Blue/Black enamel finishes

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oldironsmith

Member
Sep 13, 2010
2
southeast,mi
A Jotul dealer I spoke to said all the enamel finishes are less durable than the standard matte black; that they chip rather easily. A short online video about a Hearthstone stove praised their blue/black finish as being extremely durable, more so than other Hearthstone enamel finishes. Is anyone aware of a difference between Jotul's blue/black and Hearthstone's in terms of manufacturing process? I'm not sure I want to pay the extra $ if the finish is less durable. Thanks!
 
The blue/black enamel is what most would call a single coat finish. The other enamels are a 2 part process that builds a final coat on the stove. Since there is 2 layers and the finish has to be fired in the oven 2 times it is more likely to chip. The second layer is adhering to the first not the cast directly. Because its a single coat by most manufactures it tends to be the most durable of enamel finishes.
 
I would say your dealer is confused. The blue black is extremely durable.
 
I have an eleven-year-old Jotul used as primary heat (heavy-use) with a green enamel finish. It has not chipped. 'looks new. Granted, I do not drop frying pans on the thing, or even cook on it. Most of the bumping into the stove occurs on the inside, hitting the burn tubes when trying to pack it full, etc. Blue-black is pretty. Even if it were not supposed to be more durable than the others (at least the green jotul finish), it'll be durable enough. Go with what looks good in your room.

Dexter
 
I was told the opposite of what your dealer told you, and everything I have read on here and elsewhere goes against it also. The blue/black enamel is supposed to be easier to clean and is supposed to be lots longer lasting than the paint.
 
The Blue/Black finish on my insert gets an A+ so far.. I've dropped wood against it and bumped it many times with metal hearth tools and no chips to speak of.. I have caused a few very small surface scratches over the past year but nothing that couldn't be lightly buffed out of the finish. I had a flat black finish stove before this one and it looked pretty weathered after just a single season. I could see myself repainting that thing every year to keep it looking nice.. Sold it for the enamel finish and have never looked back...
 
Agreed with the hearth posters. The blue-black finish is tough and beautiful. Even Jotul's majolica finishes are pretty tough. They stand up well unless badly abused.
 
Four years on a blue/black Oslo. Still looks brand new and the finish didn't smoke at all during break in.

Jim
 
I would say the salesman was either a new hire, or had some matte blacks he wanted to get rid of. The enamels are the more durable of the two, as you will never have to paint them. I dont think chipping will be a problem if you take the time to hook-up the monkey bars and slide to the stove properly and ask guests to remove shoes before playing on stove.
 
My understanding was that the blue/black is different from a standard enamel and more like a powder coat. I think its strange that Jotul doesn't have better information about the different finishes in on their website. They have almost nothing. It sounds like your dealer was referring to the porcelain enamels.

The dealers that I spoke to did say that the blue/black would stay nicer looking longer. But they didn't sell it very hard and one said he preferred matte black because it is "indestructible". I think that he meant that you couldn't really chip it and you could always repaint it and make it look new. And the other dealer had the matte black in stock which might be why he didn't really "upsell" the enamel.

I'm still waiting for the blue/black on my insert. (see my other thread about https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/60816/)
 
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