Caraway vs Our Place: Oven Heat, Warranty and PFAS Proof

Caraway vs Our Place is a closer contest than either brand’s marketing suggests, because both sell ceramic non-stick pans the makers say are made without PFAS, PTFE, lead and cadmium. Three differences hold up on paper. Caraway rates its ceramic cookware oven-safe to 550°F; Our Place rates the Always Pan to 450°F. Our Place gives three years of warranty cover on its Always Pan and Perfect Pot bought since May 1, 2025; Caraway gives one. And each brand’s PFAS-free claim was checked by a different outsider.

Below: the Always Pan 2.0 beside Caraway’s ceramic Fry Pan and Sauté Pan, what each outside check did and did not establish, the warranty fine print, and which pan suits which cook.

How this comparison was built: each manufacturer’s product, care, FAQ, testing and warranty pages, the National Advertising Division’s Case #7444 decision, and Consumer Reports’ 2022 PFAS test of non-stick pans. Toxin Free Lab performed no testing of either brand’s cookware and has no access to either coating formulation. Manufacturer ratings are reported as stated, not verified. Read how Toxin Free Lab audits products.

Caraway vs Our Place at a Glance

The table covers each brand’s ceramic non-stick only; both also sell other lines. Where a maker does not state a figure on the pages checked, the cell says so rather than filling the gap.

Match the sizes before comparing anything else. The Always Pan’s 10.5-inch diameter equals Caraway’s Fry Pan, but its 2.6-quart depth, lid and steamer basket make it work more like a sauté pan. Caraway’s Sauté Pan is the bigger pan: 12 inches across and 4.5 quarts, so it holds about 73% more (4.5 ÷ 2.6 = 1.73). If you cook for one or two, that matters more than the coating.

Same Ceramic Promise, Two Different Outside Checks

On coating claims, the two brands say almost the same thing. What differs is who checked the claim from outside, and how.

Caraway’s check was a challenge. The Cookware Sustainability Alliance, an industry group whose members include Groupe SEB and Meyer, took Caraway’s marketing to the National Advertising Division. NAD found Caraway had a reasonable basis for calling its own cookware “free of PFAS” and “non-toxic.” It reviewed the evidence Caraway submitted, including third-party lab testing, and did not test the coating itself. Our Caraway audit covers the decision in full.

Our Place’s check was a test. In October 2022 Consumer Reports tested non-stick frying pans for 96 PFAS chemicals and detected none of them in the Always Pan. Here is the complication. That was the original Always Pan. The 2.0 version, with the Thermakind coating sold today, launched in April 2023, so CR’s result describes the earlier pan. CR also names the other limit: thousands of PFAS exist, and most tests look for fewer than a hundred.

Both brands also publish their own lab results: Caraway links them from its product pages, and Our Place runs a Third-Party Testing & Lab Reports page. These are reports each brand chose to publish, not outside reviews, and the individual Our Place reports would not load for this comparison.

One open item sits on the Our Place side. In December 2025 the law firm Migliaccio & Rathod announced an investigation into marketing for the Titanium Always Pan Pro and Always Pan 2.0, including “PFAS-free” and durability claims, citing consumer reports of chipping and surface wear. An investigation notice is not a lawsuit and makes no finding; searches on October 3, 2026 found no filed complaint.

Neither check is a safety certification, and “non-toxic” has no federal definition for cookware. For a case where the same PFAS-free promise ended in a settlement, see our HexClad vs Caraway comparison.

Care Rules Match, Oven Ratings and Warranties Don’t

The two care regimes are close to interchangeable: low to medium heat, oil rather than aerosol sprays, no metal utensils, and hand washing once the pan has cooled. Our Place adds “never heat an empty pan”; Caraway’s care guide caps the preheat at 90 seconds.

The oven ratings are where they part. Caraway’s 550°F is 100°F above the Always Pan’s 450°F, so a recipe that finishes in the oven at 475°F or hotter sits outside the Always Pan’s rating and inside Caraway’s. Both figures describe what the makers say the pans withstand, not a recommended cooking temperature.

The warranty row needs a date. Our Place’s warranty policy gives three years from delivery for its ceramic nonstick Always Pan and Perfect Pot bought on or after May 1, 2025, and one year for anything bought earlier. Its Essentials Cookware line is the exception, at two years. Its own Always Pan page still describes a one-year warranty for the original Always Pan, and older comparisons repeat that figure. The policy is the governing document, so keep the order confirmation: the delivery date decides which term applies.

Length is not the whole story. Both warranties exclude normal wear, heat damage and scratches, so three years protects you against a defect, not a coating that slowly loses its release. Both require proof of purchase, so a secondhand buyer should not count on either.

Which One Fits How You Cook

There is no single winner here. Each brand leads on something you can check, and one popular deciding factor does not hold up.

• Caraway leads on oven heat and pan size. Its ceramic pans are rated 100°F hotter in the oven, and the 4.5-quart Sauté Pan suits bigger batches. Its PFAS-free claim also held up against a challenge brought by a cookware-industry group.
• Our Place leads on warranty and what is in the box. For pans bought since May 1, 2025, it offers three years of defect cover against Caraway’s one, and the Always Pan ships with a lid, a steamer basket that doubles as a colander and a beechwood spatula.
• Neither is worth choosing on the word “non-toxic.” Both make the same made-without claims for their ceramic coatings. The outside checks differ in kind, not in what they found.

Skip both if you want no coating to wear out. Our Place sells the Titanium Always Pan Pro as coating-free, oven-safe to 1,000°F (750°F in gold) and metal-utensil-safe, with a limited lifetime warranty; it is also named in the 2025 investigation notice. Caraway sells stainless steel and enameled cast iron. Cast iron and carbon steel need more technique but have nothing to wear off.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Caraway or Our Place non-toxic?

“Non-toxic” has no legal definition for cookware. Both brands say their ceramic coatings are made without PFAS, PTFE, PFOA, lead and cadmium. The National Advertising Division found Caraway had a reasonable basis for its PFAS-free and non-toxic claims in 2025. Consumer Reports found none of 96 PFAS in the original Always Pan in 2022.

Which has the longer warranty, Caraway or Our Place?

Our Place, for recent purchases. Its ceramic Always Pan and Perfect Pot carry three years from delivery if bought on or after May 1, 2025, and one year if bought earlier; its Essentials Cookware line carries two. Caraway offers one year from purchase. Both exclude normal wear, heat damage and scratches, so the term covers defects rather than how long the coating stays slick.

Which is oven-safe to a higher temperature?

Caraway. It rates its ceramic cookware oven-safe to 550°F, against 450°F for Our Place’s Always Pan 2.0. That 100°F gap matters for recipes that finish in a hot oven. Both figures are manufacturer ratings of what the pan withstands, not recommended cooking temperatures or independent measurements.

Is the Always Pan the same size as a Caraway pan?

It matches the diameter of Caraway’s 10.5-inch Fry Pan but works more like a sauté pan, holding 2.6 quarts with a lid. Caraway’s Sauté Pan is larger at 12 inches and 4.5 quarts, about 73% more capacity. Our Place lists the Always Pan at 3.9 lb with its lid; Caraway lists the Sauté Pan at 6.7 lb.

Has Our Place been sued over its PFAS-free claims?

Toxin Free Lab found no court ruling or NAD decision on Our Place’s coating claims. In December 2025 a law firm announced an investigation into marketing for the Titanium Always Pan Pro and Always Pan 2.0, including PFAS-free and durability claims. An investigation notice is not a lawsuit, and searches on October 3, 2026 found no filed complaint.