Garcima 26-Inch Enameled Steel Paella Pan, 65cm

I went to Spain last month and took two paella cooking classes. One in Madrid, and one in Valencia where paella was originally from. Before I went there, I had always thought that in order to make a great paella, I need to get the authentic steel pan that many complain about hard to clean and the extra maintenance steps to prevent rusting. The instructor in Madrid told me that they use whatever pan that's readily available when making paella, as long as it has a wide flat bottom. The chef in Valencia used this very enameled pan. Both paella turned out absolutely phenomenal. Intense flavor of socorrat at the bottom and delicious.I purchased this pan after I came back from Spain and just made my first paella yesterday. It was delicious. I had tried to use my regular stainless heavy bottom saute pan before but the socorrat didn't come out great. This pan, however, produced a perfect layer of socorrat at the bottom and it was the best paella that I have ever made. It is larger than my largest burner so I made it on the gas grill on my patio. It was a bit high from the flame on the grill than when it was on the stove, so I had to keep the grill closed to maintain a high enough temperature.After we finished the paella, I simply soaked it in water for about 30 minutes, and everything came off right away. I was amazed at how easy it was to clean. We all used stainless steel spoon to scrap off the socorrat to eat directly on the pan and there was no visible scratch or damage to the pan.I may purchase two smaller paella pans from them so that I can make it on my stove.Highly recommended.

I bought this pan out of curiosity on how to make paella. I first tried this out using the stove-to-oven method (it was raining outside so I didn't want to do the grill method at this time) and it worked completely fine. I knew my uneven burners wouldn't distribute heat evenly but nonetheless I got a decent amount of socarrat from the Spanish chorizo. I then did a second batch using the grill method and this pan held up perfectly fine. Even heating resulting in no need to rotate the pan or even stir. I got better socarrat from the grill method which I was very pleased with. The enamel makes this pan also very easy to clean! I'm glad I bought this 16 inch pan, it fed 5-6 of us and it fit perfectly into my grill & oven.

I've used this pan a couple dozen times since it was purchased (I have a smaller paella pan for when it's just the two of us at home), over fire pits, gas grills, and yes, even stovetop burners (saddling multiple burners and constant rotation), and it still looks new. I burned one paella in it due to inattentiveness and even that cleaned up just fine. I don't like to tell people to ignore bad reviews on a product, but it's clear that several reviewers don't understand how to use this pan or even how to properly make paella. No, it doesn't distribute heat evenly. Why? Because it's not designed to do that. It's designed for one thing and one thing only, to make paella over a large open heat source. You *can* do it on a stove burner but if you think you can just put a 16 inch paella pan on a 10 inch burner and not move it around, I'm never coming over to your house for dinner. For everyone else who understands how to use a pan like this, I think you will be pleased with this purchase. I own three of them now in different sizes.

This is an authentic, if cheap, pan. The enamel coating is great for beginners and it is pretty easy to take care of. A couple of things1) When you wash the pan, I would advise hand drying and putting in an oven at very low heat to add evaporation. The inner lip around the ring of the pan is not totally enameled on mine and I very quickly got mild rust. This is not a part of the pan that would ever touch food or a burner, so it's not a big deal, but be aware that any part of the pan that doesn't have enamel will rust extremely quickly.2) This is a thin pan. If you are on an electric stove that gets pretty not you will burn your paella every time. Make sure your stove is calibrated well (infinite switch and all that) if using electric.3) The pan will not fit on 8-inch burners. If you want that I would advise going down a size. What I do is baby the pan, moving it around on the burners by hand, until it looks like the liquid absorption has slowed, then I finish in the oven where I know the pan will heat evenly.4) Cleaning requires some elbow-grease but the enamel makes it easier to clean than say a stainless steel or poorly-seasoned cast-iron pan.I've managed to cook a couple of pretty well executed paellas on my electric stove, but it requires practice and really getting to know how the pan and my stove interacted. I think it'd work much better with gas as you have finer temperature control. The pan reacts very quickly to temperature changes and does not hold heat very long.

Found the pan very sturdy in comparison to others, ample space to cook and very easy to clean

Makes great Paellas and it is easy to clean. The small size which is the one I got, is enough to feed 4 people with normal appetites. If extreme appetite then 3 or 2 but believe me it makes plenty. I used 1.5 cups of bomba with the mixta Paella of seafood and chicken and that one had everything but the ocean in it. It was a big Paella but it fit and cooked nicely in the pan. (see pic) and we had plenty for 4+ people. The smaller one had only 1 cup of bomba rice and not all the seafood and it was still enough for 3 big portions and could have easily feed 4. Makes good socarrat and it is easy to clean plus won't get rusty.