Caring for the Tin Lining (Kalai)
The inside of your copper and brass cookware is lined with a thin layer of pure tin, applied by hand over heat. The craft is called kalai, and the artisans who practise it are kalaigars. The lining is what your food actually touches: it keeps the metal beneath from reacting with acidic ingredients, and it gives the surface its natural, coating-free release.
Tin is soft and it is meant to be renewed. Unlike a synthetic non-stick coating, which cannot be repaired once it wears, a tin lining can be stripped back and redone by a kalaigar as many times as the vessel needs — which is why these pots outlive the people who buy them.
How to protect the lining
Never heat an empty pan — tin melts at about 232°C
Use wooden or silicone utensils, never metal
No steel wool or abrasives on the inside surface
Keep to low and medium heat for everyday cooking
When does it need redoing?
With regular home use, a tin lining lasts roughly one to two years before it needs reapplying. How long yours lasts depends on how often you cook, how hot, and how acidic the food is.
You will know it is time when the silvery-grey surface begins to thin and the warm pink of the copper shows through underneath, usually at the centre of the base where the heat is strongest. Patchy discolouration on the inside is the same signal. Until it is redone, use the piece for serving rather than for cooking acidic dishes.
Re-tinning is ordinary, inexpensive work in most Pakistani cities — any kalaigar can do it. If you are not sure where to go, write to us and we will point you to someone.
One exception: the Brass Tawa is finished in bare brass rather than tin, so this section does not apply to it.
Because true craftsmanship deserves care.
With a little attention, your Raavi pieces will remain a part of your home for years - carrying beauty, tradition, and purpose forward.
