Cooking Pot Surfaces?

If a pot is advertised as a "Hard-alloy aluminum cooking pot ", would this surface be a non-stick cooking pot "

 

Hi AceH, I would tend to think that the hard alloy construction would refer to the density of the pot. There are aluminium pots which are thin in overall construction. They are usually around 14-16 gauge in thickness and very light, prone to distortion in the base when overheated. The hard alloy reference is the pot which has a base about 1/2 inch thick and wall construction of the pot is about 10-12 gauge thickness. They sit flat on the element and usually don't get out of shape. My experience with aluminium pots is that they are not "Teflon coated" and therefore you need to watch the pot when cooking as materials will stick if overheated (boiled). To the best of my knowledge the only cooking surfaces in pots and pans which prevent sticking is Teflon coating. Hope this is what you were seeking. Neil.

 

I think probably not. That is the surface won't be inherently "non-stick" in the way that teflon coated pans are.

The more interesting question is do you want non-stick? Personally, I don't like cooking with "non-stick" pans. As Steve indicates, if you keep food moist and moving it won't stick to a normal pan. And even if it does stick, it only takes a bit of elbow grease and a good scouring pad to clean a normal pan.

Whereas with non-stick, you have to be careful what utensils you use. You also have to be careful what cleaning products you use on it. And I think a damaged "non-stick" pan is more likely to cause sticking than a plain pan.

There are exceptions. I like using a teflon non-stick pan for omelettes.

My favourite "non-stick" pan is a large well seasoned cast iron frying pan. It isn't specially coated in manufacture, but seasoning and use give it its own non-stick surface that will handle any utensil and is easy to clean with hot water and a good scrubbing brush.

 

I second the seasoned cast iron pans. My pan is about as old as I am and I never have a problem with sticking. I would never think of getting rid of my cast iron set even if I was offered the top of the line chef's set of the lastest and greatest cookware free.

 

My original post is in reference to the Aroma ARC7171G Rice Cooker.
Unfortunately the model I displayed in this post is not listed. (There's a model ARC717 NOT ARC7171G which are two different models).
I would definitely like a non-stick rice cooker.

Link to Aroma Rice Cookers:
http://www.aroma-housewares.com/kit...,code/se=Home/se=Kitchen/se=Rice Cookers.html

 

Check customer reviews at the bottom.

http://www.amazon.com/Aroma-ARC7171G-Rice-Cooker-Steamer/dp/B00006IUV8

 

I had read the reviews several times prior to posting in this forum. One person mentioned the rice started sticking to the bottom of the pan making it hard to clean. NO ONE mentions if the pan is NON-STICK. In fact, with the Aroma products in general, the descriptions hardly ever mention "non-stick ". I may have come across ONE Aroma Rice Cooker that mentioned non-stick.

 

It seems like only their commercial rice cookers are described as being non-stick.

 

I found one advertised as "non-stick" at Amazon.com
Aroma ARC814 4 Cup Rice Cooker


http://www.amazon.com/Aroma-ARC814-...82423?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1178404922&sr=1-5