Coconut Oil Spray – What’s The Point?
Initially I was really impressed when I saw Coconut Oil Spray for the first time in Coles, my local grocery store.
But on reflection, Coconut Oil spray seems to be a bit of an oxymoron, don’t you think?
Why Spray Cans?
Spray cans of cooking oil became popular to enable the low-fat brigade to cook in as little oil as possible. The spray tin enables you to coat the bottom of the pan, using far less oil than you’d use if you poured it in. But we've moved on from low-fat, haven’t we? Chances are, given that you’re reading this blog, you’re careful to incorporate decent amounts of fat in your diet. Coconut oil is probably the most popular cooking oil amongst those who follow a Paleo diet. Most of my Paleo friends will use generous amounts of coconut oil in their cooking – and then pour the oil from the pan onto their plate when they've finished. You can’t so this with a spray can of coconut oil!
Added Ingredients?
The ingredients also include butane and propane which are obviously required to enable to spray mechanism to work – but I wonder if this has any impact on the oil – and whether there is any residue in the oil when it makes it onto your plate? Another reason I’d prefer to spoon my pure coconut oil straight into the pan, and not take the chance that any of the propellants come into contact with my food. The cans are also highly flammable, another plus for the humble jar of coconut oil!
Who Buys It?
I find it odd that this particular store only stocks the spray and not the oil in normal jar form (my other local supermarket, Woolworths, stocks jars of coconut oil, but not the spray, which is far more useful). Given the choice, I'm sure almost everyone would opt for a jar of coconut oil, rather than the spray?
I can’t really see who the coconut oil spray is aimed at. Compared to the nasty seed oil sprays, it’s far higher in fat (this is a good thing); surely the conventional wisdom junkies would steer clear? And of course those of us in the know about coconut oil would find the small delivery of coconut oil frustrating? So who is it for? Answers in the comments, if you can offer some suggestions…
I can see that the can is convenient – but a jar of coconut oil and a spoon is hardly inconvenient?
Would you use Coconut Oil in spray form? I’d also be interested to read your comments (below) as to whether coconut spray is widely available where you live too?
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I’ve bought the spray from Coles. I thought I would try it….NEVER AGAIN. It smells when heated.
Oh really?! That’s odd – I wonder if that’s because of the propellents in the tin?
yuck! I never thought it be that bad…
I love it in a jar too… we use a big dollop in the pan and I always lick the spoon (great antiviral!)
We love coconut oil and I swear its what keeps our family healthy. I have three primary aged children who have avoided all flus/colds/viruses for the past two years we’ve been using it.
I do the same Leonie. You’re children are very lucky that they’ve been eating so well for so long
No I buy VCO by the Litre times 5 at time 🙂 The propellants sound nasty as well.
The big volumes are definitely the way to go!
I have to disagree, I loooove the cans! I live in Melbourne and my coconut oil in the jar is hard pretty much most of the year round, which is a pain the ass if you just want to try and grease a pan, or coat some sweet potato in oil, you have to put it in another container and heat it up so that you can use it, the spray is a lifesaver!
I’m sure I’m going against the general paleo-ethos here, but, as far as I’m concerned, yes it has a propellant added, but for the convenience, I’m ok with that! Especially for the small quantity used at a time.
You’ll just have to move somewhere hotter Emma!
That’s easily solved. Just put a mound of it in your clean hands and then plunge them into all the veg on the tray and mix around. The warmth of your hands melt it anyway then rub the residue in a piece of paper towel and it’s great for your hands too. lol
Thats an excellent way to state a reasonable solution! Thats what i do. The mountaims dry stuff out big time.
I tried it for cooking and disliked it. I’m currently using my can as body moisturiser 🙂
Great idea Kylie!
Great idea Kylie. I’m going to start doing that too! Thanks
This reminds me, I’m out of coconut oil.
Will skip the spray, which I’ve seen in the US, with the same propellants. Seems like we export a lot of our bad ideas to Oz. Sorry about that!
You certainly do Lars! It always shocks me when I come to the US and see the range of SAD foods you have!
I bought some once and it was kind of handy in muffin tins, but when I read the ingredients I was quite happy to be done with the can and just use the spoon. Here are the ingredients: Mechanically (expeller) pressed naturally refined organic coconut oil, soy lecithin, natural flavor, propellant (No chlorofluorocarbons). CONTAINS: SOY
I’m not exactly sure what ‘refined’ organic coconut oil means, but it put me off.
Wow they even managed to get some Soy in! I avoid refined coconut oil – the less it’s been tampered with, the better!
I’ve always found the idea of any oil spray odd, especially when natural ingredients are invaded by the rubbish thats added to make the spray work. It’s all just to make more profit not to make anyone more healthy.
I agree Sally Anne, a more natural product is a far better idea.
A good tip I got from my Mother is just to take a teaspoon of normal coconut oil rub in the palm of your hands and then over whatever you are cooking, thus if your on a low bugdet, like me it makes healthy oils more affordable.
This goes hand-in-hand with that olive oil spray…what quality olive oil are we talkin’ here? How hard is it really to take a folded paper towel, grab some coconut oil or lard, and wipe it around the sides and bottom of a baking pan? How hard is it to get a teaspoon of it and plop it into the skillet?
The spray cans are for the convenience crowd. They want their oil, but don’t want to get their hands dirty. Heaven forbid they dirty a spoon!
The only time that I ever even remotely want to use a spray is when I am baking muffins in cupcake liners. Since the liners are so thin and made of paper, they are really hard to grease if you don’t spray them. Any suggestions as to how to fix that situation? Other than that, I use the coconut oil from a jar.
I have had your same dilemma with cupcake liners. I bought a pump/spray bottle designed especially for oils from Howard’s Storage. You simply pour in some coconut oil, and just a few simple pumps and the spray bottle turns into an aerosol, allowing you to spray your own uncontaminated coconut oil where you please. If weather has turned cold and oil has solidified, just warm up bottle until oil is liquid, and you’re good to go.
Hi I”m a newbie to your blog site and had never really thought about the propellants issue so will be rethinking that. I’m also just getting into paleo and find it interesting that bacon, ham and chorizo feature in most paleo diets. I haven’t been able to find any of these products (even the real exy ones) that don’t contain nasty preservatives / chemicals which seems a little at odds with the paleo lifestyle.
Hi I posted yesterday about buying coconut oil from kokonut pacific and realised that I made a mistake in the size of the oil I bought. It wasn’t a 1.5 lt as I mentioned, it was a 5 lt jerry can. Much more economical!
Kerry
I can’t actually believe I never thought of that before! I seriously used to think coconut oil spray was the best invention, but you’re right, we don’t need to portion control our coconut oil! Nor do we need to be consuming propellants! Coconut oil in a jar is the only way!
I use coconut oil spray all the time (on my body, in baking, as a topping, etc). Mine doesn’t contain the propellants. I use a misto sprayer, and pour the oil in myself. But my coconut oil is always liquid because of the temp here (Hawaii) So that would be a great option for those who could store it in a warmer environment.
I bought it to try to get the non believers in the house to realise it’s just as easy as the ‘other stuff’ they use. It does smell strange, kind of metallic. Think I might just turf it.
I just bought my first spray can…only once I got home I looked at the ingredients (duh) and hopped online because I was concerned about the propane and butane.
The reason why I bought it is because my husband has only one arm and getting the lid off the jar and scooping out the hard oil is quite difficult for him.
I still have the receipt…it may be going back 🙂
I use it as a body moisturizer after shaving.
I’m more than happy to use it, like you said beats people using other oils. Hubby was advised to switch to coconut oil for cooking but I hate the stuff and hate using excess oil for cooking (not because I’ve been tainted by the “low fat brigade” but because I just hate oily food ick!) so for us it’s perfect. Just because something isn’t right for you/is not something you’d use doesn’t mean it’s not for others.
I prefer the glass jar, but I had a spray can in the cupboard and decided to use it up on my toenails – got rid of nail fungus that nothing else has ever been able to treat.
Okay sorry to all you kitchen types, but hows a guy to get a good even coating of coconut oil over your well sesoned bbq without using a spray? Even in Cairns the stuff in the jar, which yes I use for all my indoor cooking, is solid.
Hello, does the coconut oil spray, work exactly the same as coconut oil, because it is a different ‘material’ (i don’t know what to call it) so if you were to heat it up, would it work? Thanks…
Hi Laura, It is still coconut oil, so yes, it should still work the same way!
I do alot of baking and find the coconut oil spray is excellent and I find I use less of it which means it last longer. I eat really well and figured a tiny bit is not going to harm. On that note coles do stock jars of coconut oil in the health food isle.