6-Month Caraway Home Cookware Review

**This post was made possible by Caraway Home. All opinions are my own.

It has been a good six (plus!) months since we started using Caraway Home cookware, and I figured it was high time I wrote up a candid review. There’s no skirting around the fact that this cookware collection is pricey, so I understand how nerve-wracking it can be to make the investment. That’s why I wanted to get all of my thoughts down somewhere that you could reference as needed before taking the plunge to upgrade your pots and pans. Keep scrolling for my honest review (spoiler: we genuinely do love it), and click here to take advantage of my 10% off automatic discount at Caraway Home.

First, a quick explanation of what you get in the box. You can buy the four items in their collection individually, but my review is going to focus on the full set since that’s what I know. You get the most for your money if you spring for the full collection since you end up getting several extras that the individual items don’t come with. That’s my first tip: if budget allows, go for the 4-piece set versus the individual items.

At any rate, the full set comes with the Fry Pan, Sauce Pan, Sauté Pan, and Dutch Oven. Those bonus items I mentioned above include their Canvas Lid Holder and Magnetic Pan Racks, which make it so easy to store the cookware (we keep ours out on the counter, but you can easily tuck them in a cabinet if you prefer). I believe most, if not all, of the packaging is recyclable cardboard, too, which is something I really appreciate.

I decided to order our set in ‘Sage’ green to help hide inevitable kitchen stains that crop up on our much-loved, often-used cookware. I’ve seen others who have gotten the set in ‘Cream,’ and, while lovely, I will say that those people have talked about how normal cooking stains on the underside of the pan show up really easily on the cream since it’s such a light color. So, with that said, I would opt for their darker colors if you think you’ll be using your pots and pans daily. The stains are perfectly normal and inevitable, but I just wanted to call out that detail in case, like me, looks matter to you.

I’m no scientist, and I, honestly, don’t have a lot of patience for high level talk about chemicals, etc. I’m an all-over-the place creative artist. I don’t have time to research or even fathom the kinds of bad things that cookware might come manufactured with! I’m half joking, but really…I just want to be able to use my pots and pans trusting that they’re safe for us to eat off of. So, I’m glad that Caraway Home has done all of that thinking for me, and made their cookware free of all the really nasty chemicals we all need to avoid. Here’s what it says on their website (copy/pasting here because it’s basically in a different language to me and I can’t paraphrase, haha):

Our cookware set’s coating does not include potentially toxic materials like PFOA, PTFE, other PFAs, lead, cadmium, or toxic metals. We also refrain from using any form of hard anodization.

You can read up on all of the nitty gritty stuff, if that’s your thing, on their website here, but that statement above is pretty much all I personally need to hear. The one negative thing I have to say about Caraway Home cookware, though, might have something to do with its construction: the bigger items are pretty darn heavy. It’s probably not a problem for most people, but I’ve been dealing with some health issues around my wrists, and I have trouble lifting and rotating the pans in the sink, like when I go to wash them or dump pasta into a colander. No lie, though, that’s the only even slightly negative thing I could say about this cookware. If you’re strong and/or have a cooking buddy, you’ve got no problems.

The last main thing I wanted to touch on, because it took me a while to get used to, is the heat setting. The instructions that come with your Caraway Home cookware clearly state that you shouldn’t cook above low or medium heat. It was a bit of a struggle in the beginning for me to pull a 180 on my high heat cooking habits, but it was for the best. Truthfully. Things take a little longer to cook on medium heat, but the food is cooked more evenly and definitely tastes better (no more chewy chicken or burnt veggies).

And when I say it takes “longer to cook,” I don’t mean hours or even half an hour longer. We’re talking a few extra minutes here and there. My scrambled eggs, for example, used to take like three minutes, but slow scrambled eggs on my Caraway Home Fry Pan take more like eight now. I should mention that they taste world’s away better using this lower, slower method.

Another thing I should say is that I still cook pasta on high. I’m not about to sit there for thirty minutes waiting on 10-minute pasta to cook over medium or low heat from start to finish. So far, this hasn’t hurt our pots, so I feel okay admitting the faux pas to you.

A couple of rapid fire other benefits coming at you next! We barely ever use cooking oils anymore because the non-stick coating is that good—you don’t need it. Unless we need the oil or butter for added flavor in a dish, we don’t use it, and there has been no issue with food sticking to the pan. Oh, and cleanup is a breeze! We use a soft plastic brush for cleaning with dish soap, and it’s done in practically no time at all. I think that’s a benefit of cooking on the lowest heat setting possible: no stuck-on food, and the ceramic finish is still good as new.

So, that’s that! I hope you found my review helpful. I know exactly how it feels to worry before making a big online purchase, especially when you can’t touch and feel the item in question in person. It’s scary, but I can safely say that this cookware is worth the investment. Now that I know so much more about the chemicals and nasty stuff found in the cheap pots and pans I used to get every other year from Big Box discount stores, I’ll never go back.

Even if we eventually wear out our Caraway Cookware (many years from now, of course), I would still reinvest my pennies into the collection. We cook so much more at home now than we ever have before, and I really value knowing that our pots and pans are chemical-free. I cringe to think about all of the Teflon and other toxins we’ve probably ingested over years of using crappy pots and pans…Never again.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I do have a discount that the kind folks over at Caraway Home have given me to pass along to you. If I’ve convinced you to give this collection a try, click here for 10% off (it’ll apply directly to your cart—no code needed) now through July 15.

I also have a 10% off discount link to give you if you like the vintage Revival rug you’ve seen throughout this post! Revival recently teamed up with Caraway Home to help inspire all-around style and function at home, and I’m so here for it. To take advantage of that, just click here. Again the discount will be added to your cart automatically, so you don’t need to include a code. Both links/discounts expire July 15, so hop to it if you’re looking to upgrade your rugs and/or cookware. Email me or comment below if you have any questions. As always, I’m more than happy to share our personal experience.

*I earn a small percentage from purchases made using the affiliate links above. Affiliate links are not sponsored. Rest assured that I never recommend products we wouldn’t use or don’t already love ourselves.