PORCELAIN ENAMEL
PORCELAIN ENAMEL
All about porcelain enamel
Porcelain enamel has been a valuable material for kitchenware since the end of the nineteenth century, thanks to its rust-free surface coating, high level of cleanliness and easiness to clean. This was when the technological breakthrough was made that allowed the elements of glass and iron to be firmly bound together.
Porcelain enamel is an ancient material – the first pieces of porcelain enamel found buried in Mycenae are 3,500 years old.
Porcelain enamel has been popular in many cultures for jewellery and in arts and crafts. Carl Peter Fabergé used porcelain enamel to decorate his famous eggs, which he made out of precious materials for the Russian tsars between 1885 and 1917.
Material
Enamelled products consist of iron, which is fused with silicate glass (enamel) at 850°C. Only natural "mineral resources" such as iron, quartz, clay, feldspar, soda & potash as well as very small quantities of metal oxides are used in the production process. There are no artificial elements, which is why enamel is 100% recyclable in scrap metal. The firing process produces the wonderfully bright colours of enamel as well as the hard, non-porous and scratch and cut-resistant surface.
In the early days of enamelling technology, the use of lead was technically necessary to bond the glass to the carrier material. In the middle of the 19th century, processes were developed that did not require lead. The use of lead has long been prohibited by law for enamelled items that come into contact with food. This is regulated by the following regulations: Regulation (EC) 1935/2004, (EC) No. 2023/2006, EN ISO 4531:2022, Austrian Ceramics Regulation BGBL. No. 259/2006.