Scratches in Anodized Aluminum, Safe to Use?

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ChadHahn

Cook
Joined
Jan 29, 2008
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56
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Tucson
I have a Calphalon Commercial Hard-Anodized 3-quart sauté pan that I used to make Chicago style pizzas in. I then decided to cut the pizza in the pan and when I was cleaning it up I saw that the knife blade left scratches in the anodization. I looked in the instructions and saw that it said not to cut stuff in the pan when it was hot. :(

I did this a few years ago and the pan has just been sitting in a cupboard since then. I was wondering if the pan was still safe to cook in?

Thanks,

Chad
 
The pan is fine - what is on the outside of the pan is also all the way through the pan. The inside of a few of my pots are now silver versus the hard anodized color because of heating salted water. It will cook the same. Just be sure to clean your pan with an abrasive to remove anything that might be in the scratched areas and basically, clean them like this after ever use. You don't want anything oxidizing on the outside or the inside.
 
I agree with kitchenelf - it is safe to use. After aluminum is anodized it goes into a dye tank, which is where it gets its color to distinguish it from untreated aluminum. You may have only scratched through the dye. If it is coated with nonstick - you've obviously cut through that. But, it's still safe to use.

FWIW: the dye will also wear off on the bottom just from years of use, and from the inside from using metal utensils, harsh abrasives, etc.
 
Good to hear. It wasn't non-stick so I don't have that to worry about. It only went down to the bare aluminum in a few places. This is a piece of good old Toledo made Calphalon and I'd hate to lose it.
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Wow.

Pretty much what others have written except anodizing is only a surface treatment thousandths of an inch/ mils / nanometers thick. Anodizing does not extend into / through the base metal/ material.

Is the pan a danger? Not really. Soon as aluminum is exposed to oxygen it forms a layer of oxide which retards further oxidation. Acidy foods may corrode the pan and undermine the anodizing but I doubt it.

If somehow more anodizing comes off I wouldn't worry about it. Anodizing is pretty inert, would probably just pass through the system.
 
Alu is amphoteric, it will react with Acids AND Bases.

Happily, simple alu salts are Not toxic ;)
 
Alu is amphoteric, it will react with Acids AND Bases.

YT:
Thanks for sharing;)

"Saying an element amphoteric means that it is possessing both
basic and acidic properties, that it is one which is capable of yielding
both "hydrogen" and hydroxyl ions (assuming aqueous, or similar, chemistry).
This behavior is common in hydroxides of elements of intermediate
electronegativities and relatively high oxidation numbers, such as those
found near the stepped bold diagonal line of the periodic table (including
the Al and Pb you cited). Let's look at aluminum hydroxide, a hydrated
species in solution. [Al(H2O)3(OH)3] This compound will solubilize in
strong acid or base (but not much in neutral solution) by virtue of its
amphoteric nature. In strong acid, it reacts with "hydrogen" (or hydronium
ion) to become the soluble ion [Al(H2O)4(OH)2]+, and will proceed to
[Al(H2O)6]3+, also soluble. In strong base, it "accepts" hydroxyl ion (OH-)
to yield the soluble species [Al(H2O)2(OH)4]-. This is related to the
electronic configurations of the amphoteric elements, since the reaction
properties (tendency to gain, lose or share an electron) arise from electron
configuration.":ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::LOL::wacko::sick:

Just thought the rest of the group was yurning to know this:rolleyes:
 
mozart - I was going to type this exact same thing earlier - I just hadn't gotten around to it yet.................................. :glare:
 
Alu is amphoteric, it will react with Acids AND Bases.

I was thinking more tomatoes and vinegar, cleaning agents didn't cross my mind. Is that a brain fart?

Went Googling for alkaline foods, at least those being (strong?) base, at least while cooking/ before ingestion.

I went looking at pH, could spend all day satisfying that curiousity.


Happily, simple alu salts are Not toxic ;)


I'm curious about the dyes.
 
naah, you`ll find that They too will be Not Toxic, they won`t even break down to anything either (toxic or otherwise).

yes our bodies are a Huge fantastic Chemical Factory, but there are Some things that will pass right through totally un-noticed :)
 
All this chemistry is making my brain hurt. There is a reason I got an English degree :)

Are you saying I can cook tomatoes in this pan or not?

Chad
 
of course you can, as I stated earlier, simple Alu salts are Not toxic.

If what you mean by Alu Salts is Aluminum Oxide / Alumina, the good stuff is just about as hard as diamond and almost as inert.

When you write 'salts' people think of .... salt .... which dissolves and goes into solution.

Far as I know there is nothing in a standard kitchen that's going to dissolve alumina, or Alu Salts.

Far as I know.

I was wondering about the dyes, I could wonder about the alloy. To be anodized means the aluminum is somewhat quality or there would be nothing but pits.But 'quality' does not mean safe, could be more suited to an aircraft than cookery.
 
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