An Extremely Honest Caraway Cookware Review

Are you ready to upgrade your pots and pans and looking for a Caraway Cookware review to decide if they are worth the hype and the hefty price tag? I took the plunge and bought them, and I want to share an honest review with anyone on the fence.

Replacing pots and pans is a big deal! You use them daily, so they need to be workhorses, and they are an investment. If you’re anything like me, you will do tons of research to find the best fit for you and your family. If your research has led you to Caraway, you landed in the right place!

You’re going to learn all the pros and cons of this set. I’ll share honest opinions about the cost, storage, colors, and even a comparison to an older, more traditional set. I’ll give you some other non-toxic sets to check out before you decide what works for your family.

This post is an extremely honest Caraway Cookware review to help you decide if they are right for you and your family.

A Caraway Cookware Review To Help You Decide If These Pots Are Right For You

Caraway Cookware sets have a ton of pros and some cons to consider before you dive right into this purchase. I will break down everything I have experienced before and after buying them. A ton of research was done before this purchase and sharing is caring! It’s always great to start with the pros!

PRO #1: Caraway Cookware Is Non-Toxic

Caraway’s ceramic coating is completely non-toxic, even if you scratch it! Some cookware sets contain harmful chemicals (like forever chemicals) that can leach into foods and cause health issues. The more scientists study the chemicals used to make pots and pans nonstick, the more they find that we could get sick just from using them. In fact, the Caraway brand was started because the founder, Jordan Nathan, experienced the “Teflon flu” from an over-heated non-stick pan. You can read his story HERE.

When I took a hard look at my old pots, it was easy to notice the wear and tear. It doesn’t take a scientist to conclude that my family was slowly eating the Teflon that once made this pan non-stick.

Pro#2: They Heat Up Really Fast

When I tell you they heat fast, I mean it. If you currently turn your burner on high for a while to heat your skillet, get ready for a shock with these pots. I have never had a set of cookware heat this quickly, and it took some getting used to. I almost burned my onions! So, warn anyone planning to cook with Caraway that they don’t need to sit on a high burner for very long to heat on a flame. They are ready to work when you are!

Also, and even more importantly, they heat evenly. But somehow it’s more exciting to watch your pasta water boil at lightning speed!

Pro#3: They Are Non-Stick, For Real

If you are a Teflon user like I was, it’s hard to believe that anything could be non-stick in the same way. I read all the Caraway reviews and still expected some stick. Believe me when I tell you, these pots and pans are BETTER THAN TEFLON. We have cut down on oil and butter, and our fried eggs slide right out of the skillet. If leaving the non-stick Teflon world is worrying you, I assure you, your food won’t stick!

Pro#4: They Come With Organizers

I have owned a few new sets of pots in my life, but I have never bought one that came with organizers. I was a little giddy to get a sweet set of magnetic organizers made just for my new pots. They even came with an organizer for the lids. (more on that to follow). I was a little worried about space when I first got my set because I have a really old kitchen with original cabinets. To save space I used to stack my pots, but Caraway cookware should be stored upright. A full and mini set fit with the organizers into my tiny cabinet, so I’m betting they will work for most kitchens.

Pro#5: You Can Add To Your Set Over Time

Caraway sets come in a variety of sizes and cute colors, and you can check them out HERE. Say you want to start with a small set or even a single piece; you can slowly add to your set over time and stay with your color scheme. I chose the light grey color, and even if I choose to add a cast iron set in the future, it comes in the same matching grey! They also make great gifts that you can add to year after year. I already added a ceramic bakeware piece to my collection. Check out the Caraway bakeware HERE.

AS A SIDE NOTE: I originally ordered the cream set and hoped it would match my white kitchen. It is not at all white. It’s more of a buttery cream which was way too yellow to go with my kitchen. If you’re hoping the cream could be white – it’s not.

Con#1: They Are Super Expensive

(The lids aren’t pictured here.)

Ok…, it’s time to get real. These pots are crazy expensive, I mean almost $600.00 for this set feels like a lot. After learning more about issues with our old non-stick pots, I decided to take the plunge and pay the price. I didn’t like the idea of my family ingesting Teflon and knew I still wanted the non-stick feature. I checked out some other non-toxic pot sets but settled on Caraway because I could expand my set for years and eventually convert fully to ceramic. I’ll link some of my other pot ideas at the bottom of this post in case you are curious about the competition. Just an FYI, ceramic pots are just expensive, no matter the brand.

Con#2: The Handles Heat Up

I read other reviews stating that the handles heat up, and they’re right. It’s not a huge deal to me because it happened with my old set, too, but if you’re not used to it, be careful. I was cautious because I knew to be. Just let everyone who will use them know they need to grab the handles with a potholder. This isn’t a huge con for me, but I wanted to mention it in case this matters to you.

Con#3: They Can Stain

So many people wrote in that Caraway can stain. I guess that’s true, but the company sends a cleaner sponge in the package to take care of any residue or stains in your pots. I think the issue could be the color palette of these pots. My old sets were dark grey steel, so it was hard to see a little stain or scratch. Caraway comes in a ton of colors and many are light and bright that will easily show marks.

Because this is a completely honest review, I want to share that I have not had a single issue with a stain or a scratch on my set. I have browned meat and onions in them, I have cooked with tomatoes and other staining foods and everything cleaned right out. I haven’t had them for long so I will continue to update you on how they are holding up.

Con#4: You Might Need To Add Pieces To The Original Set

The basic set that Caraway sells doesn’t feel like a complete set of cookware for a functioning kitchen. It’s a good place to start if you’re replacing your pots slowly, but if you want to switch right over, I think you need to add pieces or get a bigger bundle set. The basic set consists of a very small skillet, saucepan, dutch oven, and a saute pan. You Can Check It Out HERE.

My old set came with so many more pieces that I bought the basic set and the mini set. You can click here to view the bundle set I purchased. If I’m being completely transparent, I kept some of my old pots for a few weeks just to be sure I had all my bases covered with this bigger set. And so far so good!

Con#5: The Organizers Aren’t Perfect

Getting organizers with a set of pots can be both a blessing and a curse. The blessing to have a perfect system to store them and the curse comes when they don’t work for your space. I’m sure it’s never a great idea to stack pots, but you definitely shouldn’t stack THESE pots and the company makes that very clear. Stacking them can scratch the non-stick surface.

The organizers are great in some ways. The pot organizers are magnetic and can be moved around individually so you can arrange them so they fit better in your space. Some people also like the way the organizers look so much they leave them out on display. My biggest complaint about the pot organizer is that the mini set came as a fixed piece. I was hoping to put all of my pots together on one shelf and the skillets on another shelf. But, the fixed mini-set organizer forced me to keep that set together and even the lid had to be stored with it. Luckily it worked out for me. It might not work for everyone so measure a few times to be sure.

The set also comes with a lid organizer which is great, if it fits your cabinet. This organization system was a huge flop for me. My older cabinets just couldn’t accommodate the large organizers that came with this set. I was planning to get creative and cut and resew it to fit, but that wasn’t even an option because of the way it’s constructed. In the end, I opted to go with a different cabinet door lid organizer from Amazon and it all worked out just fine. (I later saw that Caraway also has another organization system for lids. You can check out this option here.)

My Overall Thoughts On Caraway Cookware

They’re super pricey, but I am happy I spent the money. After all the research I did, I feel like I made the best choice for my family. We have been using them daily for about a month now and they really are the best and most beautiful pots and pans I have ever owned.

I highly recommend them! But research for yourself!

An Extremely Honest Caraway Cookware Review