Who has a paella pan? Ok, who as four of them? It’s not like I eat it all the time, but somehow over the last twenty or so years I’ve acquired four of them. One is the perfect pan for two people to have a big meal. Two are good for between four and eight people. The one below can feed twenty-five to thirty, or more. It was bought by a friend’s son as a Fathers Day gift. Sadly he didn’t check the size. It doesn’t fit on a BBQ, or a stove top. They couldn’t return it, so I offered to buy it from them. Why would I do that? Well, I did have an outside paella grilling stand. You can see the red legs, and the attachment to the propane container. I originally found it at Home Goods, and on impulse bought it. It came with one of the pans that can feed eight. That pan does fit on a BBQ, or even on my stove top. I wasn’t sure that it could support the larger pan, but it did. It’s larger than you’d think. It’s bigger than Captain America’s shield, or a snow sled. It can’t be carried into the house through a regular sized door when filled with food. I’ve had it for a few years, and never had the chance to use it.

For Memorial Day 2019, I finally got to use it. We had a scaled down party that year. In years past I had cooked for as many as a 110-120 people. Most years it averaged 75 or so. It was exhausting to prep and cook for that many people. It took two weeks to plan for it, and get the meats ready. We’d been doing it since 2001. I’d smoked briskets, and ribs. Done the bacon explosion, made sausages, smoked meatloaf and chicken, scallops wrapped in bacon, etc. Not to mention always having some hamburgers and hot dogs at the ready. Along with all the fixings, like smoked baked beans and corn with hot sauce and bacon. Even some braised and grilled octopus. But I had never done paella for more than just six to eight people. I thought paella was going to be less work and different enough that I could do it, and people wouldn’t miss the other stuff.

I’m not a chef, this is not a recipe, this is just me, and a few friends drinking some wine, beer, and sangria and hanging out. The paella took about 2 plus hours to cook.

To be continued…