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Paella pans

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Charleston Dave
Charleston Dave Posts: 571
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I've admired the pictures of Egged paella that Fidel and others have posted here, and last week cooked my my first paella with friends using an indoor oven and their huge pan (dinner was for 14, and we had leftovers).

I'm eager to try paella on my Egg because I suspect the oven version might be even better with some Eggsmoke. I've found Bomba rice locally but haven't yet bought a pan. There seem to be four kinds available:

(1) carbon steel, the most traditional
(2) stainless steel
(3) nonstick
(4) enamelled

Does anybody have any recommendations as to which kind? Nonstick always sounds good but I don't know if that interferes with the soccarat development. I'm thinking that one with handles oriented upward (as opposed to handles that stick out to the sides) might be preferable because it would maximize the size that can fit inside the Egg. Are there any features that I should look for that would make the pan less of a uni-tasker?

Thanks in advance!
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,757
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    carbon steel with the dimples to hold some oil. it seasons up like a castiron over time. works good as a drip, as a pizza pan, for casseroles, and i hear paellas. the 13.5 fits nicely, i hear the 14 is a little snug but still fits, i would opt for the 13.5 inch one. next time i get some im getting a few smaller ones as well
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
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    Carbon steel - no two ways about it. And bomba rice makes all the difference in my book.

    Restaurant Depot has them at an absolute bargain price. If you can't find a decent price locally I'd be happy to get one for you and ship it over to Charleston.

    My pan just barely fits inside the egg, but what I like about it is that the handle rest on the upper ring of the adjustable rig - so no cooking grid is used and it is very easy to spin the pan if any hot spots develop.
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  • Florida Grillin Girl
    Florida Grillin Girl Posts: 4,973
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    Hey Dave, here is a website that has authentic paella pans from Spain:

    http://www.tienda.com/paella/index.html

    Faith
    Tampa, FL
    Happily egging on my original large BGE since 1996... now the owner of 5 eggs. Call me crazy, everyone else does!
     
    3 Large, 1 Small, 1 well-used Mini
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
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    yep. thin dimpled carbon steel. you want it to respond quick to temp changes, both on the uptick and when dialing back.

    the naked whiz treatise on paella is pretty much (for me) the definitive method.

    and CD, if you are wondering about whether it's any better in the egg, i can't say. never did it in the oven or over a burner, but the spanish used to do it over an oak fire... good enough for me. it's probably as close to authentic as you can get. and being able to control temps, shut the dome, etc. makes it that much more compelling.

    although there's none in the recipe, i would recommend dialing back on the alcohol. my biggest eff-ups have been with paella, and generally alcohol related... once, forgetting to add the saffron (!?!?!) and the other, using too little broth....

    minor buzzes and good conversation got me off track.

    don't let it happen to you. hahaha

    Naked whiz re: paella; clickez vous> Whiz's Paella Method
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • Mainegg
    Mainegg Posts: 7,787
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    What a cool site Faith! I book marked it for later!
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  • Mainegg
    Mainegg Posts: 7,787
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    LOL forgot the saffron??? Major BUZZ!!! loL
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  • Mainegg
    Mainegg Posts: 7,787
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    fishlessman wrote:
    carbon steel with the dimples to hold some oil. it seasons up like a castiron over time. works good as a drip, as a pizza pan, for casseroles, and i hear paellas. the 13.5 fits nicely, i hear the 14 is a little snug but still fits, i would opt for the 13.5 inch one. next time i get some im getting a few smaller ones as well
    DITTO on this. mine looks like a dimpled cast iron pan. OK I think dinner for tonight is decided LOL
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  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
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    I like dealing with this gal, fast service and good prices. -RP
    http://www.paellapans.com/
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  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
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    I say go traditional. They are cheap and if you find you want more expensive or if you get the size wrong, you aren't out a lot of money. I've got some measurements and such on my paella page, which stike linked to. Good luck!

    P.S. I would be worried about using non-stick in the Egg. It gets hot and supposedly non-stick stuff suffers and gives off evil fumes if you get it too hot? Whatever, I'd go traditional. They are beautiful in their plain ugliness.
    The Naked Whiz
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  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
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    La Tienda is a great business. I subscribe to their emails. Lots of great info. They are located near Williamsburg, VA as I recall, so any orders I place early in the day usually arrive next day or second day, even without upgrading the shipping. I've tried lots of their different foods and they all have been great.
    The Naked Whiz
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  • lowercasebill
    lowercasebill Posts: 5,218
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    follow naked whiz inst works great.. i got the stainless pan as it stays in the garage with the egg stuff and i was afraid carbon would trust
    trust stike on the limited alcohol advice.. i did not forget the saffron but i did burn my fingers toasting it, as you will see in the slide show.

    click the pic for slide show

    th_paella023.jpg
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  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
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    I can't say that I agree with your method of toasting the saffron, OUCH!!!! LOL!
    The Naked Whiz
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
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    hope i didn't usurp the linking privileges... i just think that page in particular is the rosetta stone for paella on the egg.

    i'm with you on non-stick in the egg, too. when empty, at 500 surface temp it gives off fumes that kill birds... i'm not worried about fumes, just worried about food being in contact with a miracle chemical courtesy of the good folks at dupont... (no offense to any chemists here).
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
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    yeah yeah.

    thanks for being so understanding....

    :unsure:
    to the back of the prosciutto line with you. (although the line is only three people deep at this point anyway)
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • Rascal
    Rascal Posts: 3,923
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    FWIW, a quick Google search lead me to a few steel pans that had the handles angled up rather than out. Perhaps that feature might help when trying to fit one into an EGG.
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  • lowercasebill
    lowercasebill Posts: 5,218
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    your instructions said toast the saffron! it may have had something to do with the sherry . B)
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  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
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    Yeah, but dude! Put it in a small cast iron frying pan on the stove. I say again, OUCH! :-)
    The Naked Whiz
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  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
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    Nope, I'm always grateful for the traffic!
    The Naked Whiz
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  • lowercasebill
    lowercasebill Posts: 5,218
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    i will try it that way nest time B)
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  • NoVA Bill
    NoVA Bill Posts: 3,005
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    Paella so good, I always stop by the Iron Bound area of Newark, New Jersey for the Paella when on sales calls.

    May I assume the 10" pan would fit in a medBGE? Seems close given the 15in grill.

    Thanks!
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  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
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    Depends on who makes your pan and how wide the handles are. I'd call and ask them to measure to be sure. Of course, my 15" grid rattles around loosely in my medium. I think the inside diameter of my medium is actually more like 16 inches, in which case the pan I found (15-1/8") would fit nicely. Good luck!
    The Naked Whiz
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  • Davekatz
    Davekatz Posts: 763
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    559638842_3qgKJ-S.jpg

    I really like this enameled paellera. It's the one that Cooks Illustrated ranked pretty highly. It heats up well enough to form the soccarat, but still cleans up easily. It won't rust, but you do have to be careful about dropping it and damaging the enamel.
    Food & Fire - The carnivorous ramblings of a gluten-free grill geek.
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  • NoVA Bill
    NoVA Bill Posts: 3,005
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    thanks, my thoughts also.
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  • Spring Chicken
    Spring Chicken Posts: 10,255
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    Heat changes the properties of everything, not always for the best.

    Spring "Warmed Over" Chicken
    Spring Texas USA
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  • eenie meenie
    eenie meenie Posts: 4,394
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    Dave,
    I have an 18 inch carbon steel with little dimples. It just fits in my raised ring which facilitates turning. Although raised handles would allow the use of a larger pan, these handles allowed in to rest in the ring.
    I served 10 people with this pan. I just love the Bomba rice.....it's unique.
    IMG_0004.jpg
    IMG_0005.jpg
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