what size paella pan?

[vash]

i have a 22.5 weber kettle. in the never ending quest to make everything i own a multitasker, i want to build a fire in it and use it to heat a paella pan.

thinking 15" pan" or max it out with an 18"? 15" sounds like a lot of paella. anyone do this regularly?

i am not a paella expert by any means. i've participated, and i can stuff mussels into hot-wet rice with the best of them. but i have no idea on how many diners can eat on a particular size.

i dont want a bunch of pans.. i think i will reserve a paella meal for group parties. i wont build a two person one,( i dont think i will). 2 people = 10"???

[Don Plumley]

Paella is my thing.

I have an 18" pan that we use on an open fire frequently. It is good for 10-12+ servings easily, but I've made for 8 without problem. I would not get 15", too small. Leftovers are a good thing and as you said, it's a great party food.

PM me for recipe, sources...

[vash]

thanks don!!

miss seeing you man. 18" then. goes without saying high carbon pan right?

ok, what about a 2 person pan for just the wife and i. i just noticed the pans are very inexpensive. 8" for two?

[legion]

MY 18" pan usually results in a week of leftovers when it's just my wife and I.......not that that's a bad thing.

[OffCamber00]

I actually use my 15" cast iron skillet for paella since i don't have a need for a dedicated pan - yet. It feeds 6 with leftovers. I know its not optimal but seeing as I how i use my cast iron for jsut about evrything else...it seems to work just fine.

[jyl]

18", get the cheap thin steel pans. There is no need for thick material, heat distribution will be even enough due to the stock used to cook the rice. As the final step, the bottom layer of rice is supposed to burn just enough to form a tasty crust so a thin pan, prone to scorching, is good then.

[RWebb]

use a smokey wooden fire and a really big pan - a friend of mine ordered one from some place in NYC and had it shipped all the way here - they buy from Spain IIRC

post if you want me to find out where he bought it

[GH85Carrera]

I guess it would depend on the size of the paella you are cooking. Get a pan to fit the job.

What the heck is a paella? Does it taste like chicken?

[RWebb]

paella is an ancient version of the more modern and much improved dish, jambalaya

while mostly cooked for historic reasons today, it can indeed include chicken, but is better if the seafood and sausage is not too adulterated

[jyl]

The crust is called the socccarat and it is important, the delicacy in the dish. You can monitor the crust forming by poking a chopstick into the rice and feeling, or by smelling for the faint odor of toasting rice.

Most traditional paella is rabbit, snails and green beans. It started as a poor peasant's dish, meat was what they could get. The fancy paellas came later.

My process:
- Stack wood, build a hot fire, place paella on it, the thin steel pan will get really hot really fast
- squirt olive oil (beware of flashback/ignition), throw meat on, brown it fast, remove, then your aromatics (sofrito = chopped onion garlic tomato peppers etc and saffron), then your beans, I always fry up some chorizo. Everything gets browned and removed. You'll need mitts and long tongs or your arms will burn
- By now, fire has diminished a bit. In the pan with all the oil and chorizo juice, brown the rice, add back the aromatics, chorizo, salt & pepper, mix and smooth everything out, add a couple cups of stock
- arrange meat and beans, keep adding stock as it boils off and is absorbed, the fire will continue mellowing and the rice will get to cook gradually
- when the rice is done, stop adding stock and let the dish cook dry, smell for the toasting rice, when the crust is nice, take pan off fire and put it on the table
- everyone digs in and fights over the soccarat, ideally lots of drinking and maybe a duel or girls catfighting, the whole village party thing

The pan now looks like hell, all sooty and burned black. But you bought the cheap pan so you're not devastated. Wipe it with some oil, wrap in newspaper, and throw in the garage for next time.

[Don Plumley]

^^^ This

Yes to cheap thin metal pan. You can get it (and ingredients) at the Spanish Table in Berkeley, but they are a little spendy. I picked mine up at La Espanola meats in Harbor City (and they are the source of the most authentic Spanish Chorizo made here in US).

The traditional round spatula made a difference as well for compacting the rice.

I brown the shrimp/squid, reserve, then the chicken thighs (rabbit substitute) and chorizos in the pan on my gas stove so I can control the heat. Reserve meats, then make the sofrito over the fire. Add rice as John said, then chicken stock. After it absorbs a bit, then I add the meats. A little later the veggies (green beans, peas, etc.). then the seafood and mussels and clams.



Here are my general Per/Person (very generous) ingredient list:

1/2 Cup Rice p/p
1+ Cup Chicken Stock p/p
5 Threads Saffron p/p
1 Chicken Thigh p/p
1 Chorizo p/p
2 Shrimp p/p
2-3 Sm Clams or Mussels p/p
1/3 # Calamari
1/4 Tsp Pimenton p/p
1 Clove Garlic p/p
1/4 Cup chopped Onion p/p
1/8 Cup grated, skin removed Tomato p/p
Green onions
Piquillo Peppers
Hot Crushed Peppers
Green beans, peas or Artichoke hearts

Please, please use real Vallencian Paella rice and smoked Spanish Paprika.

If you want to go all in, make Gazpacho the day before; and for snacks have some Iberico Ham and Manchego cheese. I serve with liberal quantities of our wonderful Rosé. What a great way to spend an afternoon. Enjoy!

[rusnak]

It's not the size of the pan, it's how you work the mussels.

[Evans, Marv]

+1 if you can get the paella rice, but a decent short grained rice will work sort of. Also La Espanola has a large line of very good Spanish foods. Buying sausage from them is addictive. I have a recipe I've used for decades. It was originally just hand written by a guy in Spain. I don't currently own one of the thin, steel pans but the thicker one I use works out alright. I just usually cook mine in the BBQ with the lid closed and occasionally opened for inspection.

[targa911S]

awe man that looks so good...You make me miss Tampa.

[David in VA]

We make a lot of paella, have a couple of pans. Bigger is better, leftovers are awesome. Like Don, we brown the meat on the stove first, the heavier pans are better for this as they distribute and keep heat better. I highly recommend getting the Calasparra or Bomba rice, makes a big difference as well as good Spanish chorizo. We get all our supplies (including pans) at:

Authentic Spanish Food from Spain at LaTienda.com

Great selection and really nice people, they are semi-local to us.

[Shuie]

Well, now I know what I'm cooking today. There is something magical that happens when the crushed tomatoes start to caramelize in the pan with the garlic, parsley, olive oil, and pork fat rendered from the chorizo. I have never smelled anything that good in any kitchen or from any grease truck in any place I have ever been in the world.

Get the biggest pan that will fit in your oven, grill, or whatever you are cooking on. You should be able to pick up a pretty cheap traditional carbon steel dimpled paella pan anywhere that sells kitchen stuff (Williams Sonoma, etc.). I seasoned my pan in the oven before I used it the first time. I had return an 18" for a 15" because the 18" wouldn't fit.

[vash]

aww..damn.

i am gonna do this this weekend!! thanks. 18" pan..got it. sur la table has it on sale i think.

[Shuie]

If you don't already have one, pick up a 5.5qt cast iron and/or enameled dutch oven for jambalaya and red beans while your there

[tchanson]

Great site for pans and ingredients.

La Paella



Tim

[john70t]

Originally Posted by RWebb

paella is an ancient version of the more modern and much improved dish, jambalaya

=Throw meat and/or whatever is available into a metal container and cook it in water and spices.