About Made In Cookware
The direct-to-consumer marketplace is ever expanding, so it’s natural that cookware has entered the scene. Made In is an ecommerce startup that designs premium pans, stock pots, knives, cookbooks, and other kitchenware through their online store.
Made In’s collection of kitchen essentials features quality stainless steel and carbon steel, engineered for durability and high performance.
Made In built up a reputation in the kitchen realm, having been endorsed by prominent media outlets like Forbes and Business Insider.
Since you’ve wandered onto this Made In cookware review, you’re probably wondering if the brand lives up to the hype surrounding it.
This in-depth look at Made In will answer that, highlight their top sellers, customer feedback, promotions and more, so you can decide for yourself if this cookware is worth the buy.
Overview of Made In
Made In is a relatively new US-based brand, founded in 2017 by brothers Chip and Jake in Austin, TX. Their roots run deep with cookware, having been raised in a family with a 100-year history of kitchen supply. A century of pots and pans is pretty impressive.
The brothers already had a solid knowledge base before starting their own company.
Made In began with their intentions to rethink the kitchenware landscape they grew up in.
Chip and Jake partnered with manufacturers in the US, France, and Italy to design superior kitchen products—like themselves, operating family-owned businesses that have spent generations learning the process of producing high quality kitchen tools.
Made In has come a long way since then. A little over three years later, their kitchenware is used in multiple 3-star Michelin restaurants and hotel groups across America.
For the foodies out there reading this Made In Cookware review, if you haven’t gone to a Michelin Star restaurant, put that on your bucket list.
I once went to a three-star Michelin bistro in Paris and had the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever tasted in my life. I still think of them fondly.
The brand’s specialty is stainless steel clad and Made In’s mission is to build the top-performing 5-ply cookware and offer it for half the price of their competitors.
Cladding, also known as ‘ply,’ refers to the number of metal layers along the base and sides of pots, pans, skillets, and so on. Cladding creates an efficient and evenly heated cooking surface.
A higher ply doesn’t necessarily mean higher quality, though. It’s the overall distribution of the ply that has the greatest effect on heat distribution.
We’ll get into the brand’s best selling products, but first, a sum up of this Made In cookware review:
Pros
- Premium, long lasting cookware and kitchen accessories
- Cookware performs strongly
- Products are offered at half the price compared to other premium cookware retailers
- Provides useful information on caring for cookware on the website and blog
Cons
- Higher than average pricing
Made in Cookware Review
Made In’s stainless steel clad collection consists of frying pans and nonstick frying pans, a butter warmer, a saute pan, saucepans, a saucier, stock pots, and silicone universal lids.
All of Made In’s stainless steel cookware can be conveniently tossed in the dishwasher. Next up in this Made In cookware review, we’ll get into their top-selling frying pans and saucier:
Made In 10” Stainless Steel Frying Pan Review
Made In Stainless Steel Frying Pans are available in 8”, 10”, and 12” sizes, with the last two being their most popular options. On the website, you get a sense of their relative capacities: a 10” pan holds two chicken breasts and a 12” pan will hold three to four.
The durable, 5-layered Stainless Steel Frying Pan is a workhorse—with its fast and even heat retention, they can heat up and sear meat in minutes, cook food slowly on low heat, and handle oven roasting up to 800F.
With the 10” Stainless Steel Frying Pan model pictured above, you can see that it’s pretty deep, so unless you stuff it with ingredients, you won’t have ingredients flying out of the pan.
It’s lightweight with the ergonomic, stay cool handle, the pan is easy to lift and move around.
If you’ve ever cooked with a pan and forgotten that the handle is hot and cursed your burning hand, you’ll know how useful (and much more safe) cool touch handles are.
Made In advises against using metal utensils with their stainless steel cookware. While this material is tough wearing and designed to last, metal utensils can cause superficial scratches and ruin the sleek and polished look of the steel.
The 8”, 10”, and 12” Stainless Steel Frying Pans cost $65, $75, and $89 respectively.
You can also pay in four installments using Klarna, and you can find more info about this purchase method in the FAQ section of this Made In cookware review.
Made In 3-Quart Stainless Steel Saucier Review
If you recognize this type of pan by sight and aren’t sure what it’s for: sauciers are specialized pans designed for creating sauces and gravies, but that’s not all they’re used for.
A 3-quart Saucier is a multitasking tool and can be used for sautéing, preparing soups, stews, and risotto, boiling rice and vegetables, and more.
The Made In Saucier has a uniquely rounded bottom to keep ingredients from getting stuck in the corners, and makes stirring and whisking easier.
Its 5-ply construction evenly cooks sauces from the pan’s base up to the walls with no hot spots. The Saucier is lightweight and also features a cool touch handle, so maneuverability isn’t an issue.
Made In’s 3-quart Saucier and lid was featured by NY Times for its solid performance. This pan is a bit of an investment for $99 up front or in four Klarna installments, but you’ll get a ton of use out of it since it’s so versatile.
Made in Cookware Frying Pan Review
Made In‘s carbon steel collection includes frying pans, a paella pan, grill frying pan, wok, a roasting pan and roasting rack, as well as pan sets and kits. Made In’s carbon steel cookware is induction compatible and also functions on glass stovetops.
Note that carbon steel should be seasoned prior to use, and never put it in the dishwasher. We’ll take a look at two of their most popular carbon steel frying pans:
Made In 10” Carbon Steel Frying Pan Review
Made In’s Carbon Steel Frying Pan was described as the “best carbon steel skillet” by Chowhound, which is a pretty big deal.
It’s available in 10” and 12” sizes and features a hybrid construction: the pan combines the capabilities of a cast iron skillet and a stainless steel frying pan.
It has cast iron’s heat retention, seasoning, and non-stick elements, paired with the heat control, lightness, and cooking speed of stainless steel. These pans are oven safe up to an impressive 1800F.
Like the Stainless Steel Frying Pans, these have great depth so you can stir and flip contents easily. The 10” size is ideal for searing a large steak or two smaller pieces of meat and frying up crispy sunny side up eggs.
The 12” pan can sear two large steaks, saute vegetables, and even roast an entire small-sized chicken. I’m starting to get hungry as I write this.
Made In Carbon Steel Frying Pans will set you back $69 for the 10” and $89 for the 12”, or you can pay through Klarna installments.
Made In 11″ Carbon Steel Grill Frying Pan Review
Made In’s 11″ Grill Frying Pan was also featured in NY Times, so stellar performance is its MO.
Its lightweight, conductive, and long-lasting carbon steel is engineered with 62 perforations, allowing for direct contact with flames.
It’s perfect for outdoor cooking: light enough to bring on a camping trip and heavy duty enough for daily grilling on the patio.
The Grill Frying Pan is heat tolerant up to 1800F and naturally nonstick, so you won’t waste time scraping ingredients off the bottom.
It’s priced at $75 up front, or can be purchased through Klarna installments.
Made in Cookware Knives Review
It’s obvious that good quality pots and pans affect how your meal will turn out, and the same goes for knives.
Made In Knives can be purchased individually, with attractive handle options in red, grey, and silver. You can also buy sets that include paring and utility knives if you want to assemble a serious knife collection.
Made In also designs accessories to take your cooking to the next level. To keep your pots and pans in mint condition, a stainless steel cleaner and carbon steel seasoning wax are available.
Made In offers an elegant, 100% maple butcher block, silicone universal lids for frying pans and pots, a handmade beechwood spoon, a sheet pan, and cookbooks. On to the top sellers:
Made In 8” Chef Knife Review
The Made In 8” Carbon Steel Chef Knife was deemed one of the best chef knives by Good Housekeeping.
This popular product is 100% fully forged carbon steel, meaning it’s constructed from a single rod of premium metal. The knife features a NITRO+ hardening treatment that ensures a sharp and long-lasting blade, with a handle secured by strong stainless steel rivets.
The Carbon Steel Chef Knife is lightweight and easy to maneuver with a 8.5” blade. Its versatile blade was specially designed to excel at slicing, chopping, dicing, deboning, mincing, and scoring dough.
The Made In Chef Knife costs $89 and can be paid for through Klarna installments. To add a personal touch, you can get the knife engraved for an extra $20.
Made In Cookware Sets Review
We all love the convenience of bundles. Why should cookware be any different? Made In has a variety of best-selling cookware sets that make buying your new kitchen upgrade simple, cost effective, and, frankly, a no brainer.
Let’s take a look at some of Made In’s most popular cookware sets.
Made In The Starter Kit Review
Made In also offers sets and kits to help outfit your kitchen, with some amounting to savings between 11% and 21%.
One of the best ones that covers all of the basics, is The Starter Kit. Including the:
- 10″ Stainless Steel Frying Pan
- 10″ Blue Carbon Steel Frying Pan
- 2 QT Saucepan with Lid
- 8 QT Stock Pot with Lid
- 2 oz can Carbon Steel Seasoning Wax
Three of these products are themselves bestsellers with the brand all on their own. But in this set, they become your go-tos in the kitchen.
What else is great about this set? It actually won Consumer Reports’ Best Stainless Steel Cookware Set for 2019. Talk about reliability when it comes to Made In.
All for the low price of $530 down from $590, this is a great bargain. To prove it, this Made In cookware review looked into it, and all of these pieces would normally amount to $609.
Below are a few other Made In kits available:
- The Sous Chef includes the 10″ Non Stick Frying Pan, 10″ Stainless Clad Frying Pan, 12″ Carbon Steel Frying Pan, 2 QT Saucepan with Lid, 4 QT Saucepan with Lid, 3.5 QT Saute Pan with Lid, 8 QT Stock Pot with Lid, Carbon Steel Seasoning Wax for $599 (discounted from $734)
- The Executive Chef comes with the 8″ Non Stick Frying Pan, 10″ Non Stick Frying Pan, 10″ Stainless Steel Frying Pan, 12″ Stainless Steel Frying Pan, 12″ Blue Carbon Steel Frying Pan, Blue Carbon Steel Wok, 2 QT Saucepan with Lid, 4 QT Saucepan with Lid, 3.5 QT Saute Pan with Lid, 8 QT Stock Pot with Lid, 3 cans of Carbon Steel Seasoning Wax for $799 (reduced from ($1012)
- The Frying Pan Set comes with the 10″ Carbon Steel Frying Pan, 12″ Carbon Steel Frying Pan, Carbon Steel Wok, Seasoning Wax for $259
- The Knife Set includes the Chef, Santuko, Paring, and Utility Knives for $275 (discounted from $317)
Who is Made In Cookware for?
Everyone has to cook for themselves at some point in their lives, and Made In makes that process a little easier with thoughtful designs that last.
Made to be durable and for professional use, this cookware is made for those that want to invest in high-quality cookware that does not tarnish easily, does the job hassle-free, and does not take much effort to clean.
But, since this brand is on the pricier side, we suggest that buyers on a budget do their research before purchasing. Also, this brand does not ship to anyone outside of the US.
Comparison: Made In Cookware vs. Caraway
We all have some form of cookware in our home and there are a lot of big-name brands out there that provide amazing options. For this Made In cookware review, we are going to compare this brand with Caraway.
Founded in 2018, Caraway cookware was made to be an easy, one-stop-shop for reliable, non-toxic cookware. Offering saute pans, pots, frying pans, and dutch ovens, this brand has all of the essentials for the functioning kitchen.
With both brands being founded just a year apart, they have both had the same amount of time to perfect their product range and improve their services and products. So which one has made the most impact?
Caraway has a terrific line of products with many of their items being sold individually and in sets, much like Made In.
Caraway also offers a line of linens and accessories including oven mitts, towels, aprons, and heating pads.
That being said, Made In has all of these accessories as well as glassware, knives, cookbooks, and cleaners.
One thing that greatly differentiates these two brands is the materials used to make the cookware.
Caraway uses ceramic for all of its pans to avoid toxins, while Made In uses 5-ply carbon, clad steel, and copper in their products. Though different, all of these materials are recognized as non-toxic.
Related: Check out our Caraway Cookware Review
Since both of these companies have an extensive line of products, one easy comparison in terms of price is the cookware sets.
The Made In Starter Set (as we know) comes to $529 for 6 pieces, whereas Caraway comes to $395 for their Cookware Set which contains 4 pieces.
So, Made In is more expensive, but you get more from their cookware set than Caraway. Plus, Made In includes a cleaning wax in their set for proper care of your pans.
All in all, these brands know what they are doing when it comes to quality cookware that is non-toxic and ergonomic in the kitchen.
If you are looking for something that is simple and modern, we suggest Caraway for your next upgrade.
But if classic, durable, and life-long rings true to your preferences, Made In is definitely for you.
Made In Cookware Reviews: What Do Customers Think?
Top media outlets sing praises for Made In, but customer feedback is equally (if not more) important.
You can leave a Made In cookware review on the website, which features thousands of reviewer comments. From a total of 4260 ratings, 95% of customers gave Made In products 5 stars.
From a total of 4260 ratings, 95% of customers gave Made In products 5/5 stars. Here are some statements left by customers:
- Stock Pot: “This is the BEST pot! This pot is awesome and used everyday.”
- Saute Pan: “I am glad I made the right decision to go with Made In. These pans are great and you can feel the quality.”
- Carbon Steel Pan: “I have the 10” and the 12” carbon steel pans. After seasoning, they are truly nonstick.”
- Stainless Steel Frying Pan: “This is a nice and heavy, durable, multi-ply pan for a great price. Been enjoying frying and searing with it.”
- Knife Set: “I bought three knife sets. Love the 8 chef’s knife. It’s well-balanced, the handle is comfortable and it just looks good. The two other knives are also a joy to work with.”
All this sounds great, but we won’t stop there in this Made In cookware review—I hunted for comments found elsewhere on the web.
Wired wrote a Made In cookware review and noted that, “during the test, the Made In pans were all over the map.” The author noted a “doming” in some of the pans, which Made In claims to have flat surfaces.
The Kitchen Witches also wrote a Made In cookware review, which was largely positive, with the exception of pricing, although the author did say the “cookware is worth the money, and it’s a company and product to get excited about.”
A review site called The Cookware Advisor wrote that Made In delivers on their promise to provide high quality cookware at an affordable price, and the brand received a “strong buy recommendation.”
Based on reviews both on and off the Made In site, it’s safe to conclude that purchasing their kitchenware is a solid bet.
Although the price points are high compared to more budget-friendly cookware companies, you get what you pay for.
Is Made In Cookware Worth It?
Now that we have covered the best-sellers, compared this brand to others on the market, and read through some customer testimonials, this Made In review can proudly recommend this brand.
Given the wide product range and the convenience of cookware sets, this brand has every need for the kitchen covered.
Made In Cookware is also used in Michelin-star restaurants, they are less expensive than most professional cookware brands, and there are even blogs on the brand’s website for care instructions, recipes, and how to protect your cookware from heat.
With all of the praise for the brand, there are also some negative points to be mentioned. This cookware does prove to be quite expensive despite being slightly cheaper than the average professional brands.
Buyers on a budget may shy away from this brand because of this, but when it comes to cookware there is always going to be a high price tag regardless of brand name.
All in all, when it comes to cookware, Made In Cookware is definitely worth looking into.
Made In Cookware Promotions & Discount
Made In is currently offering a 10% discount on your next order. If you’re looking to buy Made In Cookware or any of the products, be sure to take advantage now.
Where to Buy Made In Cookware
Made In products are sold exclusively online through their website, madeincookware.com.
FAQ
Where is Made In Cookware Made?
Made In cookware is mostly manufactured within the US, with a few of its products made in Italy and France.
Who owns Made In cookware?
Made In was founded and is owned by Chip and Jake Malt in 2017.
What is Made In’s Shipping Policy?
Made In offers free shipping on orders over $50 within the Contiguous United States. Shipping is also available to Alaska, Hawaii, and US territories, where delivery costs are subsidized by Made In. Shipping rates are generally $20-$80 depending on the dimensional weight of the package.
Made In also offers shipping internationally, and you can view countries available for deliveries by clicking the flag icon on the website. If your country is not on the list, you can still enter your address at checkout, and Made In may be able to find a carrier to ship your order.
Unless noted in your shipping options, you’ll have to pay taxes and duties upon import into your destination country.
If you received damaged products from Made In, the company requires you to provide pictures and documentation to customer service at hello@madeincookware.com. If your request is approved, Made In will file a claim with the carrier and the product(s) will be replaced at no charge.
What is Made In’s Return Policy?
This Made In cookware review turned up a generous return policy. All cookware, knives, and accessories, whether they’ve been used or not, can be returned within 45 days of delivery date for a full refund, exchange or store credit. Made In covers the cost of return shipping.
On the other hand, consumable items (including wax, cleaner, and cooking kits), customized products, and final sale items are not eligible for returns. You can initiate a Made In return on the website, or by contacting returns@madeincookware.com.
Common Cookware Issues
Made In notes issues described by customers that relate to proper care of the products. The most common issues are improper use of heat, rainbow stain/heat tint, improper seasoning of carbon steel, and improper pan cleaning. You can find solutions to these problems on the Made In Chef’s Notes blog.
Made In Cookware & Klarna Pay Instalments
Many Made In products can be purchased through four equal Klarna pay instalments. You select this payment option at checkout. The first payment is processed when your order is confirmed, then the next three are taken automatically every 2 weeks.
How to Contact Made In
If you have questions beyond what was covered in this Made In cookware review, you can contact the team via:
- Email: hello@madeincookware.com
- Mail: 1005 E. St. Elmo Road, Building 5, Austin, TX 78704
Contact Made In
If you have questions beyond what was covered in this Made In cookware review, you can contact the team via:
- Email: hello@madeincookware.com
- Mail: 1005 E. St. Elmo Road, Building 5, Austin, TX 78704
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