Caraway vs Our Place: The Question Neither Brand Answers

Declaring it: affiliate links appear in this article and a purchase through one earns us a commission. We still opened with the section that costs both brands sales.

Most comparisons start with colours and handle shapes. Let's start somewhere more useful.

Neither of these is forever cookware. Ceramic nonstick wears out, on both brands, and that single fact reshapes the entire Caraway vs Our Place decision. So we'll deal with it first and get to the pretty pictures afterwards.

How Long the Coating Actually Lasts

Two independent long-term tests, two slightly different numbers, one consistent conclusion.

NonToxicLab's testers, cooking four to five times a week, put realistic expectations at one to three years of good nonstick performance with careful handling. At the twelve-month mark they found Caraway holding up better, while the Always Pan had started degrading in the centre.

Prudent Reviews was harsher. Their long-term testing found both pans deteriorating noticeably after about a year, and described both as “almost unusable” by eighteen months.

Take the range rather than either extreme. Somewhere between one and three years, depending entirely on how you treat them. And note the agreement in both tests: Caraway lasted longer than Our Place, likely down to a thicker coating.

One clarification worth making

This applies to cookware, the pans that sit on direct stovetop heat. Bakeware is a gentler environment and holds up considerably longer. Don't read stovetop lifespan figures as a verdict on a brand's baking sheets.

What That Does to the Price

Here's why the lifespan question comes first.

Run the numbers. A $445 set replaced every three years works out at $148 a year. The $269 set on the same timeline is $90. Neither figure is alarming, and both sit a long way from the heirloom framing this category likes to imply when it photographs cookware next to a marble worktop and a bowl of lemons.

Buy either one as a consumable. The price feels fair then. Buy it expecting a decade and you'll feel cheated in year two.

The Titanium Development

This is the part most comparison articles haven't caught up with.

Our Place now sells a Titanium Always Pan Pro line, $85 for the 8.5 inch and $115 for the 10.5 inch, with a Titanium Pro Cookware Set at $399. Titanium nonstick is a different surface to ceramic, and its whole selling point is lasting longer.

Read that as an admission and an upgrade at the same time. A brand doesn't launch a more durable alternative unless the durability complaints landed. If coating lifespan is your main worry, that line deserves a look before you commit to ceramic from either company.

Current Prices

Note what the table does to a common assumption. At set level Our Place undercuts Caraway meaningfully, $269 against $445, which flips the usual framing that Caraway is the value option. That framing came from comparing individual pans, where the picture genuinely does look different.

The Oven Gap

A hundred degrees separates them. That matters more than it sounds.

Caraway runs to 550°F, lids included. The Always Pan 2.0 stops at 450°F. The original Always Pan wasn't oven-safe at all.

What that gap really decides is whether you can start something on the hob and finish it in a hot oven without dirtying a second dish, which is how a huge number of weeknight recipes are actually written. Roast chicken thighs. Cornbread. Anything wanting proper heat. Caraway handles it. Our Place sends you looking for a roasting tin.

What Annoys People About Each

1. Caraway. Straight sides make sliding food out awkward, juices run down the outside, and the polished steel handles get extremely hot with no grip when wet.
2. Our Place. The all-in-one idea struggles at scale. The 2.6 quart capacity suits one or two people rather than a family, and the helper handle also conducts heat.

Both complaints are design, not defects. But if you cook for four, the Always Pan's capacity is the single most likely thing to frustrate you, and no amount of colour choice fixes it.

So Which One

Caraway for most kitchens. It lasts longer by both accounts, goes hotter in the oven, and gives you proper individual pieces rather than one pan doing eight jobs badly.

Our Place if you're cooking for one or two, short on cupboard space, and drawn to the minimalist idea. It's cheaper at set level, and the titanium line is the smarter buy within that range.

Anyone comparing Caraway vs Always Pan specifically should weigh capacity hardest. That's where the Always Pan concept either works for your household or quietly doesn't.

Final Verdict

Caraway takes it on longevity, oven range and practicality for families, which covers most people reading a Caraway vs Our Place comparison. Our Place wins on price and on saving space, and its titanium line is the most interesting thing either brand has launched recently. Buy whichever suits your kitchen, use wooden utensils, wash by hand, and treat the coating as something that runs down rather than something you own forever.

FAQs

Which lasts longer, Caraway or Our Place?

Caraway, in both independent tests reviewed here. Expect roughly one to three years of good nonstick from either, depending on care.

Is Caraway or Our Place cheaper?

Our Place at set level, $269 against Caraway's $445. Compare individual pans and the gap narrows considerably.

Can both go in the oven?

Caraway to 550°F including lids. The Always Pan 2.0 to 450°F, and the original Always Pan not at all.

Are they dishwasher safe?

Neither. Hand washing and wood or silicone utensils are what extend the coating.

What is the titanium Always Pan?

A newer Our Place line using titanium nonstick instead of ceramic, from $85, aimed squarely at the durability complaints.

Is either one non-toxic?

Both use coatings free of PTFE, PFOA and PFAS. Caraway publishes third-party testing through TUV Rheinland.

Pricing was accurate at the time of writing. Both brands discount frequently, so confirm current prices before ordering.