Enameled pots and pans are basically nothing more than ironware coated with silicate glass. However, the properties of this type of surface finish are outstanding: hard as glass and food-safe, enamel is also highly resistant to light and corrosion, scratch-resistant and easy to clean. In addition, it is heat-resistant, odorless and tasteless - and for this reason alone is ideally suited as a material for cookware and bakeware. The solid iron core does the rest and promotes good heat conductivity and high heat storage capacity. The enameled pots, pans, roasters and baking dishes in our range all come from the traditional Austrian company Riess. Based in Ybbsitz, Lower Austria, it is not only considered the epitome of enameled cookware, but also one of the fewer and fewer manufacturers whose products do their job in a completely unagitated manner without going out of joint (or out of frame).

The raw material used for glass is first melted at 1200 °C, quenched in water and finely ground with the addition of about one-third water, clay, quartz powder and coloring oxides. The resulting enamel slip matures for a few days before being applied to the objects to be enameled. At a temperature between 850 and 900 °C, the layer melts together to form a solid coating. This base enamel prevents oxidation of the iron during firing, after which a top enamel layer is added on top of it, which is fired at 800 to 850 °C - it protects the base layer from wear. Compared to the base enamel, the top enamel contains less borax, quartz and sodium nitrate, but more feldspar, fluorspar and cryolite. If you occasionally see tiny black spots on enameled ware, this is not a defect, but a sure indication of the more valuable double enamel. The blue color of cobalt enamel is also a sign of quality: The Egyptians and Greeks used this substance to dye their glass blue, and cobalt is still used today to color glass, enamel and ceramics. Cobalt enamel is particularly resistant to acids and alkalis and is especially hard.