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The first thing I noticed when my new Caraway cookware and bakeware sets arrived on my porch was how absurdly huge the boxes were. What a waste, I thought as I unpacked my new ceramic nonstick gear.
Upon further inspection, the internal shipping boxes were actually really nice (so nice that I ended up saving and reusing them) but there was a practical reason they were so big, too. As I unearthed different pieces, I found that in addition to the colorful cookware, I’d also received actually-functional storage for everything in the sets—including the lids.
Earlier that week, I’d wandered the aisles of Target looking for a way to store all of the saucepans and sheet pans I was testing at the time. My pot rack was already supporting the weight of so much 5- and 7-ply stainless steel, I was a little worried it was going to tear itself away from the wall, bringing a huge hunk of plaster and maybe even a 100-year-old stud down with it. The lower cabinet where I keep muffin tins and cake pans had also runneth over, as had what little open kitchen shelving I managed to clear to make more room for freestanding lid and sheet pan racks.
TL;DR? I was desperate for more—or perhaps better—ways to store all of the cookware that was temporarily taking over my home. So I was pleasantly surprised, and even a little delighted, to find that Caraway’s sets came with their own clever storage solutions.
The cookware set—which includes a fry pan, saucepan, sauté pan, and Dutch oven—had shipped with four U-shaped plastic dividers of the same height that can be used individually or held together magnetically to be used in a row. Each is the perfect width for one of the pots or pans to securely rest on its side in a cabinet or on a shelf. It’s a smart, versatile storage solution for anyone who’d rather not hang their pans (which also have holes on the ends of the handles).
There’s storage for the lids, too: a durable canvas panel with strips to hold each of the three included lids compactly in place. The panel has two grommets and can be mounted inside of a cabinet door or on a wall with the included adhesive hooks. And if you’d rather not do anything even semi-permanent to the surfaces in your home, you can use super-strong magnetic hooks to put the whole thing on the fridge.
As much as I loved the cookware storage, I was even more impressed with the caddies that came with the Caraway bakeware. Both the 5-piece and 11-piece sets come with slim structured caddies that allow for streamlined vertical storage of the sheet pans, muffin tins, and cake pans. The two caddies that come with the larger set fit perfectly side-by-side in the narrow cabinet where I keep (and previously and just haphazardly crammed) my bakeware. It was such a perfect fit for my kitchen that it inspired me to get rid of all of my old, scratched up stuff and start fresh with Caraway–though I did hold onto a few other baking sheets.
My only hesitation with the bakeware caddies is that they’re covered in fabric, but because they’re nestled into a closed cabinet, I’m not too worried about them getting dusty or grimy.
If you’re thinking you might just buy the storage to use with your own pots and pans, you can’t; these caddies are only available with the purchase of a set. And as much as I like using it, Caraway’s cookware isn’t for everyone. In addition to the fact that it’s pricey, ceramic nonstick is delicate and requires special care and cleaning, and even then it’s not going to last forever. We also don’t generally recommend full sets because the best set is the one you build yourself with our recommended pots and pans (while I use the shallow Caraway pans daily, I didn’t keep every piece because I don’t have much need for a non-stick saucepan and you can pry my Le Creuset Dutch oven from my cold dead, hands).
All of that said, if you want a full set of truly nonstick cookware that looks great and comes with smart storage, it’s worth considering Caraway–even if, like me, you end up giving away a few pieces and still holding onto all of the storage.
