• Enter the TVWB 27th Anniversary Prize Drawing for a chance to win a Weber Traveler Portable Gas Grill! Click here to enter!

Finally! PPV #1


 

Jose Suro

TVWBB All-Star
Hi All,

I finally used my Paella pan and last evening made my first Performer Paella Valenciana. I learned a lot! First, my deck is not level, all of it slopes away from the pool. This is an issue especially when frying the meats in the oil - one side of the pan will dry out. I ended up adding too much oil. Still delicious though.

I used a full bed of coals and boy it needs it. This thing likes FIRE! Coals were all used up by the time it was done. Beautiful "socarrat" and outstanding taste. The trick is to get everything in the pan, except the rice and let the water reduce. This creates the delicious broth that gives the rice its great flavor. The problem is that then you don't know how much water is in the pan to cook the rice. I learned how to solve this in a video. You put the exact amount of water for the rice in the paella then stand a slotted spoon in the middle and mark the slot on the spoon where the water level is. Then reduce for about 15 minutes, stick the spoon in again and add water to the original spot in the spoon :).

This reducing time also allows the coals to die down a bit before adding the rice - a good thing. I then added the rice, a nice chunk of apple wood and closed the lid for fifteen minutes, then uncovered until it was finished.

On to the pics. I ran out of light and had to use flash (bounced) for a couple of the shots because I still haven't bought my clamp on lights :(. My apologies!

The ingredients before prepping. The wine went in the Cook (me), not in the paella :). A wonderful and inexpensive Chilean wine with a 92 point rating....
i-5pMGhRM-XL.jpg

The meats go in until they are nice and browned.
i-Br9JvWz-XL.jpg

Peas, peppers, onion and Sazon join the party over the fire.
i-LXcx56x-XL.jpg

Everyone in the pool :).
i-44HnBk4-XL.jpg

And the finished product. My wife kept sticking a spoon in the pan and eating the thing "Spaniard style" so I had to cut the photo thing short and couldn't take the "definitive" shot :).
i-Fcv8ML6-XL.jpg

Thanks for looking!

Best,

Jose
 
Last edited:
Fantastic maiden voyage for your pan! This reminds me that I haven't done a paella in quite a while.

Great pics too!
 
Looks awfully good, fantastic photos! Check out where the handle meets the pan in the 4th picture *yikes* Better have used gloves :)
 
Great pictures. Thank you for sharing. I think I need to get one of those pans. Thanks to this forum, I'm going to have way to many BBQ accessories. I'm going to have to build another shed to store everything.
 
Truly phenomenal, Jose. I would have loved to see a photo of the crispy "socarrat", but sometimes hunger just has to take priorities over photos.
 

 

Back
Top