Anodized Aluminum Cookware

It is important to know the material of your cooking utensils since it will have a direct contact with the food you are preparing for your family. In this blog, I only discuss about cookware with metal as the basic material. Can we use all metals and turn it into cookware? Of course not. The metal must have the ability to deliver heat evenly and not having a chemical reaction at the same time.

Is the material of cookware affecting the food quality? Well, some cooks I met believe the material you choose for your cookware can make a very big difference since every material conducts heat differently. The rate at which a material conducts heat determines how long it will take to cook your food. While the length of time you need to cook will affect how the food will actually taste.

Here is one type of cookware which commonly used and found in todays market

Aluminum is a lightweight metal with good heat conductor. It is widely used in cookware because of its advantages of great conductivity, lower cost and great strength. On top all of that, It does not rust, and is resistant to many forms of corrosion.

However, it can react with some acidic foods, causing it to corrode and affect the taste of the food being cook. Sauces containing egg yolks or some vegetables may cause oxidation of non-anodized aluminum cookware.

Therefore, many health conscious cooks are turning to anodized aluminum cookware as a safer alternative.

The anodizing process locks in the cookware's base metal of aluminum so that it can not get into food and makes it difficult for food to stick to the pan. The best thing about these types of products is that the nonstick coating never wears off and is good for the lifetime of the cookware.

Anodized aluminum cookware conducts heat as well as ordinary aluminum and has a non- stick surface which makes it scratch-resistant, durable, and easy to clean. Anodization also reduces leaching of aluminum from cookware into foods, particularly acidic foods like tomatoes and rhubarb.

Calphalon is the leading manufacturer of anodized aluminum cookware, but newer offerings from All Clad and others are coming on strong.