I wanted to know if "frying" cut potatos(hand peeled, not store bought) with PAM-type spray could be a slightly healthier alternative to actual frying, calorie wise. I've tried this a few times and they turned out pretty well. I used just enough to keep them "lubricated" under the heat, so they weren't sitting in oil; it was a pretty small amount. I believe I read somewhere that a one second spray was worth 7 calories(obviously it'd take more than that to cook them all the way through). Would this work?

Well yes, its definitely going to help if the total volume of PAM you use is less than the total volume of oil you would have used in frying.

Basically, PAM is oil, in a spray can. This enables you to apply a much thinner layer than otherwise would be possible pouring oil from the bottle, so you save calories. There isn't anything other than oil in the bottle except small amounts of propellant and soy lecithan..its just that you can put it on in a fine mist, so you use less.

7 calories for 1 second spray, and about 1 g fat. Still, if you used a tbsp of oil, you'd be getting 122 calories of oil. So as long as you spray the PAM for less than a total of 17 seconds, and you'd normally use 1 tbsp of oil to fry your potatoes, you are getting a calorie savings.

How about spritzing them, then roasting them in the oven? Or toss them in a small amount of measured oil, then roast them. They'll have a fantastic texture and flavor, for a lot less added fat

I love spray oil. We use it on breaded chicken breasts and then bake them. Last few min of baking time we put them under the broiler. Just as tasty as fried chicken but not all the calories and fat.

I've done this and it works! I also have a Cooking Light recipe for "fried" chicken where you roll the chicken in a mixture of corn flakes and crushed pecans (after dipping it in a dijon mustard and honey mixture) and then put on a pan sprayed with Pam and then you spray the top of the chicken before you put it in the oven. Very yummy!

Heck I didn't even know there was a recipe lol. Just something I started doing. Spray the pan, spray the chicken, bake lol. Maybe I should take all my ideas and publish a cook book lol.

I do a version of that "fried" chicken where you marinate the breasts in yogurt with garlic and herbs and then coat them with breadcrumbs (or breadcrumbs and panko). It's really, really delicious!

I usually wind up browning them with cooking spray in a pan, but the broiler is a great idea too.

baffled
Ohhhhh that sounds so good. I found this breading that has all kinds of herbs and spices and only has 1 gram of fat and very low in calories really yummy. I am going to try to marinade in yogurt first next time. Sounds really really good.

The Mrs. Dash marinades are also WONDERFUL!

Yeah, it's delicious. Coating the yogurty chicken with breadcrumbs can get a bit messy, but the yogurt evaporates, or soaks into the chicken or something while it's cooking, and you wind up with tender chicken and a crunchy crust. It's very good.

Glad you liked it.