[Sca-cooks] Pressure cooking

[Terry Decker]

> Vincenzo mentioned:
> > > I have just found the pot and it is aluminum.
> > > It is definitely getting tossed now.
> >
> > Gee, that's too bad ... as I recall, Aluminum was quite expensive in
> > period.
> I'm not sure aluminum was even known in period. It is a very common
> element but it is extremely difficult to extract the pure form from a
> compound. It was in fact very expensive until the late 19th century.
> This is the reason that the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. is
> capped with aluminum. At the time it was more expensive than gold.
>
> Stefan

There is a passage in Pliny that suggests a Roman goldsmith may have
produced aluminum, but the passage is ambiguous and there is no other
supporting documentation.  Provable manufacture of aluminum is 19th Century.

Bear