AHi guys,

I'm new here and I've seen that everyone here prefers uncoated cake pans like the Magic Line brand. I'm just wondering - won't the aluminium react (discolouring/pitting) if you bake something acidic in it like a lemon cake or a fruit upside down cake?

Thanks for the help :-)

I always line the bottoms with baking parchment.  Upside down cakes don't  have enough fruit on the sides to make me worry about a small chance of the acid reacting with the pan. Lemon cake has  little lemon juice (most of the flavour comes from lemon oil or extract or peel).

The chemists on Cake Central will all assure you that "aluminum" pans have a natural microscopic coating of aluminum oxide (same stuff as rubies and sapphires) which is invisible but pretty tough. I have 30 year old aluminum baking pans that have no sign of being eaten away on the inside--they get dents if you are careless, but there is no longterm sign of any interaction with the food.

AThanks Irene!!! :-)

I can also attest to the old pans... My mother has these two 9" rounds that she uses for everything... she has had them since I was a small child... sweet and savory go into them... they go into the dishwasher... the one is slightly dented (from probably being banged around in the cabinets all these years) but they work fine... look fine... and haven't had any issues...

AThanks! Hopefully my magic line pans are as sturdy and long lasting!