[Rob Ring]

My cookware quest (as chronicled in my inaugural post) took me down many on-line avenues, and before I knew it I’m looking at paella pans (I sure do like paella). Now, I understand that you don’t necessarily need a paella pan to make paella, especially a 2-person serving for my wife and myself. But I also want to be able to make a “party-sized” batch, hence an instant need (heretofore unrecognized) for a bigger paella pan.

So here’s my question – how thick is thick enough? I’m considering 2 different 17” pans – a “Heavy Duty Carbon Steel” model from Paderno and a “polished carbon steel” model from Myson (links below). As far as I can tell the Paderno at 2.5 mm is maybe twice as thick as the Myson. The Myson seems closer in thickness to the polished carbon paella pans at KnifeMerchant.com. It’s also less than 1/3 the cost of the thicker Paderno pan. So is twice the thickness worth more than thrice the cost? Or to ask it differently, is the thinner pan more than adequate? I plan to use my Weber gas grill (3-burner) to cook this dish, since I don’t have any burners even close to big enough for it on my gas cooktop.

Thanks,

Rob

Amazon.com: Myson Authentic Spanish Polished Steel Paella Pan, 17-Inch: Kitchen & Dining

17 3/4'' Carbon Steel Paella Pan, 2 1/8'' height - PADERNO

[DuckFat]

Paella pans should be thin so they heat fast. This helps with both the sofrito and achieving the soccarat. A Paella pan is also better thin because it cools fast. A thicker pan will hold more residual heat making it far easier to take the soccarat from a nice golden brown to burnt.
IMO the thinner pan is not only adequate it is more desireable. I'm a fan of cheap carbon paella pans.
Try LaTienda.com or Paellapans .com