The Advantages of Anodized Aluminum Cookware
Many cooks enjoy the convenience of aluminum cookware while making dishes for friends and relatives. Aluminum is lightweight, produces even heating for your foods, and is affordable. Aluminum has been used for a long time in stock pots and tea kettles, when quick heating and low maintenance are important traits. This widely used and money saving metal has one or two drawbacks, unfortunately, and they become very visible after simply a few months of normal use. Another good brand is the Anolon Advanced Nonstick Hard Anodized Aluminum 12 piece Cookware Set.
Aluminum naturally has a sheer, protective coating which is developed as the metal comes in contact with the air. High temperatures, cleaning and heating with acidic substances including tomatoes and citrus fruits will wear down this protective skin, resulting in a pitted, discolored pan. Also, because these acidic foods cause the eating away of your pan, they can repeatedly absorb higher than normal levels of aluminum, and as a result so will you.
If you still prefer the advantages of aluminum cookware but don’t want to go on eating it, anodized aluminum cookware will probably be the cure to aluminum’s annoying shortcomings. Aluminum cookware becomes anodized by being dipped in an acid bath and then exposed to an electric current. The anodization method creates a barrier of aluminum oxide on the outside of the aluminum, which is harder and much more resilient than the natural protective coating which happens to that metal. Anodized aluminum boasts a non-stick and scratch-resistant surface which surrounds the aluminum so it cannot mess with your spaghetti sauce. Also make sure that you check out the Circulon Classic 14 Piece Cookware Set.
Anodized aluminum provides the same good points as uncoated aluminum, which means it is lightweight and heats quickly. The procedure of anodizing the aluminum attaches a bit to the expense, even though often anodized aluminum cookware is cheaper than stainless steel or ceramic pans. This improved cookware is furthermore harder than normal aluminum, and its nonstick surface allows for faster food preparation and clean-up.
The health benefits that come with anodized aluminum are pretty apparent. The nonstick surface reduces the amount of oil you must rely on as you are cooking, and the super-hard skin keeps extra aluminum from leaching into your food.
Although anodized aluminum cookware remains on the inexpensive areaof the cookware price range, you may locate more expensive cookware which has undergone this method. Calphalon and All-Clad both have anodized aluminum pieces as part of their cookware inventory, although you can continue to find more affordable pieces of this cookware in department stores.
This entry was posted on Saturday, February 27th, 2010 at 4:25 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.