New Toy: Cheap Carbon Steel Paella Pan from Shopee

From my last attempt at making this (https://blog.shahada.abubakar.net/?p=9030) I realised my 26cm cast iron pan is a bit too small. Not only do you have a thick layer of rice, the ingredients are quite crowded, and the result is certainly certainly too small when cooking for more than 1 person.

So during Shopee’s 12.12 sale I decided to pick up a larger Paella pan. It’s not something I will use very often, so I didn’t want to spend too much on it. I also did not want an aluminium or teflon-coated pan, as I am extremely likely to burn stuff and ruin it.

I ended up with this (https://shopee.com.my/Black-Carbon-Steel-Paella-Pan…), a Black Carbon Steel pan for RM28.50 with Free Shipping ! I got the “smallest” in the range at 38cm, but it’s still larger than anything I have. At this price, it’s not comparable to something that costs RM300+ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixlhplVYQww…), but I think it will serve its purpose well.

It’s also my first Carbon Steel pan … and wow! Compared to my cast-iron pan this is extremely light — it’s easy to toss food around. It heats up in a fraction of the time, and has no problem with high heat (I measured 300+℃ while seasoning it). It also cools down very fast.

Of course, I don’t need this kid of specification for making Paella (we’re just boiling rice at a constant 100C for 15 minutes after all!), but it is tempting me towards getting more Carbon Steel stuff. Maybe a smallish round bottom carbon steel wok (https://shopee.com.my/KWB-Traditional-Black-Classic…) for frying eggs with less oil and also maybe a saute pan (https://www.ikea.com/…/vardagen-frying-pan-carbon…/) to replace yet another burnt out teflon pan.