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Aluminum Cookware

  

Advantages

Disadvantages

Properties

excellent heat conductor

relatively light in weight

prices are low

Concerned about health effects and aluminum cookware?

Read this USDA FAQ Sheet (this is a PDF file and requires the Acrobat Reader).  Also click here to read another article on the relationship between aluminum ad Alzheimer's disease and other health issues.

Porous And Relatively Soft

Dents And Scratches Easily

Difficult To Clean

Stains Easily

Reacts To Food

Oxidizes To A Dull Gray Color

Warps Easily

 

Aluminum cookware can be formed either by pressing or by casting. Most aluminum cookware on the market today is formed by pressing. Casting of aluminum is a slower and more expensive process, however the end result is that the body thickness is generally thicker than pressed aluminum, and the bottom and the rims can be made even thicker than the sidewalls, which helps prevent warping or going "out of round".

Cast aluminum is more porous than pressed aluminum, which results in better heat retention. When polished or coated, it is difficult to visually tell the difference between pressed or cast aluminum.

The best heat conductor next to copper, it is very widely used in cooking utensils because of its advantages of great conductivity, lower cost and great strength. Aluminum is a reactive metal, and its primary disadvantage is in that acidic foods should not be cooked in it for any length of time, nor should it be used to store acidic foods.

Because of fears concerning a possible connection between aluminum and Alzheimer's disease, many people are turning away from aluminum cookware. Both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Alzheimer's Foundation assure us that no link has been found between the use of aluminum utensils and the disease.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that we absorb less than 4% of the maximum safe dosage from cooking in aluminum utensils. Because aluminum is readily absorbed from many foods, it is estimated that we absorb only between 10% and 20% of our daily intake as a result of cooking in aluminum.

Avoid cooking in pitted aluminum pans; aluminum is absorbed into foods much more readily from pitted ones. Badly scratched or pitted aluminum will alow tiny food particles to collect and breed bacteria. Avoid storing foods in uncoated aluminum to prevent absorption. Acidic foods and leafy vegetables absorb the most aluminum.

In some localities, water can contain minerals and alkalis that may be deposited on the surface of the aluminum. The staining or discoloration does not affect the use of the utensil or the food prepared in it. To remove the discoloration, boil a solution of two tablespoons of cream of tartar to one quart of water for 5-10 minutes. Then wash in hot, soapy water, rinse and dry.

Cast Aluminum - Utensils made by casting aluminum are porous by nature and require seasoning. Their advantages include being relatively quick to heat, requiring only a low to medium heat source, and they retain heat longer than utensils made by rolling because of the air pockets formed from pouring molten aluminum into a mold. The disadvantages are that they are not as efficient at distributing heat evenly and are more brittle, so care should be taken not to drop them, as they may crack, rather than bend.

Rolled Aluminum - The advantages of utensils made from rolled aluminum, the most common in use today, are that they are more practical because of their lighter weight, they are quick to heat, require only a low to medium heat source, and retain heat well. However, when too thin it is not practical and a disadvantage, since it does not allow the metal enough substance to evenly distribute the heat, causing undesirable hot spots.

Anodized Aluminum - Aluminum is anodized for corrosion resistance, abrasion resistance and esthetic reasons. Electricity and chemicals are used jointly to produce a hard, transparent surface that is integral with base aluminum. The result is a surface that is hard (comparable to a sapphire), transparent (similar to glass), and non-flaking, with a wide variety of colors and finishes.

The strength of the anodized finish is resultant primarily from the type of pre-treatment, the coating thickness, and the type of anodizing. Hard coat anodizing (Type III), for example, is about 33% thicker than conventional anodizing, giving it greater resistance against corrosion and abrasion. Sulfuric, or conventional, anodizing (Type II) adds corrosion and abrasion resistance and dielectric strength to aluminum. Chromic anodizing (Type I) is primarily for corrosion resistance.

Anodized aluminum, like most metals, can be scratched or gouged. Damaging the surface of anodized metals in this way will remove the anodized coating in that spot.