Gotham Steel Review: Does it Live up to the Hype?

Gotham Steel

Gotham Steel is a non-stick cooking pan made with ceramic and titanium.

Claims & Features

• Non-stick ceramic
• Strong titanium
• No oil or butter needed to slide food off
• Non-scratch technology
• Oven safe up to 500°F
• PTFE/PFOA/PFOS Free
• Dishwasher safe

Cost & Availability

If you buy the 9.5 inch Gotham Steel pan from the official website, you can expect to pay $19.99 plus $6.95 P&H. Additional sizes can be found at other rettailers, such as Bed Bath and Beyond, where they offer 9.5″, 11″, and 12.5″ versions. Those cost about $20, $30, and $40. We have seen those pans on the Bed Bath and Beyond website, but they appear to slowly be rolling out to stores. If you’ve seen Gotham Steel in stores, please leave us a comment below.

Gotham Steel Commercial

The TV commercial below has been airing as of this writing.

Transcript:

Tired of food sticking to the pan? You try to scrape it, and then you scratch it. You may as well trash it. Not anymore. Hi, chef Daniel Green here with Gotham Steel, the newest technology in nonstick cookware made with ceramic and super strong titanium. Stronger than ever before.

It’s literally like cooking on air. Everything slides right off. This pan makes cooking so easy. Check out this smores recipe. Start with chocolate chips, add sweetened condensed milk, marshmallows, and then bake. That’s right, use Gotham Steel in the over to up to 500 degrees. And then look, it slides right out. Delicious. And it’s dishwasher safe.

“I never thought a pan would make my life easier, but it really has.”

Watch, you’d never whisk eggs in a nonstick pan, right? Well, you can with my pan. Use metal and never make a scratch, ever. No oil or butter. Absolutely no sticking and no scratches. It’s amazing. Plus, make flavorful flaky salmon and grill steaks to perfection.

Look, burnt cheese is a frying pan disaster. Not with my pan. Shredded Parmesan, right on the heat. And here’s a secret. Shape a bowl for a unique way to serve party dips. Even fire won’t damage Gotham Steel.

Make steak fajita flambe with ease, no burnt stuck-on mess. Just a clean pan and flawless food every time.

“You really have to try this pan. It’s amazing.”

Get your 9.5 inch Gotham Steel pan with new tisorama surface for just $19.99 plus shipping and handling. It includes high end features like a metal scratch guard ring, and a solid stainless steel handle. Plus it’s safe for the whole family because Gotham Steel has no harmful PFOAs. And we’re so sure it won’t stick and won’t scratch that we’re giving you a huge 90-day money back guarantee. No other pan will give you that. You’ll also get the Gotham Steel recipe guide, with easy delicious dishes that cook perfectly in your pan.

But wait, call now and you can our tempered glass lid with steam release free. Just pay separate fee. Stainless steel and tempered glass construction won’t break, even when it’s dropped. Plus when you order find out how to get a huge discount on our extra large frying pan with stainless steel helper handle.

And be sure to ask the special savings on the rest of our Gotham Steel collection. It includes a 5-quart stock pot, 3-quart sauce pan, 11-inch skillet, and extra deep chef’s pan with steamer. All coated with non-stick, non-scratch titanium and ceramic. So call now to get your Gotham Steel pan with tisorama surface, the recipe guide, and tempered glass lid, a huge $80 value for $19.99.

Gotham Steel Reviews

Gotham Steel is a ceramic and titanium pan which has been heavily advertised in television commercials and late-night infomercials since late 2015. Its selling points are its strength as well as its non-stick and non-scratch surface. Additionally, because of its superior design, we are told that it can be used in the oven as a baking pan up to 500 degrees.

You may run across some reviews which show photos of food stuck to the insides of Gotham Steel pans. Despite the advertising, which makes it look like you can cook – or even burn – food using any heat, without consequence, we found that in order to use Gotham Steel with optimal results, you should always keep the heat to medium. You’ll note that the commercial shows Daniel Green holding a flaming dish in Gotham Steel, which is probably an exception to proper use. The instructions state not to use olive oil and butter at high heat. Additionally, it has been our experience that using non-stick spray on a non-stick pan tends to lead to the opposite results of what you might expect. A dab of oil is all you need, as non-stick spray may actually give you diminished results.

Thus, we have found that some of the negative reviews online were by those who cooked with nonstick spray at high heat, which will degrade performance. There are those, however, who diligently followed the instructions yet still found food stuck to the pan. Yet other consumers found the pan to work perfectly as advertised, with eggs and other items sliding right off. Why such a wide discrepancy in consumer reviews?

It seems odd to see heated disagreements on a page reviewing a cooking pan, but that is the case with Gotham Steel. There are two very different schools of thought as to whether Gotham Steel is the real deal or not. For example, you may see a video showing food hopelessly stuck to a Gotham Steel pan immediately followed by a video showing burnt cheese easily sliding out. The lack of consensus is curious, and can’t completely be blamed entirely on user error.

That said, we found that taking a few extra steps of caution made Gotham Steel work sufficiently. Its nonstick surface performs well if you season it first (see below), have a dab of oil in the bottom, and don’t use high heat.

Season First?

Some pans offer instructions to season before use, but some do not. We have found that this step may help you increase the effectiveness and life of the pan. To season, you simply spread a light coating of vegetable oil over the surface and place it on the stove over medium heat. Once it begins to smoke, remove it from the heat and then wipe off the excess once it has cooled. There is no guarantee that seasoning the pan will make Gotham Steel more effective, but it is a good idea, especially considering that there are some complaints about the pan’s surface.

Who is Daniel Green?

Gotham Steel is touted by Daniel Green, a self-described “Television cook.” He specializes in healthy eating, and can be seen on the Food Network show Food Fortunes. Unlike some As Seen on TV chefs, who are only known to tout products, Daniel Green has an established reputation outside of the infomercial business.

Paid Reviews?

Although one may look at the star rating of Gotham Steel on Amazon, which as of this writing currently sits at around 4.1 stars, a perusal of the hundreds of reviews yield a high number which were offered in exchange for a discount on the product. You may see a number of reviews include a disclaimer such as “I received this product at a discount in exchange for my honest review.” While there is no obligation for the reviewer to leave a positive review in such an arrangement, we feel that these types of reviews are not always completely unbiased. Some reviewers may feel obligated to leave a more positive review for the company who gave them a free or discounted product. Those who paid full price may not be as forgiving. To be fair, however, there are some reviewers who received the product at a discount, yet still gave it a negative review.

Similar Products

The most similar product to Gotham Steel currently advertising is Red Copper Pan. That pan is visually almost identical, and some reviewers have made the incorrect assertion that Red Copper Pan is a re-branding of Gotham Steel. In our review of Red Copper Pan, we confirmed with the company that they are not associated with Gotham Steel. Additionally, Gotham Steel is made of ceramic and titanium, while Red Copper Pan is made of ceramic and copper.

Another popular As Seen on TV competitor would be Copper Chef, which is a square copper pan that extols many of the same virtues as those touted by Gotham Steel.

In the non-As Seen on TV realm, you may want to consider something like the T-fal Thermo-Spot pan, which is available in several sizes and can be found as low as $30.

Search History

The Google Trends chart below shows search interest in Gotham Steel from January 2015 until March 2016 (this writing). As you can see, interest shot up around December 2015, and has continued to rise in the early months of 2016.

Epic Conclusion

Gotham Steel is a nonstick pan which can have a place in the kitchen, provided that consumers don’t get caught up in the advertising hype. You will want to season it first, you’ll want to keep it on low to medium heat, and you’ll want to avoid nonstick spray. Cooking an egg with nonstick spray on high heat, for example, will likely yield a sticky mess that the advertising implies would never happen. Realistic expectations and carefully following the instructions will greatly improve your chances of liking Gotham Steel.

If you’ve used Gotham Steel, please give it a star rating and comment below.