Metal Utensils: Aluminium

This metal (often spelled aluminum) is a light white metal. It is a good conductor of heat, though not as good as copper. Aluminium pans should be fairly thick to allow the heat to travel from the centre to the outer rim; cheap, thin pans burn food easily. Modern aluminium pans have a non-stick interior coating of Teflon or some tougher composite material. Formerly they were made of bare metal, and it was assumed that any aluminium compounds accidentally formed in cooking were harmless. Although these substances came under suspicion of involvement in Alzheimer’s disease, this idea is no longer current (see, for example, McGee, 1990). It is, however, best not to cook acidic foods such as fruit in a bare aluminium pan, as this will form substantial amounts of aluminium salts.