Paella on a charcoal grill, will that work?

You gotta know your grill. My wife's dad used to do the wok over weber thing and it turned out quite good. The amount of airflow through the top will control the heat.

short answer: yes. I've never done it but I was reading a book today as a matter of fact on grilling by Weber and it had a recipe for this exact thing. paella in a cast iron skillet over a charcoal grill.

Yes, but make sure you have it in a pan or skillet?:crazy::lol:

Does it actually bring some of the smokey taste to the paella?

I have a few Spanish cookbooks and they all insist that the best paella are made in a paella pan over open flame. I've done it on a bbq and it worked great.

Once you make Paella on the grill you will never make it any other way. This is about as close to authentic as you can get. I would suggest getting a paella pan if you do not have one. They are inexpensive and you want a thin pan so you can achieve the soccarat. A Paella pan is thin so it heats fast and cools fast.
You can get them on line at Sur la table or La Tienda or Paellapans.com
No idea what kind of grill you have. I'm using a BGE and I see no reason you couldn't apply much of this information to a Weber so I'll leave you this link that I think will help.

Best Regards,
Dave


Paella Primer -- The Naked Whiz's Ceramic Charcoal Cooker Page

The only suggestion I have is to listen closely. This is hard for me as I always had to be in the front row at ever concert in years past. :lol:
If you listen closely you can hear the snap crackle pop of the rice as it starts. Of course you can always lift the rice on one edge and cheat a little.
The best tip I have over all is not to over load your pan with seafood etc. This is pretty darn easy to do but Paella is really all about the rice.

I just noticed you are in Daytona. I lived there for about ten years.
Once I hear the rice start I pull the pan and let it rest. This helps avoid burning. What type of rice are you using?

Hi Abefroman,

I'm no expert in things paella, but I have made it a good number of times. When cooking it I've used the stove top (two burners at a time), the propane burner from a turkey fryer and my Weber kettle (using lump). Of these cooking mediums the Weber kettle is my favorite due to the flavor it imparts on the dish.

What I do is start with the HOT coals stacked in the middle.

when cooking paella on the kettle I...

• simmer the broth and saffron on the stove and set aside
• Start with HOT coals in the center
• sauté the meat and set aside
• sauté the vegetables and set aside
• make sofrito
• sauté the rice in the sofrito
• add broth, lay meat, vegetables and lemon circles in some cool design that somewhat signifies portions
• move the coals to the outside of the pan
• close the lid (of the Weber) and cook trying to maintain 350f until the liquid is gone
• remove the lid and try to build some soccarat
• serve

My soccarat has vastly improved with the addition of my paella pan and using a much thinner layer of rice (thanks BDL). When I first started I was going way to think, which was apparent by my cooking methods as well as my final result. It wasn't bad, just not cooked as well...so to speak.

yum!
dan

This is quickly becoming a mouth watering thread.

Must... buy... paella pan!! :lol:

Good question.
My daughter just returned from 3 months in France, Italy, Spain, basically a month in each. I thought I would learn to make paella, and I want to do it in my weber kettle 22" model. I need to get the pan large enough for 6-7 people.

I already do pizza in the kettle with a stone, and one problem is how fast the briquettes burn down thus less heat. This would be a problem when cooking something that requires more than 10 minutes of consistent heat. I think the best solution would be to add already lit briquettes. The problem is how to do this without moving the paella pan off the grill. I do have the flip up grate that allows adding more charcoal without removing the grill. I need to make a funnel to pour a starter can of briquettes in without dust and soot getting into the paella pan when adding briquettes.