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Caraway Cookware Review: Testing Internet's Trendiest Kitchenware

Caraway Cookware Review
Caraway makes non-toxic, non-stick cookware for modern home chefs.
After using the four-piece cookware set for a few weeks, I’ll never go back to other brands.
The products come in stunning colors and have a magnetized storage system to keep them from getting damaged by other pans.

If you’d have opened my cooking cabinet a few weeks ago, you’d see mismatched pots and pans, stacked half-hazardly on top of one another. Each pan was no doubt ruining the coating of the piece below, but I didn’t really know another way. Also, my alleged “non-stick” pans required a serious amount of cooking spray, pretty much defeating their purpose.

When Caraway's Ceramic Cookware Set arrived — in a stunning Perracotta (Terracotta mixed with Pink) color — this all changed. It prompted an immediate and thorough examination of the surfaces I’d been cooking on, and they weren’t good. I started pitching scratched and exposed (and probably toxic) pans that had been living on top of each other between uses.

After cooking my first meal with Caraway's Cookware Set, I realized I probably will never need cooking spray again. By non-stick they mean seriously non-stick, not just a little bit...like you wonder if a frying egg will stay in the pan as you swish it around. And my leaning tower of pans was a thing of the past due to Caraway’s Magnetic Pan Racks and Canvas Lid Holders.

All the Essentials, Without the Clutter

Caraway’s Cookware Set includes four pots and pans:

  • Fry Pan: A 10.5 inch pan perfect for eggs, pancakes, and sautéing veggies.
  • Sauce Pan: A 3-quart pan for soups and sauces.
  • Sauté Pan: A 4.5-quart saute pan, perfect for stir frys.
  • Dutch Oven: A 6.5-quart dutch oven for your pasta, roasts, and stews.

Caraway also puts your health first as each piece is free from potentially toxic materials like PFOA, PTFE, other PFAs, lead, cadmium, or toxic metals for healthier home cooking. Its eco-friendly non-stick ceramic coating releases up to 60% less CO2 when compared to traditional non-stick coatings.

Caraway Cookware Set
Caraway's cookware is very aesthetically pleasing

There’s an intentional reason this set only includes four pots and pans, Caraway is working to maximize space in the modern kitchen by providing only what you need without any extras. I eliminated between 10-15 other items and replaced them with these four. I made a complete set of the well-loved but still safe older kitchen items for my younger sister graduating college, and threw out quite a few more that should have been disposed of long ago. Now, my cabinet that once spilled pots and pans onto the floor, literally, has just four lids and four pieces of cookware.

In addition, Caraway has its own custom storage solutions: A modular magnetic pan rack to house each pot and pan for easy access and canvas lid holder that fits neatly inside a cabinet door to keep all three lids within reach.

Pros
  • A diverse color selection, featuring vibrant, cool hues
  • A minimalistic set that gives you exactly what you need, without bells, whistles, and extras
  • Chemical-free
  • Very non-stick, like you can’t burn something onto this pan if you tried (don’t try)
  • Creative and helpful organization system with magnetized vertical storage compartments and a canvas mountable lid holder
  • Oven-safe
Cons
  • I'd love a slightly smaller saucepan to help warm up our pasta sauces and other simple tasks
  • A bit on the pricier side, given that it’s only four pans
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Test Drive: Cooking with Caraway’s Cookware Set

For the first time, I had a serious debate about whether I wanted more items, not fewer, sitting on top of my counter when I saw the Caraway pans. The colors make you want to sacrifice chopping space to display the pans instead. And this is intentional, “whether it be through unique colors or a sleek aesthetic, you should select cookware that you’re excited to show off in your kitchen," Caraway founder Jordan Nathan told Living Cozy.

“Whether it be through unique colors or a sleek aesthetic, you should select cookware that you’re excited to show off in your kitchen."

The set is offered in Navy, Sage, Perracotta, Cream, and Gray, and each is such a beautiful shade that it will be the hardest decision you have to make because they are all amazing.

Caraway Cookware Set in Perracotta
Caraway Cookware Set in Perracotta

Unboxing the cookware was also an experience, and made me love Caraway all the more, because each step of the unpacking process I was greeted with a little message, such as: “Gone are the days of misplacing all of your lids,” and “You’re one step closer to cleaner cooking.” These little sayings make you feel like a representative from the company is personally introducing you to the product and its features rather than simply opening a box.

The pans, which feature an aluminum core, surrounded by non-stick ceramic and stainless steel handles, immediately feel heavy and high quality

The pans, which feature an aluminum core, surrounded by non-stick ceramic and stainless steel handles, immediately feel heavy and high quality, but not too heavy to swish around the aforementioned scrambled egg with ease.

Caraway Cookware Set
Caraway's Magnetized Pan Rack

I was pleasantly surprised to find out the storage slots are magnetized and can line up to fit together as a set, or can be separated if you want to store pots in one place and pans in another. It’s super convenient and organized, and every time I open the door I can’t believe I’ve spent my entire adult life digging through mismatched pans to find what I needed. The lid storage is also a huge benefit as I never have to scramble to find a matching pan and lid now.

The products are oven safe up to 550 degrees and stovetop agnostic (so they work with induction, gas, and electric cooktops), which allowed me to further eliminate some other oven dishes I had been storing. Not all pots and pans can do this, but Caraway does. The only place it can’t go that I wish it could is the dishwasher. Caraway, please work your magic and make the next set dishwasher safe.

The ceramic surface is non-toxic but also non-stick, which in my extensive pan-shopping experience, is a unique combination. Instead of piles of spray or oil, you only need a small drop to activate this non-stick surface, making both cooking and hand-washing the items pretty simple. There is no need for scraping and scratching baked-on food with a bristle brush, but rather simply soap and hand wash with a cloth. This is also shocking when you can just pour your food straight from the pan to the plate, eliminating dirtying an extra cooking utensil to scoop it off. That’s proof the non-stick function is really working.

The Caraway Story: Saying Goodbye to Toxic Cookware

Like almost everyone, Caraway founder Jordan Nathan got immersed in his smart phone, leaving a Teflon-coated frying pan burning on the stove for nearly an hour. The result sounds like something out of Grey’s Anatomy, but does happen. He got sick from Teflon poisoning, experiencing nausea from inhaling the fumes of burning Teflon. Others have reported chills, fever, headache, and body ache, resulting in the nickname the “Teflon flu.”

He told Forbes that contacting poison control, realizing his diagnosis, and discovering that 95% of cookware contains Teflon, he set out to make his and others’ kitchens healthier. He knew there must be a better way to eliminate toxins from his cooking process, and Caraway was born.

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Caraway Cookware in the Kitchen Cabinet
Caraway Grey Fry
Caraway Nonstick Ceramic Cookware
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Cookware that’s Better for You and the Planet

"When looking at the larger cookware market, Caraway stands out by being a high-quality, 100% non-toxic, non-stick ceramic cookware option made for the modern home," Nathan explained to Living Cozy.

Caraway's cookware is coated with multiple layers of high-quality natural ceramic that contains no PTFE, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), lead, cadmium, nickel, or other toxic metals.

Every piece is designed to enhance the home cooking experience. For example, there's a small bump located on the underside of the pan handles that indicate the best place to grip and avoid where the handles get too hot.

And every detail has been thought of to help improve Caraway's performance. "Flat Lids are superior at retaining heat (compared to glass lids)," Nathan told us. "[And] the steam vent on our lids allows steam to escape so condensation doesn’t build up inside a boiling pan."

In addition to chemical-free cooking, the brand’s ethics are top-notch, making us want to buy every color even more. They focus on ethical manufacturing, supporting partners where employees are paid fairly, provided safe work environments, and given benefits and regulated hours. They also use sustainable (and friendly!) packaging and keep their focus on the environment. The manufacturing process releases 60% less CO2 into the environment than traditional pots and pans’ process.

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Conclusion: My enviable Orange Non-Stick Pans

It doesn’t take long after ordering the Caraway cookware set to realize you’ve become a part of a trendy, chemical-free cult, but trust me — it's a club you totally want to be a part of.

The pans, which feature an aluminum core, surrounded by non-stick ceramic and stainless steel handles, immediately feel heavy and high quality

If you are ready to clean out your own crusty pot and pan cabinet, and to get real about what you are putting in your food, Caraway will be ready to help.I feel more confident now knowing that I don’t have to worry about chemicals in my pans, only remembering not to throw them in the dishwasher or use metal spatulas on them. I’m confident that my scrambled eggs now contain only that — eggs.

If you are ready to clean out your own crusty pot and pan cabinet, and to get real about what you are putting in your food, Caraway will be ready to help.

Just days after I started using Caraway, a neighbor started chatting with me about this pot and pan set she couldn’t wait to buy, and how she just couldn’t pick a color. I said, “That’s funny, you should see my new orange pans.” Sure enough, we were both referencing the same hot brand making cooking fun and healthy again. If they go missing during the next block party, I’ll know it was her, and I wouldn’t really blame her.

And with 18,000 reviews and an average star rating of 4.8 out of 5, you can see just how beloved Caraway is by its customers.

Alongside the Cookware Set, Caraway's full collection of products includes:

  • Tea Towels: Set of three oversized organic cotton tea towels.
  • Oven Mitts: A pair of double-layered cotton oven mitts to keep hands cool.
  • Linen Apron: A lightweight, full coverage apron designed for everyday use.
  • Pot Holders: A pair of double-layered, heat-resistant pot holders.
Alexandra Frost
Written by
Alexandra Frost is a Cincinnati-based journalist. Her work has appeared in Apartment Therapy, Glamour, Women's Health, Reader's Digest, and other publications.
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