enamel repair for cast-iron cookware?

[jishica]

Does anyone have a good referral for repairing vintage enamel cast iron cookware? I hate to think it's a goner - my mom's Descoware saucepan! (oh, the guilt....)

Thanks!
Jessica

[MakingSense]

I'm not sure there's a way to do this. Enamel is glass. I think from what I remember of the process, it's put in in a solid molten form over hot cast iron. Not sure of the temperatures of all this but I don't think it's something you can patch.
That being said, I cook lots of things with tomatoes in the gravy or sauce in my well-seasoned cast iron dutch oven, deep skillets, and pans. There isn't any problem other than they need a little bit of oiling after that and I never let anything sit in them after it's finished cooking. The chip may not be much a problem.

[andreas]

Just how badly is the enamel damaged? Remember, underneath there is just cast iron, so nothing inherently bad. I own a number of ancient enamel pots, all with chips in them, and they perform just fine.

[jishica]

good to remember that it's still usable - it rusted over, but seasoning it will take care of that. The chip is the size of a quarter. I wanted to re-enamel it so it will remain a nonreactive pot for sauce-making.