I Tried Caraway’s Stainless Steel Cookware (and Now I Have a Michelin Star)

There are so many kinds of cookware and kitchen tools out there. While many of us have long abandoned the arsenal of random, passed-down kitchenware that populated our shelves in college, it’s still not always clear which of our impeccably curated items should be used for certain tasks. We all have a greatest-hits list of bad kitchen decisions; mine includes burning a Dutch oven, and my partner’s historic and ultimately tragic struggle in The Great Japanese Chef’s Knife vs. Whole Chicken Battle of 2022. But that’s just part of cooking. What was it Uncle Ben said to Spider-Man about how with great saucepans comes the need for great temperature control? The man knew what he was talking about. Anyway, RIP, Uncle Ben—you would have loved stainless steel cookware.

A formidable player in the NWOVNC (New Wave of Very Nice Cookware), Caraway is beloved—and rightly so—for its excellent kitchenware, from nonstick pots and pans and bakeware to its more recent forays into food storage and prepware. Whatever it’s making, the brand is clearly intent on decking out our kitchens with gear fit for upscale French chefs from the 60s. Fine by us. 

One of Caraway’s newest lines is a stainless steel cookware set, and we’re always on the lookout for high-quality, affordable bundles of pots and pans that will stand the test of time, so we knew we owed it to Uncle Ben to test it out. Here’s what makes the set stand out, and how it performed when I took it to task.

The full stainless steel set comes with a 10.5-inch fry pan, a 3-quart saucepan, a 4.5-quart sauté pan, and a 6-quart Dutch oven. There’s also a hanging storage compartment for all the lids, which I’ve handily installed on the back side of my pantry door. Plus, there’s a countertop unit to organize the set and keep it propped up, if you have the space for it. You can buy the pieces separately or in one amazing set.

This gear is definitely for higher-temperature cooking. As opposed to Caraway’s original ceramic-coated non-stick set, these pieces are made of 5-ply steel and no ceramic material (which is to say it’s basically just a bunch of metal.) However, for many purposes, this is a good thing. Stainless steel conducts heat evenly and thoroughly, and is non-toxic, free of chemical byproducts like PTFE, PFOA, and PFAS. Since ceramic cookware is more naturally nonstick, you’ll want to reserve it for medium heat and lower and not use much cooking fat, since it can burn if it’s too hot. In any case, if you use it properly, it’s surprisingly easy to clean and maintain. This stainless steel, on the other hand, is perfect for sautéing and frying, but the tradeoff is that you need to add at least a tablespoon of oil or butter prior to the food it doesn’t stick. 

Learning how to use and maintain stainless steel correctly can feel like a homework assignment. But then again, you paid a few hundred dollars for this extremely good cookware—it should be your responsibility to keep it in good shape (thanks again, Uncle Ben). I won’t list all the rules here, but a few big boppers are: Hand wash the pans with warm water, use only on low to medium heat, don’t use oil sprays or aerosols, forgo salt until the food is hot, and definitely under no circumstances use anything metal or with pointy edges on it. There’s a learning curve to using these, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be cooking burgs with the best of ‘em.

I mean, anything you buy that’s nice and an investment is going to take a while to get used to. You don’t buy a car without knowing how to drive one, or an expensive chef’s knife without having decent knife skills. (Actually, I’ve seen a lot of people do that, LOL.) In any case, it did take me a few meals to really get the hang of these bad boys, but now using them is both second nature and a joy. 

I’m NGL—overall, the full stainless steel set goes extremely hard. The first time I used the sauté pan, I was making veggies for a stir fry. Since I was coming off using other pans that don’t require much oil, I definitely didn’t use enough before putting in my mushrooms and eggplant… and let me tell you, they stuck immediately. Intellectually, I know that you want a layer of sizzling oil when you add that stuff, so they’ll start caramelizing and not stick to the pan; but in practice, I’m used to not needing much oil. Now, when I do a stir fry, or prepare a sauce, or get some bacon going, I make sure to keep that sucker oiled up, and the food that comes out of it is truly excellent. I’m a full stainless steel convert for everything from soups and pasta sauces to morning eggs.

TL;DR: Caraway has done it again. Don’t be intimidated by this set’s maintenance and proper usage; this is gorgeous gear you can have for many, many years if you use it the right way. To that point, if you don’t want to take the time to learn how to coax the best out of this excellent set, it may not be something you’ll want to invest in. 

Overall, Caraway’s stainless steel cookware set is an amazing line that can definitely take your range cooking to a professional level (if it wasn’t already there). Buy this set and the only other things you’ll need are a glass of wine and a killer cookbook full of cool things to make.

Check out Caraway’s stainless steel set here.

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