Cooking is one of the most cathartic of tasks to do when it all goes right, and we all know how important cooking is to our daily lives!
When we do choose to cook though, we always want to be sure that we’re using clean pots and pans, and we try to ensure that the pots and pans we’re using are durable, strong and can handle the heat of the kitchen.
When we looked in the market for a cookware set, we came across the Gotham Steel Hammered set.
Gotham Hammered is in essence, a set of cookware inclusive of pots and pans which are made of steel but have a copper-looking finish.
It’s actually aluminum with a ceramic coating inside that promotes non-stick cooking. We’ve spent some time with this set and decided to provide a review of our experience.
We’re going to look at the ins and outs of this set, giving you the basics of the product along with some pros and cons for shoppers.
So, grab a seat and a snack. Enjoy our review of Gotham Steel’s Hammered set.
What Is Gotham Steel Hammered?
Gotham Steel Hammered cookware set is a set of cooking pans that are titanium steel with ceramic coating that resembles copper.
Due to its look, many people believe that it is actually copper, but it isn’t! The set arrives as a pack of four pans, each with a stay-cool stainless steel handle.
Many Gotham Steel pans have the same benefits that this particular set does, and that is promoting the non-stick finish that these pans have.
The idea behind the non-stick finish is that the requirement for something to stop food from sticking to the pan and resulting in burning – which means burnt tasting food too – is eradicated from the equation.
This can be a huge advantage for people who want to keep with healthier alternatives in their cooking.
Perfect for those who want a lower calorie meal, people wanting to lose weight and even those who are lactose intolerant – nonstick coating means no need for butters, cooking fat or cooking oils.
More On Gotham Steel’s Nonstick Properties
Many cookware products on the market claim to have nonstick properties, but very few actually hold up to the claims.
Gotham Steel’s Hammered range claims to have a ceramic nonstick coating and this is indeed true. However, the nonstick cooking performance does not have an entirely long life.
After around six uses, the nonstick performance began to reduce greatly, but prior to this – the pans were absolutely perfect for their intended use.
The way the nonstick coating is described makes it sound as though it cannot be ruined, but unfortunately this claim is exaggerated.
Although the coating will hold up against scratches and damage for the most part, it does not take very long for marks and scratches to appear.
The fact is, any metal pans will have the same life and susceptibility to scratching, and if you want to keep the pan with its nonstick lifespan for as long as humanly possible, the only ways to do it is through upkeep.
Basically, you should wash the pans by hand after every use and ensure you’re cooking on the lowest possible heat.
This should reduce any potential problems and minimize the risk of having burned residue appearing in your food.
What’s The Deal With The Appearance?
It’s unclear exactly why the pans appear with a copper look and yet contain no copper, but even so – the pans look very appealing.
There are very few pans you can find on the market that sparkle and shine quite like these do. This alone can entice many customers, especially if you hang your cookware in your kitchen.
The choice of materials though make the pan itself very lightweight, which is in itself, a very positive point to the product.
Due to being so lightweight, moving foods such as stir-fry around the pan is a breeze and allows you to cook on different heats – which is even better if you have a gas stove.
The skillet that is included in the pack comes with a lid and very few in the Gotham Steel line allows for this. Lids for skillets can be quite pricey, so it’s a welcome sight to see when buying a cookware set.
Okay, But What About The Cooking?
There are plenty of positive points with these pans, as we mentioned with the lightweight feel of them and how easy it is to maneuver them. However, there is quite a drawback and this is due to the materials that have been used.
Due to the aluminum content in the pans, if it is at a cold liquid, such as a sauce, to the pan – you’ll instantly see the heat and overall temperature within the pan drop significantly.
Using the stir-fry example, it can be quite a hindrance when you’re hoping for a quick meal, and you’re nearly at the end of the recipe.
We added a small sachet of stir-fry sauce and the overall temperature plummeted which increased the cooking time.
What’s more, with advancing technology with our stoves – there are some on the market that do not recognize that there is a pan on the burner.
This is because of how light the pans are, which is a real drag if you were hoping for a lightweight pan, but your stove will not heat up!
How Strong Are The Pans Though?
Durability is key with cookware and, to give credit to Gotham Steel’s Hammered range here – the strength and general toughness of the pans is very good.
In fact, there are few quite as strong in the same line of products. You might be wondering about the stay-cool handles, and we can tell you that this claim is true.
Many pans that we have seen have come up short on this claim and inadvertently nearly burned our hands!
The lids that come with the pans are tempered glass and this for some people can be off-putting, but they do work very well, perhaps with one downside that boiling water often got stuck in the lid.
This isn’t the end of the world as such, but many clean-fanatic cooks will be worried about the growth of bacteria.
We’ve seen no evidence of a hygiene problem as such with our tests, but it’s understandable why the problem might arise.
As a result, many customers might consider opting for stainless steel lids instead – and it’s difficult to disagree with that.
What About The General Design?
The overall design and look of the products are appealing, but they also offer functionality. The skillet for example seems to double up as a sauté pan because of the straight designed sides.
This means there is a much deeper center than many might be used to, and it allows for far more foods to be cooked inside it.
In fact, most of the cookware items have good points for their functionality, and you can probably describe them as basic or “does what you expect it to do”.
You can interchangeably use some cookware but for some foods, it does not work as well as other cookware products. For example, the skillet cannot operate like a pan for omelets due to its straighter sides.
If you were hoping to cook up some eggs, you’d be looking for a rounded pan and the Gotham Steel Hammered range isn’t the best for that.
Is The Gotham Hammered Range Value For Money?
Debatable issue. We would say that there are better products on the market for the price, but this range isn’t going to break the bank either.
The set is worth using and finding out if you can agree with them, but at a glance – you might be better off looking for an alternative. Having said that, basic cooking? This does the job!
Pros And Cons
It’s important that customers know exactly what they’re getting into, and a pros and cons list is possibly the easiest way to do that. So, let’s start with the pros:
Pros
Here are our top pros:
Multi-Meal Use
Pretty much any meal can be made using this set of cookware. If you were hoping for a cookware set that can give you a large range of uses – look not further than this!
Dishwasher Safe
Interestingly, these pans are dishwasher safe and some might not have thought this was the case due to their materials. This allows for a quick clean-up operation!
Cons
Here are the cons we’ve listed:
Lidless
Unfortunately, you need to purchase the lids for the pans separately, which is quite annoying!
Can’t be Microwaved
There are some pans on the market that allow for microwave use, but this cannot due to its steel finish.
Lightweight Can’t Be Noticed
Some stove burners can’t recognize them on the burner due to their light weight.
Conclusion
Gotham Steel’s Hammered set is a good set of pans for the basics, but there are certainly better pans out there that Gotham Steel offers, along with other providers.
We’d consider shopping around for more options before deciding on these, however – if you’re looking for the best of the basics, you can be happy with this set!
