De- or Re-surfacing cookware.

[jbsegal]

So, we got a bunch of Calphalon as wedding presents. However, due to my foolishness, we requested and received one of their nonstick lines.

The frying pan is now almost the invert of non-stick.

My thought is that I should remove the remnants of the nonstick surface. I realize that that might well leave me with a bare aluminum surface. I can deal with that, probably.

Anyone want to suggest the best way to try this?

Comments

have you thought about

[wolfdancer.livejournal.com]

Re tefloningit? There used to be a spray that was safe for cooking to fix such problesm. I used it some time last in the 80"s so it might not be around, as someone might have huffed it and it was recaled.

Have you tryed brillo or failing that, a wired brush on a drill? I would try the brillow first.

Good luck.

[pir.livejournal.com]

Wire brush and glasspaper. Find a store that sells metalworking things and get various grades of glasspaper, rough stuff to take off the first few layers and then work down to finer grade for a smooth finish surface.

I've resurrected normal pans that have had high heat (boiling dry or burning) damage by refinishing the surfaces can't imagine it would be much different for non-stick pans unless the grade of metal is different.

[thespian.livejournal.com]

you really shouldn't do that. Once a non-stick surface is starting to go, you really should stop using them; if it's actually flaking, then the anodized coating is getting into your food, and that's a health risk (trying to find the Alton Brown column where he talks about this, but I can't). The surface under the non-stick is rarely sealed for cooking, and will leech metals into your food, as well.

Calphalon has a lifteime warrantee on almost everything, and a 10 year guarantee on some of their lesser sets, though....possibly get them to replace?

me-too-ism...

[happypete.livejournal.com]

both those suggestions (warranty and "Don't Eat The Flaky Chemicals")...

[ivorjawa.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't cook with a naked aluminum pan. There seems to be some evidence linking ingestion of aluminum with Alzheimer's.

Now, if you want a real nonstick pan, get cast iron and treat it properly.

(and I'll have your scarf in the mail this week. Really.)

[deguspice.livejournal.com]

I don't think there's a link between aluminum and Alzheimer's. I've met a number of men in the their 70s who spent most of their adults lives building aluminum car bodies. In their youth they would have been covered with aluminum dust from grinding and polishing the metal.

A quick search for articles about the possible connections, say there is no evidence of a connection.

Scientific American
NIH

And even if there was a connection, aluminum is so common in the environment, your exposure to aluminum from cookware is only a small percentage of that.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

i thought it turned out that the tentative aluminum link was actually contamination from the instruments they were using to dissect brains...

[dmk.livejournal.com]

The one time I noticed a similar problem, it turned out that The Dish Fairy had been afraid to scrub the pan, and it wasn't getting cleaned well enough. Buy a Scotch-Brite sponge rated for non-stick, and scrub like mad with detergent and hot, hot water. The let it soak in detergent and hot, hot water, and wash again. This might get the pan back to normal. If it doesn't, have it replaced under warranty. Good luck!

[dr-memory.livejournal.com]

Ignoring for the moment the alleged health risks of cooking on bare aluminum (I am skeptical, to put it mildly), you still don't want to do this: removing the remains of the nonstick coating will leave you with a ragged aluminum surface, which you really won't want to cook on: part of the process of applying a nonstick surface is sandblasting the metal below it to make pits that the teflon can flow into.

Even if Calphalon's own warranty doesn't cover it, you might well be able to walk into any Bed, Bath & Beyond and exchange the pan for a new one of the same model if you are good with the sweet-talking.

non-stick resurfacing

[dougayen.livejournal.com]

Found this page on calphalon warrantees:
http://calphalon.com/calphalon/consumer/jhtml/warranty.jhtml

If you decide it's not under warranty, the commercial preparation is to sandblast to give the material some tooth then recoat with Dupont Teflon by heating to 363° to 382°C and applying a Teflon slurry or solution under pressure so it adheres. I wouldn't try this at home.

These folks will do it for about $20 for an average pan http://www.frypanman.com/how.html

--doug