Paella Grill MkII, Pulled Pork, Bread, and Stuffed Crepes - a fun weekend.

Teefus

That is stupid huge. My mouth is watering just thinking about the scale of the cook. 

SciAggie

Paella MkII Test Flight

I really don’t want to poop out in front of 30 people when I cook paella after Thanksgiving. I decided It would be wise to conduct a test cook. I could get to know my pan and have a good idea about managing the fire. I also know from experience one needs to manage fluid intake so that inebriation occurs after all important operations are complete. A pan this size might call for a modified schedule.
I didn’t want to go all out on paella, so this was just chicken and rice. I found chicken on sale for $0.68. I also picked up some spicy andouille sausage. I used long grain white rice and water with chicken bullion. I used paprika and S&P for seasoning. All simple stuff. By the way, I used 2kilos of rice -that’s a honkin’ lot of rice. 

Here are some pics:







Thanks for looking. I’ll post again for the actual event. 

20stone

That looks fantastic. Great socarrat. 

For the big day, though it wont be cheap, I recommend going with bomba rice (https://www.tienda.com/products/bomba-paella-rice-peregrino-rc-03.html). 

Also, seafood paella will be tough on that monster, given the relatively narrow window between "done" and "hammered".  Chicken and merguez (or andouille) would be much more predictable.

Very nicely done. 

SciAggie

@20stone Oh, I’m ready for the big day. I have Bomba rice, really good ($) saffron, homemade broth, Spanish chorizo, and some nice smoked paprika already on deck. I’m planning on mixed protein for the group. I’m thinking chicken thighs (w/bone and skin), Spanish chorizo (already purchased), shrimp, and mussels. I made add some roasted red pepper strips and some nice green beans as well - not too many, but enough for flavor and garnish. And we’ll have lemon wedges around the edge of the pan when serving. 
Since nice tomatoes are hard to get right now, I experimented last night. Instead of using the traditional grated tomato and onion for the sofrito, I used a mix of pureed and petite diced can tomatoes with finely chopped onion. It cooked down just as well as the fresh tomato puree. So I may go that way with a good canned tomato opposed to a poor fresh tomato. I’m pretty pumped. 
I looked for a large format bottle of red wine in Austin (looked online) and couldn’t find one. I thought a 4.5L (jeroboam) bottle of wine would be cool. My thought is it would compliment the shock and awe of that big pan.

Mattman3969

Aggie you are killin it dude!!

lousubcap

Okay- a great way to convince yourself you needed a test run.  With your skills (you are an instructor...) there was no doubt that you would nail the cook and you did.  Looks like you had favorable wind conditions and that fire burned down to a great coal bed.  
As above, great soccarat and all around cook.  Can't wait for the family introductory cook.  
Did you have help removing the pan at the close of the cook as you mentioned empty it is quite heavy and a bit awkward?
Thanks for the post.  

SciAggie

@Mattman3969 Thanks!
@lousubcap Yes, two people to transfer the pan anywhere is a must. I appreciate the vote of confidence. The test run gave me a chance to discover what size splits of wood or kindling were needed to control temps during the cook. When you add a few liters of liquid it takes a robust fire to get the water up to a boil, then it has to cool a bit to get things back to a simmer. This cook gave me a chance to figure that out. 

20stone

Excellent choices (both for the trial run and the grande finale).  

Eggdicted_Dawgfan

Wow home run Aggie! Can’t wait for the finale. Those are some lucky folks coming over to enjoy that grub.

caliking

Holy soccarat, Batman!! 

That paella is quite the undertaking, but you make easy

One question - how's the heat by your shins? Would it help to close off 2 sides? May also keep stray embers from landing on your crocs. 

JohnnyTarheel

Holy crap.... wow!!!    Don't let an ember fall thru your crocs... 

caliking

caliking said:

Holy soccarat, Batman!! 

That paella is quite the undertaking, but you make it look easy

One question - how's the heat by your shins? Would it help to close off 2 sides? May also keep stray embers from landing on your crocs. 

Fixed. Not enough coffee in me at the time.

SciAggie

@caliking At one point the fire was a bit toasty. I’m going to make a couple of little heat shields from some pieces of tin. That will do double duty by deflecting heat off of me and blocking wind from the fire. 
I also have a piece of expanded metal I plan to bend into a circle. It will sit on the bottom and keep coals from rolling out into my crocs. 
I’m learning that fire management is easier with small kindling sized pieces of wood. It’s desirable for the fire to catch, flame briefly, then die down.

HendersonTRKing

That looks amazing.  All of it.  But especially the socarrat.  

SciAggie

@HendersonTRKing Thank you. I rub the bottom of the pan and “feel” for the socarrat. When it feels a bit sticky, it’s done. Before that, the forks slides smoothly on the bottom. Once you get the feel for it, it’s pretty easy to nail it. 

lousubcap

@SciAggie said:
...I’m learning that fire management is easier with small kindling sized pieces of wood. It’s desirable for the fire to catch, flame briefly, then die down.

That's the key to stick burner fire management/control as well.
You next addition

SciAggie

lousubcap said:

@SciAggie said:
...I’m learning that fire management is easier with small kindling sized pieces of wood. It’s desirable for the fire to catch, flame briefly, then die down.

That's the key to stick burner fire management/control as well.
You next addition

Yeah, I hope my kids make good money - they won’t have any inheritance except for a bunch of cooking stuff. 

YukonRon

You win.
You freaking win.
Absolutely coolest, best, delicious looking, fun, envy causing, awesome, righteous, beautiful, logical, hunger starting, cash spending causing, creative, inspiring, best use of fire in outdoor kitchen, I have ever seen.
As always.

SciAggie

@YukonRon Thanks my friend. (It’s all smoke and mirrors)

WeberWho

You're going to have a camera crew over your shoulder and be mic'd up before you know it! That looks fantastic!

SaltySam

My oldest would faint at the site of that paella in person.   It’s his favorite thing I cook.  Unfortunate, because it’s tough to nail.  Yours is amazing!

This might be one my all time favorite posts.  I haven’t bookmarked a post in years, but this one is bananas.  

lousubcap

@SaltySam - what follows is a technique I took (he offered) from @SciAggie to nail the soccarat.  It is the best method I have come across.  Definitely takes the worry out of being close.  With thanks again to @SciAggie - here you go:

"Soccarrat - There is a trick I've learned to making a consistent soccarrat. Push the tines of a fork against the bottom of the pan and scrape it back and forth - to feel the bottom. It slides easily as the rice is cooking. As the soccarrat develops, the fork will begin to "stick" a little - that's the rice browning. Once that happens around the pan, it's done. Rotate the pan around the fire to make sure you toast things evenly."  

You will never wonder again!

 

SciAggie

@WeberWho Thank you for the kind words. 
@lousubcap I’m glad you found that helpful. I’ll add that covering the paella with a towel when you take it off the heat is also important. It steams everything a bit. I think it helps release the socarrat from the pan. 

lousubcap

@SciAggie - I loosely cover with foil (15.5" vertical handled pan) on a LBGE upon removal for around 5-10 minutes. I have never looked for or anticipated a release as I am quite pleased with the sticky rice consistency and soccarat.  But I'm always game for improvement with the cook.  Any thoughts?
Probably my # 2 favorite cook behind the proverbial brisket as that presents so many variables with every turn.

SciAggie

@lousubcap That’s exactly how I do it. 5-10 minutes of rest. Release is probably poor wording on my part. Yes, it’s still sticky but I think the short rest makes it easier to scrape the socarrat from the bottom as opposed to trying it right away.  Paella is fun for sure. You have to stay focused 

caliking

SciAggie= Paella Whisperer