Enamel is practically infused into our lives. Everywhere we look there’s enamel. It’s in our:
- Kitchen –kitchenware, kitchen surfaces & utensils
- Laundry area – washing machine drums
- Jewellery – bracelets, necklaces, watch faces, the famed Russian Fabergé eggs.
- Bathroom – bath, sink, mirrors
- House – furniture and finishing (pottery & metal)
- Out of doors – pipes, signs, architectural panels, storage tanks
The features that make this element so desirable are its functional durability and beautiful polished finish. Enamel is smooth, hard, weatherproof, vandal resistant, chemical resistant, fire proof, assumes brilliant long-lasting colours (beautiful vintage enamelled jewellery are proof of it!) and seems to have the secret to beating time as immortal (it has a lifespan of almost forever if well taken care of).
It has existed since the ancient times as the ancient
- Egyptians decorated pottery and stone objects with enamel.
- Greeks, Celts, Russians, and Chinese enameled metal objects.
But what exactly is enamel? Honestly I used to think it was clay of some sort until a closer inspection of one of my jewellery pieces that subsequently lead to the scrutiny of my saucepans rendered that thought impossible. A short study later revealed the facts.
Enamel as it is best known is actually one part of its full name – Vitreous Enamel. It is also known as Porcelain Enamel and is really a thin layer of powdered glass fused by heat on to the surface of a metal. The colours in enamel are obtained through the addition of a variety of minerals such as cobalt, iron, metal oxides, praseodymium, and neodymium .
Often mistaken Cloisonné is not itself enamel but instead merely a technique employed in enamelling where thin copper wires are applied to a metal base, separating the surface into small cells before enamel is applied to the individual cells, thus resulting in a colourful glassy design.
Now skipping forward to the sustainable living part.
Enamel is great because it allows for us to create durable items/utensils that last. But how exactly does that help the environment; seeming it involves a firing process that is certain to leave carbon footprints? Quite simple – Because enamelling reduces waste through the reduction of our need to replace and toss items (given the long lifespan of enamelled items – think Victorian bathtubs) which saves the Earth the agony of dealing with landfill overflows and their related greenhouse effects.
Next issue to address is the concern over the safety of using enamelled cookware.
Bearing in mind that enamel is a fused glass surface, it offers you a hard, smooth, non-reactive surface (it does not react with any foods), enamel cookware is also quite safe. I saw quite because inexpensive enamel cookware only has very a thin enamel layer that chips easily. These chipped enamel fragments will find their way into your food and the underlying metal it was covering will react with food. However if you get a good quality enamel product ( Le Creuset and Chantal are two quality enamel brands) and take good care of them, you have no worries or cause for any concern because they will last a lifetime.
