Aluminium Metal pan colour change

[Mike8472]

I don't know if this is the right place to post this but I thought it is along the lines of kit chatter.

When playing with afew of my new cook sets today I noticed that the aluminiun pans inner surface changed colour from shiney silver to a dull brown. the area of discolouration matches where the heat of the stove was on the outer surface. when I washed the soot off from using the meths burner the outer surface was shiney but the inner surface stayed the dull brown even after vigorus scrubbing.

I can't say I have ever noticed this before on stainless steel pans.

Forgive me if this is a stupid question but is this normal for aluminium? and Why is it doing it?

[JonathanD]

This usually happens when heat has been applied to the steel when it has had nothing inside.

[johnboy]

Johnathan is correct if you heat steel then you get a colour change to the steel however your pots are aluminium which isn't steel....

If the Pans / pots are just plain old aluminium it's totally normal.

If you use something like wire wool or one of those soap filled steel wool pads with a bit of elbow grease it comes off.

I tend to find if the water you are boiling has stuff in it: tannin, lime etc then the discolouration is worse. I think the action of boiling water in the pan causes a reaction between aluminium which is relativley porous and whatever salt or alkaline is present in the water...


If you want to avoid it I guess you could use hard anodised aluminium pots or Stainless steel. I'd personally just crack on and keep using the aluminium pots...

HTH

John

[MrEd]

yeah all my aluminium pots have a sort of light brown colouring up to the level of whatever liquid i have boiled in them etc, with scrubbing it does chill out a bit, im not worried about it though

[sapper1]

If you boil some water with bicarbonate of soda or baking powder in them they'll come up like new.

[Mike8472]

thats a top tip!
thank you for that

[MrEd]

thats a top tip!
thank you for that

me to im off to do it now!!