I received a cast-aluminum pan as a hand-me-down from my mother's grandmother. As far as I know it was never seasoned while in my mother's possession. A little food will stick on occasion and I wash it just as a I would a cheaper teflon-coated pan.
Can I / should I season the pan or am I better off just leaving it as it is? Anything else I should know about taking care of this guy? I'd like for it to last as long as possible.
Best Answer
Yes, cast aluminum should be seasoned. Here are some instructions from cookingforengineers.com:
How Do I Season It?
How Do I Look After It?
Here's one more tip I learned the hard way. Don't use aluminum cookware on glass ceramic stovetops! The aluminum can permanently discolor the glass, or perhaps even fuse to it. I've never actually seen an aluminum pan fuse to a stovetop before, but I did permanently mark my stovetop the first time I put an aluminum pan on it.