Caraway’s New Stainless Steel Collection Is Stunning — And It’s Up to 20% Off

The Kitchn team members are no strangers to Caraway’s cookware and bakeware. The candy-colored nonstick pots and pans are favorites around here. And while everyone has their tried-and-true favorite pieces of cookware, I generally prefer the longevity and durability of stainless steel cookware over the usual nonstick stuff. 

Despite their frequent appearances in my social media feeds, I was never swayed to purchase because of my own lifestyle and personal preferences. But when I heard that Caraway launched stainless steel cookware, I was immediately in. 

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What Is the Caraway Stainless Steel Collection?

Caraway’s nontoxic ceramic nonstick cookware and bakeware has earned plenty of fans. Their Stainless Steel cookware collection is the latest addition to their family of products. Each piece is made up of five layers of metal — two outer layers of stainless steel encase three layers of conductive aluminum. These layers ensure quick and even heating, helping to avoid hot spots and burned food. Stainless steel is also a nontoxic cooking material, which aligns with the company’s established values.

What’s Included in the Caraway Stainless Steel Collection?

Caraway’s stainless steel collection includes four main pieces of cookware, which you can buy a la carte or in various set sizes. To get the full experience, I tested the 4-piece Cookware Set which includes a 10.5-inch fry pan, a 3-quart saucepan, a 4.5-quart sauté pan, and a 6.5-quart Dutch oven. It also includes three lids, one of them working for both the Dutch oven as well as the skillet.

In addition to the cookware, the set also includes a couple of bonus organizational pieces — a hanging organizer for the lids, and a set of modular, magnetic organizers to keep the pots and pans neatly within reach.

The use and care booklet included in the set covers a lot of good information. The main points were to limit the stovetop to medium heat, skip metal utensils, and opt to hand-wash for the best longevity of the cookware.  

I did a little dance when I saw the big Caraway box get dropped on my doorstep. I immediately hauled it in and opened it up to find luxe-looking silver packaging. Opening the box revealed a lovely set of pots and pans all thoughtfully packaged. (And no plastic!)

An Honest Review of the Caraway Stainless Steel Collection

Overall, I really liked Caraway’s stainless steel pots and pans. I used this set exclusively over a long weekend, cooking for my family of four, plus a dinner party with a few more guests. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were really only a couple of instances where I couldn’t opt for one of these four pieces. It was a bit of a Goldilocks situation — nothing was too big or too small, but just right for the task at hand. 

The biggest appeal was their size and capacity because each piece was sort of an in-between size from what you typically would find in a standard set of pots and pans. I also really like the ratio of the depth to height. There was enough open space to feel like you could move around and get into the pot without them being really wide and tricky to store because of their footprint. And if you needed to maneuver the pots around the burners, the lightweight construction wouldn’t give you an arm workout.

I was surprised to see that Caraway doesn’t recommend the use of metal utensils with these pots and pans. I like stainless steel cookware specifically because I lean so heavily on metal whisks and fish spatulas in my everyday cooking. I still used my metal utensils, but was a bit more gentle when cooking with the Caraway set, and things seemed fine. I also like that you’re able to throw stainless steel cookware in the dishwasher, so that I have the option not to hand-wash. Caraway doesn’t recommend this, though, to protect the cookware’s longevity, but I tossed mine in the dishwasher several times to test, and there were no immediate effects that I noticed.

Review of the Caraway Stainless Steel 10.5-Inch Fry Pan

This size of a pan isn’t uncommon, but is definitely a middle-of-the-road size when it comes to skillets. It’s a good addition to most kitchens. I used it to brown butter, sauté shrimp, make a grilled cheese, and fry eggs. Everything worked wonderfully. The eggs especially were a pleasant surprise. They released from the pan without too much manual coaxing.

Review of the Caraway Stainless Steel 3-Quart Saucepan

I have a 2-quart saucepan, and I have a 4-quart saucepan. This 3-quart option truly is a great in-between size that’s perfect for sautéing ingredients before a quick simmer like a small batch of soup or a quick pot of rice. The rounded corners also made it easy when stirring and sautéing — so much easier to maneuver a spoon in there from edge to edge. If you’re making rice, a quick heads-up that the steam vent will gunk up, so shift the lid around to let out the steam every now and then.

Review of the Caraway Stainless Steel 6.5-Quart Dutch Oven

I’ve known that my kitchen setup could use a stainless pot this size for a while now. I also tend to operate in a “make it work” mindset, working with what I’ve got instead. That said, I would have greatly benefitted from adding this to my collection ages ago. While it would have been an extra expense for sure, it’s also made just four days of cooking noticeably more convenient. That sort of exchange is worth the cost in some situations.

Review of the Caraway Stainless Steel 4.5-Quart Sauté Pan

I have a 3.5-quart straight-sided skillet that I rarely use. It’s rarely the right size and shape for anything I’m cooking. A regular sauté pan or a deeper Dutch oven tend to be the better options. But this 4.5-quart stainless sauté pan is such a great size and shape. (It reminds me a bit of my beloved 5-quart enameled cast iron braiser.) Notably, it fits an entire pound of pasta. The very first dish I made after receiving this set was caramelized tomato paste pasta. I boiled the pasta in the Dutch oven while building the sauce in this sauté pan. I was able to easily combine the pasta and sauce without losing any pieces overboard. I also made a batch of chicken kare raisu. The wide cooking surface meant I didn’t have to brown the chicken in batches. But I was still able to fit the entire batch of meat, vegetables, and sauce in a single sauté pan. I know this pan is going to get serious use.

Review of the Caraway Stainless Steel Lids

The lids create a tight seal, but the large handle is top heavy and a little awkward to handle. The heavy metal design of the handles also means they get quite hot, so have your hot pads ready.

The underside of the lid is also completely flat. Every other lid I own has either a bit of a dome, or a couple of rivets from the handle. These help the moisture drip back down into the pot. If you have the lid on the pot for any length of time, be sure to pick it up at an angle to allow the condensed moisture to release back into the dish. The steam vent got pretty gunked up specifically when I was making rice.

Review of the Caraway Stainless Steel Pan & Lid Storage

This set comes with a “docking station” of sorts for the pots and pans for Instagram-worthy countertop storage. Personally, I try to keep my countertops as clean as possible, but it’s still helpful beyond aesthetics — it’s easier to grab a singular piece without having to unstack a bunch of things.

Depending on how you store your cookware as well as your kitchen layout, the concept of the hanging holder may or may not work. I appreciate having all the lids in one spot as opposed to storing them in another cabinet, and my mid-century kitchen cabinet doors aren’t the best candidates to hang heavy lids with fairly permanent hanging hardware. This didn’t personally work for me, but I appreciate that storage was factored into this set — especially if you like to display your cookware.

Is Caraway’s Stainless Steel Cookware Worth It?

I think the size and flexibility of these pots and pans are great if you regularly cook for about four people. As a set, this collection feels very well-rounded so this is a really great starter set for someone who might be stocking their kitchen from scratch, but it’s also great for well-stocked kitchens. Even in my own well-stocked kitchen, only the 10.5-inch sauté pan resembled anything I already owned.


Buy: 4-Piece Stainless Steel Cookware Set, $556 (normally $845)