Hexclad markets its pans as non-toxic, with famous chef Gordon Ramsey as a spokesperson. Understandably, a reader wrote in to ask why we don’t recommend Hexclad. Despite their popularity, here’s why Hexclad doesn’t make the cut despite some noteworthy improvements for 2025.

We’re constantly revising and refreshing our cookware recommendations, based on the experiences of the Leaf Score team and new product launches.
One set of pans that has never made the Leaf Score cut comes from Hexclad. Based on the long-standing PTFE coating on these pans, we figured Hexclad would never earn a spot in our rankings.
However, in 2024, Hexclad seems to have quietly changed its coating to remove PTFE and use ceramic instead, so we bought an 8″ frying pan and tested the pan ourselves.
Here’s the reader question that prompted our original post back when Hexclad still used PTFE in their pans:
I am looking for a non-toxic non-stick frypan and notice that you do not rate Hexclad (a favorite of Gordon Ramsey). Do you have an opinion to share? Thanks.
Martha
If you want opinions about cookware, you’re in the right place, Martha!
My quick take on the original Hexclad is that we don’t recommend it because Hexclad was made with PTFE.
Although many popular cookware brands, including Made In and Zwilling, manufacture products with PTFE, we never recommend cookware that contains PTFE.
No matter how you sum it up, PTFE is bad for people, the planet, and pets.
At high temperatures, PTFE begins to break down and leach toxic fumes into the air. These fumes can cause polymer fume fever, a condition with flu-like symptoms. The fumes can also kill birds.
However, Hexclad, to their credit, ditched the PTFE and began offering the same pans just with a “high-grade proprietary ceramic nonstick called TerraBond™, which is PTFE-free and free from forever chemicals.”
This is a step in the right direction and complicates things when discussing Hexclad. The new PTFE free pans look largely the same as the old, but the brass at Hexclad seems to have woken up to the idea that consumers don’t want to prepare food on surfaces that contain forever chemicals.
Why we didn’t recommend Hexclad (and still don’t)
Our readers want to avoid forever chemicals at all costs, which made it easy to suggest green alternatives to Hexclad.
Hexclad Hybrid cookware claims to be:
- Non-toxic
- Non-stick
- Oven-safe
- Dishwasher-safe
- Metal utensil-safe
- Warrantied for its lifetime.
Before 2024, the first claim was easy to debunk. After all, a quick dig into Hexclad specifications showed that this cookware was made with PTFE. This is a synthetic chemical coating as used in Teflon. Sure, Hexclad wouldn’t use PFOA to apply the PTFE (no U.S. cookware brand can, legally), but PTFE itself is not safe by the standards of our readers, at least, or non-toxic.
Hexclad also marketed itself as great for high-heat cooking. The trouble is that high-heat cooking and PTFE don’t mix.
Once temperatures reach close to 500 F, PTFE starts to break down, releasing toxic fumes into the air. These fumes can kill birds and cause serious health issues in humans. Even if you accidentally overheat the pan once, the PTFE is damaged and will release fumes every time it heats up.
Put simply, you wouldn’t want to use the pre-2024 Hexclad pans to sear a steak.
Update on non-toxic Hexclad
The revised Hexclad pans no longer feature PTFE. Instead, the company claims that the non-stick coating is proprietary HEXCLAD TERRABOND™ ceramic and that it is PTFE-free and PFAS-free.
There was no grand announcement or mea culpa regarding the knowingly selling pans coated with damaging substances.
Instead, on the surface, it looks very much like nothing has changed with the pans, which is a sign that the company doesn’t care about misleading its customers.
You wouldn’t even know Hexclad was now PTFE-free unless you take pains to dig around and ask questions. In fact, on the Canadian Hexclad site, you have to go to the FAQs to find out that the coating is now ceramic and not PTFE.
Unclear what’s in the new coating
In line with this lack of transparency, you also can’t tell what’s in that ceramic coating. Hexclad doesn’t reveal anything about its composition and doesn’t make third-party testing available.
So, should we trust Hexclad when it tells us the coating is non-toxic?
The phrase ‘out of the frying pan and into the fire’ comes to mind.
Until I see third-party testing, I won’t be satisfied that Hexclad is genuinely free of toxic chemicals. After all, what we call toxic is what Hexclad happily hyped as non-toxic for many years. Now, if Hexlcad does provide their-party testing they will be eligible for a LeafScore rating for the first time, so stay tuned.
Let’s look at the non-stick claim.
Is Hexclad non-stick?
The Hybrid Hexclad cookware has a stainless steel lattice work over top of a ceramic non-stick coating. That means the surface isn’t smooth and instead holds oil or juices in the honeycomb structure, which is largely what helps keep things from sticking… at least at first.
Unlike stainless steel or straight up PTFE or ceramic coated pans, where you have a smooth surface, the Hexclad pans have a textured surface. This is supposed to protect the non-stick coating. While it might do that to some degree, it also means you don’t have a smooth, non-stick surface to fry eggs, fish, or whatever else. And that means you lose a lot of the sear or fond when removing food from the pan.
Unfortunately, because Hexclad quietly changed its non-stick surface from PTFE to ceramic coating, chances are that these pans are actually less non-stick than before.
We love ceramic coatings for their relative safety compared to PTFE, but they tend to get tacky and scratched up faster and the non-stick qualities quickly decline.
Because Hexclad only made the sneaky switch to ceramic in 2024, we don’t yet know how long the non-stick properties last.
The reality is that you get a better, more flexible, and longer lasting non-stick experience with properly seasoned stainless steel, carbon steel, or cast iron versus any ceramic or PTFE cookware. And you can do so without the durability and toxicity issues of PTFE or ceramic coated cookware.
Which brings me to the lifetime warranty.
Hexclad warranties
Reading the smallprint at Hexclad, you’ll note that this warranty doesn’t apply to surface imperfections from general wear and tear.
For a PTFE or ceramic coating on a product where you’re told you can use high heat and metal utensils with abandon, those surface imperfections are likely to stack up fast. But they aren’t covered under the warranty.
The one good thing I can say about Hexclad is that the pans are made with a robust 3-ply stainless steel body over an aluminum core. This is a good way to make cookware as it better resists warping and temperature shocks and doesn’t expose you to aluminum when the surface coating wears away.
The downside of this robust construction is that folks who buy Hexclad may be using the same pan for many years, even after the ceramic coating has degraded.
Safe use and cleaning
Hexclad also claims to be different from most non-stick pans because it’s safe to use metal utensils and harsh cleaning methods, and to put your pan in the oven and dishwasher.
Sure, go ahead and use metal utensils when cooking with Hexclad. The stainless steel lattice will protect the coating to some degree, but what it mainly does is make it hard to see scratches and imperfections in the coating that would easily show up in a smooth ceramic coated pan.
The same goes for the dishwasher and harsh cleaning. Chances are that those marks are there, you just can’t see them as clearly because of the lattice.
As for using the pan in the oven, while Hexclad says these are safe to 500 F on the American site, it offers zero guidance on temperature limits on the Canadian site. This is odd for a pan made with a ceramic coating and different types of metal. All of these materials expand at different rates and the ceramic can crack easily if mistreated.
My big takeaway from Hexclad’s switch to ceramic is that by trying to keep the switch from PTFE on the downlow, they’re failing to properly inform customers of how to use the pans safely and of the pans’ actual capabilities.
Cooking with ceramic is different to cooking with PTFE. For one thing, you definitely want to heat the pan slowly and stick to low or medium heat only.
Most ceramic coated pans should also stay out of the oven and be cleaned by hand, not in the dishwasher.
And because ceramic coatings degrade after two or three years, if you’re lucky and careful, that Lifetime Warranty seems very suspicious indeed.
Final thoughts on Hexclad
Unsurprisingly, I don’t recommend the OG PTFE Hexclad.
I’m also very wary of the new ceramic coated pans.
I think the claims made about this product are overbaked. That the claims about the PTFE pans are simply being carried over to the ceramic rehash seems deeply strange, if not deliberately misleading.
These pans haven’t been tested for toxicity. They’re certainly not sustainable (because they’re probably even less durable than before). And they’re still very expensive.
I bought a Hexclad 10 inch frying pan in 2022. January it started peeling out the color, even though it says that lifetime warranty. I think is is not lifetime warranty.
You state hexclad pans have PTFE. Please provide a link to where to find this info. I purchased because they claimed to be
non-toxic. A full set. They have been decant pans, but not if they have toxins.
Hi William,
Whether your Hexclad pans contain PTFE or not will depend on when you bought them. The company switched from using PTFE non-stick coatings to ceramic non-stick at some point in 2024, but it wasn’t very transparent about this, and still makes it hard for customers to figure out exactly what the pans are made from.
If I were you, I would reach out to Hexclad with your proof of purchase or order date and any reference numbers from packaging that you have. Or, you may be able to send the company a photo of your pans for them to determine if you have the PTFE or ceramic coated set.
Hope that helps. And if they do give you a date for when they switched to manufacturing with ceramic, please let us know! We’d love to include that helpful info in the write-up.
Thanks,
Leigh
I am really confused since HexClad’s FAQ says that their pans don’t contain PTFE. https://hexclad.com/pages/faq… is it possible that this review was made for an older variant of HexClad?
Hi Eddie,
You’re right, I wrote the original review when Hexclad only made PTFE coated pans. That changed at some point in 2024, though the company didn’t make a big fanfare of it, so it was easy to miss. On the Canadian Hexclad site, you still have to go to the FAQs to find out that the coating changed!
I’ve updated the article to reflect the changes. Hope that helps.
Leigh
Hexclad website says their cookware is free of PTFE
Hi Melvina,
Yes! Hexclad quietly replaced its PTFE pans with ceramic coated ones this year. I’ve updated the article and rating accordingly. Thanks for reaching out.
Leigh
They now claim they no longer use PTFE. Would you consider updating your article with any new findings?
Hi Carmen,
Yes! Hexclad quietly replaced its PTFE pans with ceramic coated ones. I’ve updated the article and rating accordingly. Thanks for reaching out.
Leigh
I bought a he clad 8 inch in 2023. The PTFE STARTED TO WEAR OUT ALMOST
IMMEDIATELY. It got to the point that I could scratch it off with my fingernail. Exclusively cast-iron from now on.
Wow, thanks for sharing your experience, Steve! We hadn’t heard that before. Wow.