. 

It pays to invest in a few silicon spatulas for stirring.  They are easier on the surface than wooden or plastic spoons.

Thanks for the quick response! I can live without the browning. I imagine that food sauted without oil would be a little as though it was cooked, which I don't mind personally. I think I might go out and invest in a small teflon pan now, thanks!

I agree with the calories wasted on fat in a pan because butter and oil can be so high.  I use cooking spray which is crazy low cal, usually 5 calories and very effective even on cheaper non stick pans. 

i completely agree on the oil being a waste of calories.  A low fat cooking spray is great to use as a starter and then if the pan starts to dry out i add 3 or 4 tbsp of water (and replace as necessary).  This is especially good for stirfrying and the like :)

You can also use chicken stock or vegetable stock for liquid, it would more flavor than just water.

A very good quality teflon pan with the tiniests amount of oil on it can last for a very long time if you NEVER use any more than Med heat on it. trouble with that is some one always finds your "perfect" pan and think you will never notice the high heat that they will use with it.  Really wrecks it. I had one pan I used sucessfully with pancakes and eggs for ten years ruined.

If you want to saute veggies without oil, or with very little oil, grill sandwiches, heat tortillas, etc, find a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. They last for a long time and get better with age. I love my cast iron!!

You can use non-stick sprays, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray, Ponzu sauce, very low calorie salad dressing, or even chicken bouillon to saute foods! You can even use the juice that comes out of tomatoes (or even V-8 juice!)

I don't use oil at all!

=^..^= MOLLY

PAM! I can not tell you how amazing it is. A quick spray in a nonstick makes everything look and taste great. There is a variety of flavors also. I don't think I will ever go back to oils or butter for cooking again. It even fools my husband. He thinks that his "fried" eggs are made with butter but they are not. I spray a tiny bit of the butter flavored PAM on the pan and they turn out perfect.  

To all you PAM lovers:

Do not forget it is still fat. It is in fact just like oil 100 % fat.

One second spray is a few calories, however one second spray does not do much for the pan. 1/3 of a second is 2 calories.

Here is an answer I found on answers.com which summarized the issues very well with sprayable oils.

"This is a very deceptive thing that the food companies can do with their labeling. If they make the serving size really small to the point where lets say the fat content for the serving is 0.5g, the government allows them to round down the number to 0g. So they can call a product that contains 100% calories from fat a fat free product.""""

My choice is to measure oil before it goes to the pan or use a spray for oils that I can refil, so I do not have to put any additional chemicals while spraying into my food. In addition overheated PAM smells horable.

CONCLUSION: use less of a natural product, not a lot of canned.

Original Post by figurethefat:

If you want to saute veggies without oil, or with very little oil, grill sandwiches, heat tortillas, etc, find a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. They last for a long time and get better with age. I love my cast iron!!

I am with you, only I have a cast iron wok. It is very versatile!

Original Post by clairelaine:

Yes.  You can saute food dry in a teflon pan, or add a little liquid.  You won't get the crispy browning as you would with fat in the pan.  One way to deal with it is to use an non stick spray to help with browning. Sometimes I use a little water and just a half teaspoon of oil.  The water cooks away and then the tiny bit of oil helps brown the food.

I don't invest a lot in teflon pans because, no matter how careful you are, the surface develops tiny scratches.  I find that my better cookware (caphalon stainless steel) doesn't stick as long as you get the pan hot enough.  But for things like eggs, I have a couple of inexpensive T-Fal teflon pans.  When the non stick surface wears out, I replace them. 

It pays to invest in a few silicon spatulas for stirring.  They are easier on the surface than wooden or plastic spoons.

Claire, so caphalon is non stick? and you have to get the pan hot enough first so food don't stick? right?

Original Post by figurethefat:

If you want to saute veggies without oil, or with very little oil, grill sandwiches, heat tortillas, etc, find a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. They last for a long time and get better with age. I love my cast iron!!

Could you recommend a good brand? 

Thanks.

Help me here:

I have issue with cast iron most likelly because I am not using it properly.

First how do you care for it. Do you wash it or just wipe it?I heard it is not suggested to wash cast irons, so they serve better.

Second can you discribe a quick dish that otherwise requires good tablespoon of oil that you cook on cast iron saving oil calories?

Thanks, I like the idea, but need a bit more info on handling this million year old pan.

 

I heard that we should not overheat Teflon covered pans, especially when they are empty, because Teflon emits harmful fumes when overheated. Also overheating Teflon pans makes them peal even without scratching. Urban legend or true? I do not invest a lot into them myself, but I do enjoy cooking without needing to use a chisel to get the food of the bottom of regular pan. I do not have patience to wait until it will un-stick itself as I was told it will.