Product Evaluated: EVO 6oz Glass Oil Sprayer

About EVO

EVO makes non-aerosol oil sprayers designed to be used with pure oils or vinegar. The problems this product solves are twofold. For one, it allows the user to spray consistent quantities of oil onto food (¼ teaspoon oil per spray), facilitating portion control. For another, it is an eco-friendly, reusable alternative to standard aerosol spray cans. 

What We Love

• Refillable bottle
• Versatile – use with any oil or vinegar
• Durable
• Eco-friendly
• Ergonomic
• Efficient – design ensures every last drop of liquid can be sprayed

Challenges

• Heavy, concentrated spray
• Not ideal for greasing baking pans
• Difficult to clean thoroughly

The ability to refill the EVO sprayer with any kind of oil or vinegar is its biggest advantage. The oils used in cooking sprays are of dubious quality. This product allows the consumer to use the oils they prefer in a convenient spray format.

The Good Stuff

The EVO bottle is durable and reusable. Rather than buying one cooking spray can after another and tossing them in the trash or recycling, the EVO sprayer can be refilled over and over. We tested their glass bottle, which may or may not be more durable than plastic EVO sprayers depending on how clumsy you are. But one advantage of glass is that you don’t have to worry about plastic compounds leaching into the oils or vinegars used in the bottle.

The spray trigger is reasonably ergonomic, comfortable in the hand, and easy to pull. The nozzle swivels, so it can be pointed in any direction in a circle. The plastic tube inside the bottle is curved so that nearly every last drop of oil can be used before having to refill. We filled the bottle with canola oil and sprayed it all into a bowl, and we experienced no clogging or sticking with the trigger mechanism.

Challenges to Consider

The EVO’s spray nozzle has two options: a fanlike spray and a more targeted vertical spray. Both options, however, are much more concentrated than the spray from an aerosol can. While this isn’t a problem if you’re greasing a skillet or spritzing a salad (you’re going to be tossing it anyway), using the EVO sprayer to grease a baking dish requires a little extra effort: To get an even coating of oil, you have to manually spread it around the dish. Consumers more concerned with sustainability than convenience will likely not mind this minor issue, but those who love the fine, even mist of aerosol oil sprays will likely balk.

Our biggest concern with the EVO sprayer is cleaning. The bottle’s flared shape makes it extremely difficult to clean in a thorough manner. The easiest approach is to put a few drops of dish detergent into the bottle, add some hot water, attach the spray nozzle, and shake the bottle well. Then spray soapy water through the nozzle to clean out the tube and sprayer mechanism. Follow this by rinsing the bottle until all the suds are gone, spraying clean water through the nozzle to clear it of any suds as well.

This works well enough, but after cleaning there is still a sheen of oil inside the bottle, and due to its shape it never fully dries out, even after a week in a dish drying rack. We worry that, were an oil to go rancid inside the EVO sprayer, it would be impossible to wash completely. This could result in off-flavors. On the other hand, if you’re using the sprayer regularly and cleaning it each time it is emptied, this would likely never be an issue.

Our Process

• Spray Analysis

  • We used the EVO sprayer to spray a paper towel with oil at a distance of 12” using both the fan spray and vertical spray. We also used an aerosol cooking spray as a control. 
  • The aerosol spray was very fine and even and sprayed oil in a circle. The EVO sprayer’s oil coverage was much heavier–too heavy for baking pans unless you spread the oil around manually. The fan spray setting created a triangular oil pattern, and the vertical spray created…well…a vertical oil pattern.

• Uses

  • Greasing a skillet

    • The EVO sprayer works well in this application. While it does not evenly coat the bottom of the pan, as the oil heats up and food is stirred into the oil during cooking, the oil would be spread around.

  • Spraying food in an air fryer

    • Depending on what you’re trying to air fry, the EVO sprayer can be a great companion to your air fryer. For chopped veggies, it works perfectly well. For items that would benefit from a more precise, even spray, such as fish fillets, we recommend using the vertical spray pattern, but even then the spray is pretty concentrated in one area, so some of your food will get a heavier coating and some will not get any oil at all.

  • Greasing baking dishes

    • This was the least successful of the tests. While using the EVO sprayer to coat baking pans with oil is certainly possible, after spraying it is necessary to use your hands or a paper towel to spread the oil around into all the corners and nooks to ensure baked goods don’t stick.

  • Spritzing salad greens

    • The EVO sprayer is great at dressing salads. Any unevenness in the spray patterns doesn’t matter since you’ll be tossing the salad regardless, and because every spray uses ¼ teaspoon of oil you can easily dose the amount you’re using to dress your greens.

Conclusion

Despite some flaws and minor quibbles (namely ease of cleaning and spray concentration), we appreciate having a reusable oil sprayer in our test kitchen. We’re going to stick with aerosol cooking sprays for greasing baking dishes with an even, fine sheen of oil, but we won’t hesitate to grab the EVO sprayer for salads, skillets, and air fryer-cooked veggies.

Disclaimer: Heart Creative was not paid for this analysis, but EVO did send us one 6oz glass oil sprayer at no cost.

In a more comprehensive, paid analysis, we would go much further in our testing, using the EVO sprayer in a wider range of applications, doing stress testing to see how long the spray mechanism holds up, and testing it against competing products to inform marketing strategy and product design as well as future products or upgrades.