Why You Should Never Cook Tomatoes In Aluminum Pots

With peak tomato season comes the joys of thick ruby slices sprinkled with salt, juice running down to your elbows, and fat tomato sandwiches piled with mayo and salt and pepper. Enjoying these delicacies is undoubtedly one of the greatest simple joys in life, but even if you store your fresh tomatoes like a pro, there's only so many you can put away before you need to find some alternate methods of preserving the season's bounty. 

There are endless options for cooking down tomatoes — you can turn them into pasta dishes, warming soups, and trusty all-purpose tomato sauces. But it pays to know a few basic dos and don'ts when cooking with your heirlooms, your San Marzanos, or your cherry tomatoes (whether fresh or canned). One important tip is never to mix tomatoes with aluminum — utensils, pots, or otherwise. 

You might not give much thought to which pot or pan you pull out of the cupboard to make your tomato dishes in, but you should. Cooking with aluminum — be it foil, utensils, or pots — is typically regarded as safe in most instances, so no need to stop lining those cookie trays for easy cleanup. But in the case of tomatoes, the delicate, acidic fruit can adversely react with the metal, altering the taste of the food and potentially damaging the cookware. There are also potential health concerns specifically with mixing aluminum and acidic foods, making tomatoes a definite food to keep away from the metal. 

There's a bit of science behind why aluminum + tomatoes are such a culinary and potentially a health no-no, but it boils down to the acid and the salt in the tomatoes interacting with the metal, causing the aluminum to leech into the food. As a result, your gorgeous tomato sauce can be left tasting a bit on the tinny side, and the pot or cookware itself can be left dimpled with damage. You should always do your best to avoid using aluminum cookware — as well as utensils, spoons, etc. — when dealing with tomatoes, but most particularly in instances where they'll be cooking away for a while, like a soup or sauce left to simmer for an hour. The longer the two mix, the more damage can occur.

Avoid the big aluminum stock pots and pans, as well as copper, which can also react negatively with tomatoes. Instead, reach for stainless steel cookware – the ideal material for cooking down tomatoes. Not only are stainless steel pots and pans readily available and easy to cook with and clean, the substance is hearty enough that you can boil tomato sauce or soup without a concern, unlike cast iron, which you should be careful about boiling in. Cooking tomato sauces and soups in your favorite stainless steel pot ensures no metallic flavor will make its way into your delicious tomato dishes.