How to decrease sticking during frying without adding fats

Question

Are there ways to introduce anti-sticking food additives for frying batter like substances and very high protein solutions without introducing excess fats into the recipe? With some of my experiments I have upwards of a half tbsp of butter going in (with another half half way through) to give a truly easy frying experience. I want try adjust the food chemistry to make it generally as non-stick as possible.

I can experiment with cooking surfaces as well, but I suspect my non-stick pans are probably the best for dealing with very high protein "liquids" as oppose to cast iron. If it is a nonfat substance that allow for less fats to be used during cooking then I'm interested (for example Harold McGee mentions in passing that there are substances in butter that assist in the oil portion becoming more non-stick then you would expect from butters natural oil content).

Answer 1

You can take advantage of the Leidenfrost effect to minimise the use of fats.

The Leidenfrost effect is a physical phenomenon in which a liquid, close to a surface that is significantly hotter than the liquid's boiling point, produces an insulating vapor layer that keeps the liquid from boiling rapidly. Because of this 'repulsive force', a droplet hovers over the surface rather than making physical contact with the hot surface.

This video shows someone making scrambled eggs with a small amount of butter in an unseasoned stainless steel pan, and it doesn't stick:

HOW TO MAKE STAINLESS STEEL PANS NONSTICK | Cooking Eggs w/ NO Sticking | "Leidenfrost Effect" Trick

The idea being that, at a certain temperature range, the heat of the pan will create a bubble of hot air between the pan's surface and the liquid ingredient. Since the liquid doesn't touch the pan, it can't stick to it.

Another solution would be to actually season your pans; that will make the surface non-stick and you can use little or no oil. Well seasoned cast iron or stainless steel pans will behave similarly to your non-stick pans.

Answer 2

I didn't believe this until I tried it, but I read and tried placing raw carrot pieces in the oil of a frying pan when cooking potato pancakes or schnitzel. It works pretty well! It supposedly helps keep the frying pan cleaner, too, but I did not find that to be true. Putting a carrot into fry oil to keep it clean Good luck!