Cleaning has always been one of the leading problems in many homes. No one likes to spend time cleaning. The problem, however, gets more complicated if you don’t know how to clean a utensil.
In the kitchen, the anodized pan is one utensil that poses difficulties. If you have been having questions about the anodized pan, this blog has answered them for you. All you need to do is sit back and read through.
What Are Anodized Pans?
Anodized pans are aluminum cookware whose natural oxidation got managed before putting them out for sale. How this happens is simple.
Manufacturers ensure the aluminum cookware goes through a process called electrolytic. That is, they immerse the aluminum pans in chemical solutions and shock it by introducing some current to it. This process produces oxide that makes the aluminum pans very hard and makes it corrosion-resistant.
After this, the aluminum becomes anodized and ready for sale.
Generally, you can put anodized pans to different uses in the kitchen. Even asides from the versatile use, you can always be sure of its scratch-resistant surfaces.
How to Clean Anodized Pans Before Cooking?
One thing we all know is that we need to cook with clean cooking materials every time. For many other kitchen utensils, the cleaning process is straightforward.
However, for the anodized aluminum pans, the procedure might be a little complicated. In this section, we have decided to simplify the complications for you. Let’s dive in straight to this.
How to Clean Anodized Aluminum Before the First Use?
A lot of joy always permeates the atmosphere when you buy your anodized aluminum pan. Often, you desire that this joy lasts for long. And one of the ways you can ensure this is getting the cleaning process right from the beginning.
First, you need to look out for all manufactures’ labels and stickers that came with the anodized aluminum pans. Once you have located them, use the tip of your fingers to remove them.
If you find it difficult to remove the labels and stickers with your fingers, you can use any non-metallic kitchen items. However, you must ensure that you do this carefully to avoid scratching the anodized pan’s surface with the utensils.
Sometimes, rubbing some alcohol on the surface of the label or sticker would do the magic. It can remove all abrasive or gum residue on the surface of the anodized pans.
After you might have eradicated the stickers and labels, you can now move to proper cleaning.
If the anodized aluminum pan with you is a pot, the cleaning process is simple. What you need to do is pour enough water in the pot- almost filling it- then place it on the burner. It would help if you allowed the water to boil for about half an hour.
After you have boiled it for this time, pour away the water and begin to wash. Ensure you scrub firmly but gently throughout the pot. You can rinse it after some seconds of thorough but gentle washing.
While rinsing, it would be best if you used running water. This is to allow all lurking soap residue to rinse off and give your pot a sparkling look.
However, if your anodized aluminum is a frying pan, the process of cleaning is quite different. You need to first ensure that there are no traces of water in the pan. If you find traces of water or any other liquid in the pan, you can use a paper towel to completely wipe it off.
After this, you should pour some oil into it and place it on the burner. Ensure you heat it over a low burning temperature. Please do this for about five minutes or until it begins to smoke. Then you can turn the burner off.
Since it is oil, you would have to allow it to cool off for some extra minutes. When you are sure that it has cooled off, you can transfer the oil to a different place. Then you can wash off the excess oil and rinse thoroughly.
How to Deep Clean Hard-Anodized Cooking Pans?
Deep cleaning hard-anodized cooking pans can be a difficult task for many people. But this does not have to be if you know the proper way to do it. Here we introduce you to the easy part of deep cleaning.
Clean From Outside
The outside of your anodized aluminum pan is always the best place to start. Many people often don’t consider the outside as a necessary part; this needs cleaning. In most cases, they clean the interior and move on.
For the record, the outside is also important. And that is why we ask you to start from the outside before you wash the interior.
Nonetheless, it would help if you always kept in mind that you need to attend equally to your pan’s interior and exterior parts.
If you already have this in mind, you should be eager to know how to clean your pan correctly. Below, we take you how to do this without damaging your pan, yet still getting the best result.
The Right Cleaners Are Essential
Without a doubt, preserving the durability of your anodized aluminum pan requires using the right cleaners. The proper cleaning utensils that are available are non-abrasive sponges, dish soap, and warm water. These are the essential materials you need to give your anodized aluminum pan a sparkling appearance.
For starters, when you have finished cooking and are ready to wash, you can pour some dish soap in the pan. Next, you would add some water and scrub gently with the non-abrasive sponge in multiple directions. Depending on how dirty your pan is, you can do this for a few seconds or minutes.
After this, you can then rinse under running water. This is crucial to help you remove all excesses of soap in the pan. To get the best sparkling result, you can use warm water to rinse the pan after thorough but gentle washing.
Getting Rid of Burnt Foods Using Baking Soda and Water
If you ask many people, this is one of the top problems they associate with cleaning. Indeed, burnt foods can be challenging to clean, but there are ways to go round it. You don’t have to develop a headache each time you want to wash. So, what do you need to get rid of burnt foods in your anodized aluminum pans?
Interestingly, all you need are basic home materials; baking soda and water would do the job.
What you need to do is make a smooth mixture of water and baking soda. Then you add it to the part of the burnt food or where you notice any unusual stain.
You must leave the baking soda on the surface for some hours- probably two hours. After this, you can gently scrub off with your non-abrasive sponge and rinse off with warm water.
If you are not satisfied with the result, you can repeat the process.
Use Scouring Agents
Another thing to use to remove stubborn stains in anodized aluminum pans is scouring agents. Scouring agents are notorious for removing very stubborn stains in pans.
What you need to do is mix the powder with water and make a smooth solution. Then add it to the stubborn stains and allow it to stay there for some minutes before washing off.
You can wash this off with a non-abrasive sponge and warm water. Again, if you don’t feel satisfied with the result, you can repeat the process.
Vinegar With Warm Water
You can also use vinegar and warm water to clean the anodized aluminum pans. If you have enough vinegar, you can decide to soak the pan in the vinegar solution for some hours. After this, you can remove it and give it some time to cool off.
After cooling off, you need to scrub the pan with your sponge and watch how the stains come off.
Is Anodized Pan Oven-Safe?
The doubt may arise about whether anodized pans are oven safe. This uncertainty may have stemmed from the fact that the material is mostly aluminum.
Nonetheless, if you have an anodized pan, the answer to whether it is oven-safe is YES.
First, anodized pans are mainly aluminum materials in their exterior. Though their interior may be protected or coated with other materials, it still doesn’t make the pan vulnerable. Perfectly well, anodized aluminum is great and safe to enter the ovens.
However, you need to be careful. The anodized aluminum pan will only be safe for the ovens if all parts are in strong materials like aluminum, iron, or stainless. If it is in other materials that cannot withstand long or high temperatures, then it would not be oven-safe.
For instance, if the handle of the anodized aluminum is plastic, the pan may not be oven-safe. This is because plastic would not be able to withstand the heat of the oven at high temperatures.
So that’s it about anodized aluminum being oven-safe. It is safe if all the body parts are materials that can withstand the high oven heat. But if there’s a part of it with plastic or other materials that meant very fast, it isn’t safe.
Is Anodized Cookware Dangerous for Health?
One thing you would have noticed is that manufacturers make anodized cookware with aluminum. This probably has fueled your fear about the safety of your food.
You probably have read or heard it somewhere that digesting aluminum can cause kidney problems. Or some even worse unprintable health problems. By now, you are wondering if what you are consuming is not aluminum. You may also think that during cooking, aluminum would leach into your food.
All these self-thought possibilities are giving you concerns about the safety of your health. Well, if your mind has been unsettled about this, relax; let us answer the question for you.
Correct, anodized cookware is aluminum, but you don’t consume aluminum as foods. Neither do the aluminum or other iron materials leach into your food during or after cooking. The reason this is possible is straightforward.
The anodized aluminum material has been made so that it can’t leach or respond to acidic reactions in food. Why this is possible is because manufacturers have sealed the aluminum to prevent it from leaching into meals.
In manufacturing the anodized aluminum pans, manufacturers only use the aluminum materials without coverage in the exterior. In the interior, the material is different. Many manufacturers put stainless steel in the interior or other materials to guard against the aluminum from contacting foods.
So, this is the situation with whether anodized aluminum pans are dangerous to your health. If you are not using a damaged anodized aluminum pan, you are safe from aluminum-related health problems.
Conclusion
The anodized aluminum is another fantastic cookware you can have in your kitchen. We believe you should not have problems with them if you stick to all you have read on this blog post. Go and try it today.
We would be standing by for you to come and share your anodized aluminum experience with us.
References:
https://www.thespruceeats.com/anodized-cookware-construction-1907920
https://www.drweil.com/diet-nutrition/cooking-cookware/anxious-about-anodized-aluminum/
