Gotham Steel is a cookware brand that’s heavily advertised on TV. Their products are highly affordable, and the brand claims their pans are “PTFE/PFOA/PFOS FREE.”
But is Gotham Steel a healthier option than traditional non-stick pans? What does PTFE-free even mean? Is all non-stick cookware dangerous? And is Gotham Steel better or worse than popular non-stick cookware brands like HexClad?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze research studies to give our take on whether or not traditional non-stick cookware is a health risk, and whether Gotham Steel is a safer option because it’s (apparently) PTFE-free.
We’ll also analyze the materials used in Gotham Steel cookware from a health perspective, and compare Gotham Steel to other popular non-stick cookware brands to pick our winners (and losers).
Key takeaways:
- Traditional non-stick pans contain toxic chemical compounds
- We can't find any evidence that Gotham Steel is healthier
- We do not currently recommend Gotham Steel
Is Traditional Non-Stick Unsafe?
Gotham Steel, like many non-stick cookware brands, makes claims that their products are free of the chemical compounds “PTFE,” “PFOA” and “PFOS.”
There’s a good reason that Gotham Steel makes these representations. These chemicals are clinically shown to be harmful to human health.
A 2017 medical review found that non-stick cookware coated with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) “releases various gases and chemicals that present mild to severe toxicity.”
The study authors also described perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) as a “well-known toxic environmental pollutant.”
So it’s a good thing that Gotham Steel products are free of these harmful compounds. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that their products are safer.
As we documented in our GreenPan review article, some clinical studies have shown that non-stick alternatives to PTFE are no safer, and in some cases may be more toxic.
Because Gotham Steel fails to clearly publish the specific chemicals used to create the non-stick coating, or data on the toxicity of this coating, we have no reason to believe that the brand is a safer option than traditional non-stick.
A well-researched and interesting video with over 600,000 views, from YouTube cooking influencer Adam Ragusea, explains in more detail some of the safety concerns regarding non-stick cookware:
Gotham Steel Material Analysis
Surprisingly, Gotham Steel is not primarily made of steel. Only the handle is.
Gotham Steel pans are made using titanium as a base and a ceramic non-stick coating as a finish.
We consider titanium to be an excellent choice for the base.
A medical review published in the Journal of Food Science and Technology found that titanium cookware caused the best retention of micronutrients in cooked food, compared with all other cookware materials.
Ceramic is a more questionable choice in our opinion.
A 2016 medical review described a significant risk of lead toxicity from glazed ceramic cookware, especially ceramics sourced from Mexico, China and some European countries.
Gotham Steel does not appear to publish which country they source ceramic from on their website.
Gotham Steel does not appear to publish any testing data on the potential for lead leaching due to use of their pans, but no ceramic cookware brands we’ve reviewed to date on Illuminate Health have done so either.
As we discussed in our article on is Caraway Cookware safe, the lack of clarity on toxicity and standards in the non-stick cookware industry as a whole is concerning to us.
We hope that more companies publish information on the non-stick coating chemicals used and their materials sourcing.
Overall, we consider Gotham Steel’s materials to be average for a non-stick cookware brand, but we don't currently recommend the brand due to our concerns about the glazed ceramic coating and the non-stick chemicals used.
Gotham Steel vs. Popular Cookware
Here's how Gotham Steel compares to other popular non-stick cookware brands, in terms of healthiness, in our opinion:
GreenPan
This brand's Technology page fails to document what specific chemical compounds are used in the non-stick coating.
Gotham Steel's use of titanium should cause greater micronutrient retention.
Winner: Gotham Steel
HexClad
This brand uses aluminum, rather than titanium, as the base material.
As we documented in our HexClad review article, there are documented health risks (though non-severe) in regard to aluminum cookware.
Gotham Steel is the safer choice.
Winner: Gotham Steel
Caraway Cookware
Glazed ceramic can leach heavy metals into food.
We have similar concerns about the non-stick coating used by both brands, but consider Gotham Steel to be the better option in regard to the base material.
Winner: Gotham Steel
Our Clean Cookware Pick
Lodge Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet is our top cookware pick.
It's free of any questionable chemical coatings. The only material is cast iron.
We consider cast iron pans to be the safest and healthiest cookware option. Cast iron has been used for thousands of years and is non-toxic.
Cast iron pans are made primarily from iron and steel, and are somewhat naturally non-stick because of the effects of fat heated on the cooking surface over time.
We recommend purchasing some Lodge Pan Scrapers along with the pan.
They're only $4.90, and cast iron pans can be challenging to clean for the first few uses without scrapers, before the pan becomes seasoned.
Gotham Steel Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Affordable
- Titanium base
- PTFE-free
- PFOA-free
- PFOS-free
- Healthier than competitors
Cons:
- Unclear which non-stick chemicals are used
- Failure to publish safety studies
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Failure to publish lead/toxicity studies
