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CLICK ANY PICTURE ON THIS PAGE TO ENLARGE IT PAELLA PANS
These paella pans are probably easiest to find online, The Paella Company have a good range as do Paella World. For the purists amongst us, a paella pan is called a paella in Spain. Some books and websites call it a paellera but that is absolutely not the case in Spain, and let's face it, the Spanish know their language best! In fact, a paellera translated into English would either refer to the area in which a paella is cooked or the person (a woman in this case because paellara ends in an a) who is cooking the paella. So, if you see a recipe or an article that refers to a paellara, take it from us, the experts, they don't know what they are talking about - ask anyone from Spain. Paella pans are very shallow and there is a very good reason for this. The best paella is produced where the rice is a layer about 2cm / ¾in deep at most. This ensures the rice is cooked evenly. It also ensures that the paella rice dries out quickly. Paella is basically a dry rice dish not a moist or creamy one and a wide pan allows maximum evaporation of liquids. This is one reason why paella pans don't have lids, quick moisture loss gives the best rice texture. The material of the paella pan is also of vital importance because it should not retain heat and steel is the ideal material. When the paella is cooked the major source of heat is concentrated on the base of the pan and the rice at the base. This rice cooks first. When the paella is taken off the heat and rested, the pan should loose the heat at the base very quickly which will then allow the rice in the middle and top to cook out evenly. Non-stick pans and especially thick cast iron pans are the ones to avoid. Thick pans loose heat very slowly and don't make good paella pans. Non-stick pans also are not ideal because they don't allow the rice to stick to the bottom and for socarrat (see below) to form. Stainless steel pans are reasonably good because, if well designed, they transmit the heat evenly. They also require little maintenance because they don't rust, ideal if you only cook a few paellas each year. One rule of thumb which can only be learnt from experience, is that when all the ingredients, including liquid, are added, the level be just short of the top of the paella pan.
CARE OF PAELLA PANS
SOCARRAT You can test for a good layer of socarrat by inserting a fork into the rice and you should feel a slight resistance just before the fork reaches the base of the pan. If you see any paella pans with lids then forget those, paella is always cooked without a lid. It is often covered with a teacloth at the very end of cooking but a lid is simply an expensive an unnecessary addition. The best paella pans are made of steel, so after cooking they should be washed, thoroughly dried and then lightly smeared with oil - kitchen towels dipped in oil are ideal.
WHAT SIZE OF PAELLA PAN
The above paella pan width suggestions are suggestions only. But don't stretch them too far. If guests call in when the paella is being cooked don't just pile in more rice and hope for the best because the best won't happen. Rather, add a little more rice and liquid but also serve larger starters and more olives, salads and whatever else is available to accompany the paella. COOKING WITH PAELLA PANS The next best alternative is a gas cooker, however the flame from the gas will mainly heat the centre of the base of your paella pan so it's a good idea to move the pan around as you are cooking to spread the area which is heated. The worst alternative is any form of cooker other than gas, mainly electric cookers. Not only is heat source not wide enough to heat the whole base of your paella pan but, because the paella pan has a slightly depressed base to allow oil to collect in the centre of the pan. This depression will sit on your electric cooker with only a small part of the pan in contact with the heat source. The result will be unevenly cooked paella. If you do have an electric cooker you will need to move the pan around a lot during cooking to ensure it happens evenly. BEST ALTERNATIVE TO PAELLA PANS The thickness of the metal only becomes critical when you rest the paella at the end of cooking. If your pan is very thick, you may want to quickly dunk the base of the pan in cool water when you take it off the heat prior to resting it, this will take some of the heat from the base of the pan and stop the lower rice from over-cooking.
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