Coming Unstuck

My DIY nonstick spread recipe

I’m shipping this a day early this because it might come in handy for your holiday baking, and it will definitely come in handy for all the enriched breads I’ve been sharing lately between Wordloaf and the Breaducation testing group. This is an updated version of a post I shared back in 2021, as part of Pizzember, Wordloaf’s annual pizza-exclusive November. (Pizzember has been on hiatus since I started working on Breaducation, which is sadly pizza-free, but it will be back in 2025, I promise.)

I’ve tweaked my formula significantly since then; I’ve have been using the new one exclusively for more than a year now and it works beautifully. I’ve been making a lot of egg-washed breads recently, and those tend to be the worst when it comes to sticking to the pan. While I occasionally need to run an offset spat around the edges of the pan, most of the time the loaves slide right out with a quick shake using this paste. This is a recipe I’ll be including in the book, and it’s useful for many of the recipes I share here, so here you all go.

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I am a big proponent of using a coating of nonstick oil (or “pan release” as it is known to professional bakers) on sheet and loaf pans, even when the food in question—like pan pizza or focaccia—is getting a slick of oil on its underside. That’s because the nonstick coating doesn’t merely provide fat to keep the bread from sticking, it helps to get any fat you add to the pan to bond to it, forming a continuous barrier from stickage.

You may have noticed that when you add liquid oil to a dry pan, it tends to pool up into droplets and isolated slicks rather than spread evenly. That’s because most metals are oleophobic, meaning they don’t particularly like to bond to oil. The lecithin in nonstick sprays creates a “bridge” between the oil and the pan so that it coats the pan easily, and stays where you apply it. Here’s a more scientific explanation, from the World Conference on Edible Fats and Oils Processing: Basic Principles and Modern Practices (Nov. 1990):

A major area of lecithin use involves the blending of various lecithin products with oil to form release agents. This type of product is widely used in the baking industry. Blends of 2-15% lecithin in a liquid or partially solid vegetable oil base provide an effective anti-stick barrier for breads, cakes, and cookies. Oil and lecithin have complementary functions in a release agent. The oil provides a low viscosity carrier system for the lecithin and also establishes a mechanical barrier between the raw baked good and the baking surface. The lecithin provides the blend with more even coating properties. Additionally, the charged phospholipids seem to bond to the baking surface, providing a transient chemical barrier. The behavior is responsible for the multiple releases possible from a single application of lecithin.

To translate: The oil in the mix helps disperse the lecithin to the pan surface, while the lecithin helps to spread the oil around the pan, and both serve to prevent the food from sticking to it. All that is why I am a fan of lecithin-based nonstick coatings and recommend using them with every pan bread or pizza (again, even those that get a coating of oil on their undersides, like focaccia and pan pizzas).

What I am not a fan of is canned nonstick spray, because of the waste, the environmentally-nasty propellants, and the expense. Which is why I use homemade nonstick spread instead, which works just as well, if a tiny bit more of a hassle to use since it must be brushed on rather than sprayed. It is dead simple to make, once you have the necessary bottle of powdered or granulated lecithin¹, which, though a little hard to come by, can be found in health food stores, some supermarkets, or online.

My old formula was oil-based and runny, but I now prefer a semi-solid paste made from a mixture of refined coconut oil and a little vegetable oil, because it adheres to the pan in a thick layer and tends to stay where you put it, even on vertical surfaces.

I’ve also switched to using powdered lecithin instead of liquid, because it is easier to measure and dissolves into the oil readily once you warm it up slightly. (Apparently liquid lecithin is more soluble in water than it is in fat.)

I keep the jar right on my countertop, next to a second one holding a pastry brush dedicated to pan-brushing. When my kitchen is warmer than 75˚F, the spread remains liquid enough to use. If it’s colder than that, and the spread has solidified, I’ll just pop the jar in the microwave for 20 seconds or so to melt it before use.

Also: If you use bare metal baking pans, like I do, instead of coated nonstick pans (I avoid perfluorinated coatings like Teflon, because I don’t trust even the modern versions to be safe or environmentally benign), just brush them out after use with warm water without soap, which will leave them with a thin layer of seasoning like a cast-iron pan. (I still apply nonstick spread before each use, but it seems to work even better after the pans are seasoned.)

—Andrew

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DIY Nonstick Spread

Makes ~3/4 cup

• The paste can polymerize and turn brown when exposed to high heat. The residue is harmless, but it can sometimes be a little difficult to remove from the pan. To avoid it, apply the paste only where it will make contact with the bread (once fully risen).

• If temperatures are below 75˚F (24˚C), the paste will solidify, but it may take a few days to do so.
  
  

100g (about 3/4 cup) refined coconut oil, melted in a microwave if solidified

20g vegetable oil

2 teaspoons powdered lecithin

1. Measure the coconut oil, vegetable oil, and lecithin into a glass half-pint mason jar or equivalent. Place the jar in a microwave and heat until warm to the touch, 30 to 60 seconds. Using a spoon, stir well. Leave the spoon in the container and let it sit for 30 minutes.

2. Stir again, then seal the jar and use as needed. (A few stray lecithin granules may remain present, but they will dissolve eventually.)

1. I have granulated lecithin, which I have recently discovered is not particularly useful as an egg yolk-replacer for enriched breads, because it doesn’t dissolve into doughs during mixing. But, as it turns out, you can easily grind it to a powder in a spice mill as long as you don’t try to grind more than 1/2 cup at a time.