Best Direct-to-Consumer Cookware for 2024: Made In, Caraway, Field Company and More – CNET

Updated Jan. 15, 2024 12:00 a.m. PT

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Direct-to-consumer products, including cookware, have seen a boom in the past several years. Whereas big retail brands previously had a stranglehold on the kitchen category, these spunky new DTC cookware companies offer new styles, surface materials and tailored cookware bundles, giving you more options than ever. 

There’s a wide range of online-only cookware that can fit into any kitchen design, and most brands offer all of the cooking essentials — from a chef’s knife and other kitchen tools to a stock pot, saucepan and nonstick cookware such as a nonstick skillet or nonstick pan. You’ll also find a sprawling selection of stainless steel pots, copper cookware and handy kitchen utensils, perfect for a home cook like you. Best of all, many are able to keep cookware quality high but prices low, which are two reasons as good as any to give direct-to-consumer cookware a serious look.

How is direct-to-consumer cookware different?

It’s natural to think that less expensive cookware is inherently lower quality, but that’s not necessarily the case with direct-to-consumer cookware.

Much of the cost of traditional cookware is added throughout the distribution process. Products pass through the hands of resellers, distributors and retailers, all of whom add a markup to the base price in order to make money. By the time any cookware lands in a store, the price has increased dramatically, and you end up paying a lot more than what the manufacturing costs were. That’s where direct-to-consumer companies come in.

These cookware brands skip the typical distribution chain, bypassing the middlemen and selling straight to customers instead. This typically means you have to buy their products online, but the upside is you’re getting the same high-quality goods for your cooking without the added costs, a difference which you can use to actually buy food to cook. What’s not to love about that?

So are you ready to shop? Take a look through your pantry for inspiration and get ready for some amazing kitchenware. Here are the eight best direct-to-consumer cookware brands you might want to welcome into your kitchen, which we update periodically.

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Made In is a popular cookware startup based in Austin, Texas, and one of our absolute favorite kitchen and cookware brands — not just within the DTC category. The company has taken notes from some of the best brands like All-Clad and uses only premium materials and high-end cookware manufacturer choices from around the world — which you can absolutely feel when you pick up its products. Unlike some of those other brands, Made In keeps prices on its luxury cookware relatively low by avoiding resale, distributor and retail markups.

What does it offer? Made In has a line of cookware including stainless steel sets, as well as a smaller collection of blue carbon steel cookware that is ideal for high-heat cooking (e.g. meats). Made In also has great nonstick and regular frying pans in a wide range of sizes, stockpots, sauté pans, saucers, woks and universal lids.&nbsp;

Beyond pots and pans, Made In also offers a variety of high-end kitchen knives, including chef’s knives, paring knives and more. Many of the products (including the pots and pans in its The Starter Kit) have a lifetime warranty. You can purchase items individually or in sets, but some of the more popular items are sold out, so you’ll want to get on the waitlist.

The brand is constantly adding new and interesting pieces to the collection like this carbon steel paella pan and a camping-inspired grill frying pan, both released this year.

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Made In is a popular cookware startup based in Austin, Texas, and one of our absolute favorite kitchen and cookware brands — not just within the DTC category. The company has taken notes from some of the best brands like All-Clad and uses only premium materials and high-end cookware manufacturer choices from around the world — which you can absolutely feel when you pick up its products. Unlike some of those other brands, Made In keeps prices on its luxury cookware relatively low by avoiding resale, distributor and retail markups.

What does it offer? Made In has a line of cookware including stainless steel sets, as well as a smaller collection of blue carbon steel cookware that is ideal for high-heat cooking (e.g. meats). Made In also has great nonstick and regular frying pans in a wide range of sizes, stockpots, sauté pans, saucers, woks and universal lids. 

Beyond pots and pans, Made In also offers a variety of high-end kitchen knives, including chef’s knives, paring knives and more. Many of the products (including the pots and pans in its The Starter Kit) have a lifetime warranty. You can purchase items individually or in sets, but some of the more popular items are sold out, so you’ll want to get on the waitlist.

The brand is constantly adding new and interesting pieces to the collection like this carbon steel paella pan and a camping-inspired grill frying pan, both released this year.

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One of our favorite up-and-coming cookware brands is Goldilocks (formerly called “Potluck”), which launched in 2018 and is dedicated to bringing professional-quality kitchen tools to home cooks at affordable prices. Its high-quality cookware is made in the same factories as other high-end brands, but priced significantly lower, thanks to the direct-to-consumer business model.

Goldilocks sells a variety of full kitchen sets, including a seven-piece essential cookware set ($175), three-piece knife set ($80) and a striking kitchen tool set with all the things you forgot to get for $80. You can also buy the full line — a 22-piece stainless steel cookware set of kitchen essentials — for under $300. The cookware pieces — which include 1.5- and 3-quart saucepans, a 10-inch skillet, an 8-quart stockpot and three lids — are stainless steel, and the knives are stamped from high-carbon steel. 

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This cookware brand is an offshoot of food website Food52 and sources much of its design and product innovation from actual chefs. That means it’s user-friendly with lots of clever detail, but it all looks pretty great too. Five Two sells full cookware sets as well as individual pieces, including stainless steel and nonstick. There’s also tons of gadgets, accessories and tableware to choose from, like this handsome roasting pan or these nifty silicone spoons, making it a great place to turn if you just need a piece here or there or want to add some accessories to your collection.

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Founded by three brothers, this stainless steel cookware has drawn the praise of big-name chefs like Bobby Flay. It has a simple, streamlined design similar to All-Clad’s, and uses five-ply construction like other high-end stainless steel cookware but at a more approachable price tag.

All the Sardel cookware is made in Italy and the direct-to-consumer brand sells a range of fry pans, saucepans and stockpots starting at just $75. Or you can snag the entire eight-piece set for $595, which includes a nonstick fry pan in addition to the stainless steel wares.

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