Aluminium preserving pans - any good?

Picked up the stainless steel pan today.  It's looooveeeellyyyy.

Now I have to train MiL and SWMBO not to stir things in it with steel spoons.  We have a large stock of wooden spoons, but no, being Russian, they prefer to scratch the buggery out of my pots with a steel spoon.

I've even been known to whip large quantities of cream in the big pan, so it's well scarred
but still good to use

*whimper*

 

As a materials scientist ( ), I can confirm that when water is heated in aluminium pans, the surface oxidizes and the aluminium oxide comes off into the water.
If you stir with a wooden spoon, it will lessen the effect.
I personally have always used an aluminium pan for preserving (yes, even with the acidic effect of vinegar) and it's never harmed me. ( )
But! al oxide is a cumulative poison, which is why the research is still incomplete.
and most of my friends think there's something wrong with me.....

check out http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Chemical.jsp?Rec_Id=PC33869 for info on AlO used as a pesticide.
or http://www.hbci.com/~wenonah/hydro/al.htm, which outlines aluminium toxicity.

remember that the levels of toxicity which they talk about are much much greater than you could get from a pan - basically, the pan would have to wear down to a great big hole every time you used it to make much of a difference.  and noone can make that much chutney!

(sorry for being such an anorak)

But, now you've got the stainless pan, you should be fine!
the ss should withstand years of metal spoons bashing it around.