Garcima La Ideal Polished Steel Paella Pan 30cm

NICE! ... VERY NICE!!I purchased this pan for small situational meals. It replaced an older pan that had seen better days due mostly to lack of attention on my part. I used the old pan "off label" (don't ask..!!), and the result was not so good (for the pan..). In any event I needed a new small paella pan and this one seemed the perfect choice. I was correct.I cannot say enough good things about this pan. It looks good. It cooks good. (That alone should be enough..). But surprisingly, it also is the perfect size for a meal for two. It is easy to handle, it works on both charcoal and gas grills, and is reasonably easy to clean.!!!!! Once you opt for a paella pan, you quickly come to realize that all rules are now history. You learn a new game. The hardest thing is "sizing" recipes to fit the pan. It just takes a little experimenting.Anyway, this pan is PERFECT!!! It works like it is supposed to. It functions like a paella pan is designed to. It is just the right size for a meal for two (or maybe three..), It makes a beautiful socaratt (sp..??) and it makes YOU look like you know what you are doing.!! This pan has a bottom full of dimples that help with warping and controlling heat. After several uses you will find that it is darkening and developing an oil finish (patina..?) that makes it more and more non-stick. Now understand, I am NOT saying that this pan is NON-stick. Not at all. Just that it cooks better and better and cleans easier and easier the more you use it.It would be hard to imagine a paella pan for two people (or three..) that would be any more perfect than this one. High quality, good materials, nicely designed and finished. What's not to like.?? Highly recommended.!!

I've been trying to perfect my paella and love to try different styles and ingredients, so I upgraded to a "real" paella pan, or so I hoped. I expected the coating to be gone after the first use, but the bare metal really looked like crap after cleaning and oiling. It now has a splotchy grey hue (which can't be removed with scrubbing) that really detracts from the dish. As it got worse with each use, it made me wonder how much metal is leaching into the food as it continued to get more discolored.In comparison: My 16" steel L*dge and cast iron pans don't do this, but instead release their seasoned coating (not metal) into the rice similarly (which turns the rice grey), and they are too large for my burners, which makes it too difficult to constantly turn either of them on top of TWO burners. Either too done - or just never right. That's why I'm starting to try other (smaller) pans that fit my burners. (Hmm... Maybe I should try my oven or BBQ pit?)Back to my review: After another couple of uses, no amount of scrubbing and oil on this pan was ever able to bring it back. The corrosion/discoloration just kept getting worse, so it is gone with the trash. I believe it is the boiling of water during cooking, regardless of how much oiling, that causes corrosion of this pan, so you can't stop it from happening. If you can live with continuous leaching of nano-scale-metal-corrosion-particulates in your food (from who knows where; granted, people around the world do this all the time) then more power to you. Otherwise, though it is now in the trash (I tried to think of another use for it), the size was right for my burners, it was well made for this design, and it was easy to make perfectly toasted "socarrat". So, three stars. Maybe I'll try a 12" stainless pan next?

Paella pan performs well and at a good price. I wish paella pans didn't rust but that's normal & the nature of the beast.

After receiving the pan, followed the manufacturer instructions to boiling the pan first to remove chemicals. After I did that, multiple spots of rust appeared. Threw out the chemical water and boiled it again. This revealed even more rust.Basically following the instructions shows that the pan is easily rusted. This is before any actual use.

Pan easily rusted after one use

For two people (who really like Paella), this is the perfect sized pan. My wife and I have been using it and like it a lot. It's the little brother of our 18" Garcima pan--that we haul out when company comes.

It is no the best "paellera" but it works. You have to take care if you want to conserve it. When you clean it, dry it and put oil with a napkin.

Fits my electric stoves big burners