Caraway Ceramic Nonstick Double Burner Griddle Review: Is It Worth It?

Our rating for the Caraway Double Burner Griddle is 3.8 out of 5, and the review below gives the full verdict. The specs first.

The griddle looks like a piece of cookware you would leave out. The color range runs from Cream and Sage to Navy and Black, and the matte ceramic finish photographs well. At 6.3 pounds it is lighter than the stainless options we compare below.

It stands roughly 3.5 inches tall including the handles, and the cooking walls are low, about an inch. Beyond its appearance, the low walls give spatulas room to move, though grease and batter can spill over if you overload an edge.

19x12 Surface and Two-Burner Fit

The Caraway measures 19 inches long by 12 inches wide. Usable cooking area is a little smaller, about 18.5 by 11 inches, or just over 200 square inches. On a standard range it spans two adjacent burners, and that is the whole appeal: one pan, one batch.

Big batches are where the size pays off. We fit about 15 pancakes in two rounds, and the chicken tenders along the edges cooked as evenly as the ones in the middle. Before you buy, check that your burners sit close enough together and that the pan will rest flat on both grates.

PTFE/PFOA/PFAS-Free Ceramic Coating

The cooking surface is a ceramic nonstick coating made without PTFE, PFOA, PFAS, lead or cadmium. For shoppers moving away from traditional nonstick, that is the main reason to look at this pan. The tradeoff is familiar with ceramic. It releases beautifully when new, but it is more sensitive to heat, oil habits and metal tools than a conventional coating.

Pancakes and Eggs

This is where the griddle earns its keep. Pancakes and fried eggs release cleanly, and the surface needs only a tablespoon or two of oil or butter. Two quirks showed up. The cooking surface is slightly pitched, so pancake batter and raw egg flow unpredictably and come out misshapen, and our fried eggs slid toward the sides of the pan.

Preheating matters. A first batch cooked at too low a temperature browns poorly, so give the pan up to 90 seconds on low to medium heat before the batter goes down.

Searing and Heat Distribution

Food release is excellent, but heat distribution is the weak spot. The baseplate does not cover the whole base, so hotspots can develop. One side, or the left and right ends, can run hotter than the center, burning food in one spot while the rest cooks normally.

We would not buy this for hard searing. Ceramic is happiest at low to medium heat, and the lightweight body does not hold heat the way a heavier pan does. Smash burgers and steaks are better on cast iron or a heavy stainless griddle.

Gas, Electric, and Induction Cooktops

Caraway lists the griddle as compatible with all stovetops, including induction, and advises checking with your cooktop maker. On induction it works well and heats quickly when kept at medium to medium-high or lower. The catch is flatness. A unit that does not sit perfectly flat performs poorly on the cooktop. Bridge or zone-linked induction elements spread the heat best.

After the performance quirks, cleanup is the best part of owning it. A gentle wipe or soft scrub removes eggs and pancake residue. Caraway recommends hand washing, letting the pan cool before it meets water, and using wood, silicone or nylon tools; its page on how Caraway recommends cleaning its ceramic coating lays out the details. A metal spatula scratches the surface, so keep those in the drawer.

Durability is the open question. The nonstick performance can fade, with some units sticking to everything after a few months despite careful use and cleaning.

We have not run a controlled warping measurement, so we will not claim the pan warps every time. What we can say is that a unit can bow at low to medium heat within about a week, after which food sticks more than on other ceramic pans, particularly on induction.

A bowed base touches the burner unevenly, which explains the hotspots and the sticking in one step. If yours arrives flat and stays flat, it is a pleasant pan. If it does not, use the 30-day trial and send it back rather than hoping it settles.

We scored the Caraway 3.8 out of 5. Cleanup and looks pull the number up, and the generous cooking area helps. Hotspots, the pitched surface and an unproven durability record pull it down, which is why we treat longevity as the unknown rather than a given. Because the coating is the main reason to pick this pan over a stainless one, we weigh any sign of early fading heavily. A flat base, moderate heat and soft tools give it the best chance of staying slick, and the 30-day trial gives you a way out if it does not.

Caraway's closest rivals are heavier, stainless options, and we have reviewed three of them. HexClad and Our Place also make hybrid and ceramic griddles worth a look if the Caraway's coating worries you.

All-Clad Double Burner Griddle

The stainless build trades the Caraway's easy release for durability and better heat holding. Read our All-Clad double burner griddle review or see the All-Clad double burner griddles compared for the full picture.

Cuisinart MultiClad Pro Double Burner Griddle

A tri-ply construction aimed at cooks who want even heat without a coating to baby. Our Cuisinart MultiClad Pro double burner griddle review explains how it differs.

Hestan Provisions Double Burner Griddle

Another stainless option that suits cooks who prefer to season and scrape rather than baby a ceramic finish. See our Hestan Provisions double burner griddle review.

The Caraway suits a specific kind of cook. Buy it if you make pancakes, eggs and bacon for four or more, want a PTFE-free surface, cook on gas or electric at medium heat, and care more about cleanup than longevity. It also suits induction cooks willing to confirm the base sits flat out of the box.

For the opposite case, skip it if you want to sear hard, use metal tools, put cookware in the dishwasher, or expect a decade from a coating. A stainless griddle is the better bet there.