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wrote:
> Doug Freyburger wrote:
>
> > The strength of the hard anodized coating is it is mechanically HARD.
> > It is the same chemical as sapphire (or was it garnet). Extremely
> > hard so it lasts and lasts. If you use stainless steel spatula you
> > can end up wearing down the stainless steel and getting marks on the
> > pan that are actually stainless steel scraped off of the spatula.
>
> > Unfortunately the weakness of the hard anodized coating is that it
> > is not particularly resistant to either bases or acids. Put it
> > through the dishwasher enough and the basic detergent will gradually
> > etch the surface down. Cook enough tomatoes and the acidic sauce
> > will gradually etch the surface down.
>
> So sapphires (or is it garnets?) are made of aluminum ozide?

Magnalite's claim to fame is it uses magnesium instead of aluminum in
its anodization process. More resistant to chemical etching with little
sacrafice in mechanical hardness. So its something in the range of
(aluminim and/or magnesium) (oxide and/or silicate). I don't know the
exact chemistry of gems.

I've never considered cleaning my rings in the dishwasher, but now I
know it would be a bad idea. Shrug, I clean my eyeglasses in the
dishwasher every month or two because I have oily skin and it just
builds up. Folks bug me about that. May as well not give them
soemthing to bug me about for my jewelry.

> I've used my new pans a few times since I got them. I like them a lot. I
> like the fact that they are very simple, being just machined aluminum with
> a handle riveted on, and that the utility comes from the design, rather
> than from gimmicks. They distribute the heat well, and because of the
> design, the handles stay quite cool. Now that I know the properties of the
> anodized coating, I think that is pretty cool too.

Well made sure. It is a matter of personal tastes, but I think I live
in the wrong century to tolerate anything in my kitchen that is not
dishwasher safe. So I've slowly shifted to pans covered with stainless
steel. I struggle with the idea that my knives are an exception to
this wrong-century rule. Some day over the rainbow I may get around
to swapping them out one by one, even if it results in slightly lower
quality. Sabatier and Henckels 4-star are nice, but they don't go in
the machine.