Originally Posted by
Western Flyer
Has anyone used hard anodized aluminum cookware? I notice a number of outdoor companies are marketing hard anodized aluminum cookware, which claim little or no aluminum contact or reaction with food. I have not tried them, but it seems like they might be as close as you can get to cast iron cooking at a backpacking weight.
Aluminum is a reactive metal. Any of it that is exposed to air instantaneously oxidizes which is what anodization does. The anodized layer is only a couple of atom thick and is easily damage which exposes fresh aluminum which oxidizes ad infinitum. "Hard" anodization just makes the layer thicker. The anodized layer is also very hard...a 9 on the Mohs scale...so it resists scratches. All of the backpacking cook kits that I've seen have a color to them...usually black...which means that they have been anodized. The only problem is that the pans are still thin which means that you have to adjust your cooking technique to match the pans.
Still beats titanium for heat conductivity and beats cast iron for weight and heat conductivity.