How To: Grease a pan

This seems like a silly thing to describe, but it took me a little while to figure out the trick.  If someone had told me, I would have had much better early success with pound cake and bread from loaf pans.

I don't use cooking spray.  It's probably because when I was but a wee lad, CFCs were a big concern and ozone depletion was still a hot-button topic.  These days, most spray cans proudly declare themselves CFC-free, but I'm still in the habit of avoiding them.

Besides, it's just one more thing in the cabinet, and we have a small kitchen.

Crisco solid vegetable shortening (or your favorite brand's equivalent) can be used to grease baking dishes, muffin pans, or squealing pigs at the county fair.  You can also use it in a lot of recipes, like pie crust and some cookies.  I like things that can handle lots of jobs.

Here's how to use it to handle the job of greasing a pan.  In this case, we're greasing a baking dish I used for fish, because that's when I thought to take the pictures, but the same principle applies to pretty much anything.

1. Scoop a small dab of shortening out with your fingertips.  "Small" is key here.  If you're greasing individual muffin cups, a raisin-sized glob will get you through two, maybe three of them  (maybe more), especially if you only have to get the bottoms.  Don't worry about not getting enough--you can always go back for more.
2. Smear it around in the bottom of the dish.  I tend to start at an edge, even though I know the middle would make more sense.  It doesn't matter.  Just smear it around the surface.  Like I said, if there's not enough, you can always add more.  But read the next step before you go spooning in handfuls of the stuff.
3. I usually describe the layer of Crisco as "molecule-thick," but I've never measured it to be sure.  The real point is, don't slather on a thick white layer.  Shortening is a lubricant; if your fingers slide easily across the surface, you have enough.  If the surface has dry patches, smear some shortening in that direction. You'd be surprised how much area a little dab will cover.  If you're working with a glass dish, you'll still be able to see through it; things will just look a little more wavy and blurry.  If it's a metal pan, it will look like it has a little sheen, but the color will be unchanged.

You can see the shortening, but more importantly, you can see through it.

Close-up: a nice, even coat, with no globs or dry patches.

Now all you have to do is put something delicious in there, and add heat.