First time making paella

Don’t skimp on the saffron. Shits expensive but it makes the dish.

hardest part for me was to get an even fire under the pan. They make special burners for paella pans. I dont have one and tried to do it over my crawfish burner and then again on multiple burners on my stove. I never got that crust that I was looking for because I had to constantly stir to cook evenly. Ive now got a fire pit with a cooking rack that would be a more even heat source. I think its traditionally cooked over a wood fire.

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best option I have is a wok

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I think you would have trouble getting the crust right in a wok. Not enough flat surface probably. But I bet the dish would still taste great.

The times I’ve made paella, it was hit or miss on getting socarrat to form.

Funny thing though is I get the same result on a different dish I make sometimes.

Spatchcocked chicken roasted in a shallow pan over a mound of rice with similar ingredients. The rice turns out perfect every time. And you have a chicken to eat as bonus.





The rice turns out perfect every time. Thin crusty layer all across the bottom.

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Don’t skimp on the saffron. Shits expensive but it makes the dish.

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I would also say get some good paprika and not the stuff that McCormick puts in their can. Go to a local spice shop and get some good paprika.

I use this Jose Andres recipe and it always comes out aces. LINK

Occasionally I will cook it on my BGE or over live fire but I find transferring it to a really hot oven after the first five minutes or so after rice added to broth does a good job. The crust on the bottom requires a lot more patience than I’ve ever been able to muster. Do find it’s easier to get the soccarat reheating it the next day in a hot pan - like fried rice.

Interested in the specifics on your spatchcocked chicken and rice.

Apologies to OP. Didn’t mean to hijack the thread... I just think of this dish when the subject of socarrat in paella comes up.

Maybe you can get decent paella results in an oven as someone suggested earlier in this thread. I’ve never found the right consistent combination doing it over an “open fire” in a traditional paella pan. I’m sure practice makes perfect...

Aubie & Uncle: I sauté aromatics like bell pepper, onions, garlic etc enough to get them sweating but not fully done because they will be roasted later. Mix in cooked rice and whatever proteins you like - sausage, crawfish, shrimp etc. With shrimp, I just mix them in without cooking. With sausage, I brown it along with the veggies. Season the rice combo to your taste.

You would think the long bake would over cook the shrimp but they are fine (maybe because the chicken keeps everything from drying out) I do chop them up in smaller pieces if using I’m using shrimp.

Add enough chicken stock to the rice mixture to make it moist but not wet or soupy.

A basic paella combination would work fine I think. Adding saffron would be a nice addition to what I usually do.

Use a shallow baking pan that has some thickness to it... but nothing special... a basic sheet pan with shallow sides.

Spread some olive oil in the pan and mound the rice up to fit the shape of the bird and place the seasoned spatchcocked chicken over it.

Roast at 375 till the chicken is done... probably an hour and fifteen minutes or so.

I think cooking the rice topped with chicken adds a lot of flavor to the rice and it probably keeps the rice from drying out before the crust forms.

I’ve probably done it 5 or 6 times and the rice is always perfect. I’m trying to think of a good way to describe how much broth to add, and all I can think of is to say add enough broth to make it moist but not soupy.

Buy the pan. Go slow.Adjust amounts to the temp of oven on next round.

Dammit, I want that rice! It looks so good.

Best advice I can give is to have everything prepped and staged when you start. It builds quickly. I make mine in a paella pan over charcoal in my weber kettle. It's not anything I would want to do in this summer heat.