Kelly,s eye.
You state yourself that 'holding a magnet against the pan' will show whether it will work or not (ferrous) and aluminium simply won't 'hold a magnet'.
Hello Kelly,s_eye.
Yes I did say that sorry I meant to say NON Ferrous .
Here is some data for you about pans, as stated I have used all sorts of pans on my original hob, to do this the frequency has to be extended which you can not do on a modern hob as they are set to a specific frequency.
If you want to find out more about melting aluminium you need to get the book on the permeability of metals.
thanks for you comment good luck gezza123