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But the layer of Aluminium Oxide formed by normal oxidation is very thin unlike anodized aluminium vessels which gives a very hard layer of Alumina. This naturally formed layer can easily be scratched by a scourer as you can see from the bottom of Al kitchen vessels. You do get anodized vessels which have the hardness of Alumina but have not seen any pressure cooker in the market with an anodized bottom.
In any case why ingest Al when we are already having leached Al from water, food., etc. Go for SS to be doubly safe.

We always make Payesh - kheer in aluminum kadahi and there is a lot of scraping involved as the milk thickens. Same is the case with Saro/Palak sag. In my opinion you should not worry much about using an aluminum vessel for cooking, as long as you do not use it regularly for making tomato sauces.

Hmmm! i.e. some information.

Hawkins proclaims 'extremely hygienic' for their SS range, but NOT on aluminum models.

I got it exchanged for a 3 liter SS model.

What happens to aluminum with tomato sauces??

We usually cook either tomato or tamarind along with the dal.

Very impervious, not that easy to scratch. Is is enough. If Oxygen can get it the metal will oxidize some more!
1. Do not try and sell the cheaper product. Also, not fashionable to sell Al at the moment.

2. Do not bother. If you are that worried move the stuff out after cooking!

Acidic food may leach aluminum if left for long or cooked at high temperature. As such tomato or tamarind in Dal or vegetables has low enough acidity to be ignored. On the other hand tomato sauce, green mango/amla/lemon concentrates should be cooked in SS vessels and stored in glass or pottery jars.

Side Note.
1. Most of the "scare stories" about food additives. cancer causing food and other such stories are either personal opinions, or at the most based on the "Statistics of Small Samples", where you can conclude what ever you want to.
2. Brass and Iron vessels are supposed to be much more prone to acid leach than aluminum, but till aluminum got into mainstream cooking in the last 150 years, these were the preferred (or only) material cooking vessels were made of. So I would not bother much about such scare stories. It is mostly marketing guys trying to sell you exotic (and extremely expensive) stuff, and as there is no practical reason for you to switch, they want to scare you witless with their hype.

Scares about the safety of aluminium cooking pots are so 20th-century ;)

But who knows when the "wisdom" will be reversed yet again?

And, anyway, I have used only steel pans ever since I had a kitchen to call my own.

Al is an element that is absolutely not required by the body whereas Cu, Fe, Ni, Cr are required albeit in minute quantities. Al vessels were introduced much later only due to their cost effectiveness when compared to copper and brass and also due to it's conducting properties. At that time not much thought was given to the ingestion of Al. But now we are taking this into consideration as we are already ingesting some leached Al from soil and water in the food chain. All debatable though as studies are still ongoing.

At Spencers yesterday, I spotted Henko coming out with their range of washing detergents for WM's [maybe they were available, but Spencers inducted them now]

Are they good? I was tempted, but picked Surf Excelmatic front loading again. And it is Surf again which is making front & top loading detergents, all others have just one detergent for top & front load. Bluff or there are differences?

Not really. Just using normal clothes during summer. Generally the sorting is done on colour though. We do not put stuff like blankets, etc with anything else inside.
There are few denims, but that is perhaps once in a week.
I also see lot of lint being collected in the lint filter. I wonder why that is happening.

What I was told is Top Loading and Manual washing machines can accomodate more foam, which is produced by standard detergents.
The specific Front load detergents produce less foam and hence less water wastage. Not sure of the exact chemical formula difference, but this is the reason.

You may notice that in Front load detergents, used in Front load washing machines, there would be almost no foam inside the drum. Infact in our IFB machine we have been using Surf Excel front load detergent, and actually get confused at times whether we had put detergent in the tray or not. The water inside the drum would be so clear !
Whereas, in a top load detergent in a top load washing machine, just open the lid and you would see loads of foam !

Err, did I repeat myself in two paragraphs !
stupid:

But I do see foam. Lots? Don't know but foam is visible.

They're low-foam compared to the foam-fests that 'regular' detergents are, not 'no-foam', so don't worry about what you see unless your front-load machine looks like it's about to burst into a foam shower:)

Machine type aside, low-foam detergents are also sometimes recommended for delicate fabrics, as foaming agents used in regular detergents are usually harsh.

AO Smith Water Heaters ;

Hi Guys,

Recently installed AO Smith 15 litre water heaters at my place. Heater is working great.

Of late, we have noticed that when we switch "on" the heater, we hear crackling sound from the heater , similar to the sound produced when we burn wood. Is it normal ? Or does it have to do with the water condition ? Or is the product a defective piece ?

The sound is limited to a minute or two and then it disappears !

Need your inputs on it

An inspection would put your mind at rest, but if your area has salty/hard water, the sound is probably just from the scaled heating coil warming up causing the accumulated salt to crackle. My parents' home gets really hard water and the geyser in the main bathroom is serviced before/after every winter to avoid scaling-induced issues.

Immersion coil heaters usually make that crackling/hissing noise once they get scaled.

I'm using Henko front loading washing machine powder for last 3 years. I think the quality has somehow deteriorated after they changed formulation (colour changed from white to pink). But I still use it because our water pressure is low and sometimes while using Surf Excel front loading I sometimes find undissolved detergent in the detergent tray.