History Down through the ages, artists, inventors and scientists have searched for materials that are both beautiful and enduring. The Egyptians inlaid glass in metal frames in 2000 BC. Greek craftsmen advanced the art form by applying sufficient heat to fuse the metal and glass. With the expansion of the Roman Empire, the technology spread throughout Europe. The continued existence of these artifacts fashioned centuries ago, is testimony to the timeless beauty and permanence of Porcelain Enamel. Though all of us use porcelain enamel products everyday, it is something that few of us are aware of on a conscious level. We bathe in porcelain enamel bathtubs. Use porcelain enamel sinks, lavatories, stoves, ovens, washing machines, dryers and waterheaters without a thought about that beautiful, glassy finish. We walk through buildings sheathed in porcelain enamel and read signs of the same material. The operating rooms of many hospitals are porcelain enamel. Our children write on porcelain enamel boards at school, and we barbecue on porcelain enamel grills. It is present in an amazing number of applications that we encounter in our daily schedule. Why does the stovetop clean so easily? What keeps the basket of the clothes washer from rusting away due to the constant exposure to water and bleach? Why can you clean the oven with caustic chemicals without damaging the surface? Because all of these surfaces are porcelain enamel in products of the highest quality. Fundamentally, porcelain enamel is a form of glass bonded to metal on a molecular level at high temperature. Porcelain enamel is quite simply the highest quality, most durable and sanitary finish available for metallic surfaces. When you are shopping for quality and value, look for porcelain enamel in the products you purchase. Porcelain Enamel begins as a blend of minerals smelted in much the same manner as common glass. During this process (known as "fritting"), the red-hot, molten mixture is poured from a smelter and quenched between water-cooled rollers. This quick-cooled ribbon of glass is then shattered forming a particulate known as "frit". Frit is applied to metal using either a wet or dry method and fired at very high temperatures - generally ranging from 1100 to 1600 degrees Fahrenheit. While in the furnace, the frit melts...bonding with the metal to create more than a coating. It forms an inseparable compound merging the chemical makeup of the frit and metal; resulting in a new, chemically unique, finish.