Paella Pan rental?

Looking forward to summer and throwing a big Paella party. Any sources for the rental of a large (28"-35") Paella pan and burner?

Thanks!

Try

www.chicagopartyrental.com

They are a very big operator.

However, there are lots and lots of other rental places, maybe closer to you.

like this one?

Exactly. An outdoor paella pan and burner. Exactly as you pictured.
Checked Chicago Party rental, not on the inventory list but I have an inquiry into them. Any suggestions/ideas?

Bueller? Anyone?

cgbchicago wrote:Bueller? Anyone?

The less cryptic your post, the greater likelihood of an answer.

G Wiv wrote:

cgbchicago wrote:Bueller? Anyone?

The less cryptic your post, the greater likelihood of an answer.

Not cryptic if you happen to be in HS in the '80's

mhill95149 wrote:like this one?

Can you enlighten us as to where one might get this?

Maybe you could call some tapas places and backtrack from there? They might have an idea who to call, at least...

Are those expensive enough to rent? Not speaking from experience, but it looks like you could use the burner from a turkey fryer (Alton Brown uses them with a wok,) and then you'd just need the pan, which a websearch shows is about $15 at Sur La Table (thus, probably cheaper with some legwork)

on his TV show Bayless stacked up some bricks around a wood fire on the ground and put the pan on the bricks. sounds more fun than gas.

imsscott wrote:
Can you enlighten us as to where one might get this?

This was purchased from the website of The Spanish Table

http://www.spanishtable.com

Like Mel stated, I got the pan at the Spanish table as well as the chorizo and La Bamba rice. The big pan that I got is a 16 serving pan that fits on the 22 1/2 weber kettle.

Thank you, all. Especially appreciated the Ben Stein back up.

Yes, there are many online sources for a Paella Pan. Unfortunately, the truly large ones do get expensive. The largest pan at Sur La Table, for instance, is 22", which is rated for 9-12 people. I envisioned more of a show stopper size, capable of feeding 25-30. This requires a 28" or 31" pan, which runs $105 to $119.

More importantly, it is recommended that you use a Paella burner for the larger pans. A Paella burner has concentric circles of flame to better cover the pan. The larger the pan, the larger the burner needed.

So, I thought if I could rent both pan and burner, that would be a wise choice for what may be an infrequently used item. I do have a Weber charcoal grill (gas too), but that is 22.5" across, smaller than the pan I need.

I don't have a turkey fryer, and although friends do, again, I am concerned about proper heat displacement on the Paella pan.

I'm not against the $400 buy-in of pan + burner, but at that price point, renting would be an attractive alternative.

Regards,
Abe Froman

I would disagree on the fact that you need to use propane for the larger size pans. The Spanish have been cooking Paella over open fires for centuries. I would purchase a metal stand for the size pan you anticipate purchasing and go from there.

While I was in Spain, we went to one of if not the best Paella restaurant in Valencia and the pans were fueled with dried vine cuttings that were bundled together with a diameter of about 2-3 feet and 4-5 feet long. They would push the bundle in for more heat and pull it out for less heat. The wood fire adds an element of smokiness to the final dish because the flames and smoke roll up the side of the pan and fall onto the rice.

cgbchicago (or anyone else) - did you ever have any luck finding some place that rents paella pans? I'm in the business and all of my usual suppliers don't rent paella pans. We have a family style dinner service coming up and I'd like to use smaller paella pans to serve the paella in (we'll have to cook it in larger pans and transfer it so the pans aren't hot as people pass them around). I hate to buy small pans for 15 tables since I know we won't use them again (at least for a while) and I already have enough stuff.

figmolly wrote: We have a family style dinner service coming up and I'd like to use smaller paella pans to serve the paella in (we'll have to cook it in larger pans and transfer it so the pans aren't hot as people pass them around)

Do you worry that the pans themselves might get too hot to hold just from the hot contents? The pans seem kind of thin....

mhill95149 wrote:

figmolly wrote: We have a family style dinner service coming up and I'd like to use smaller paella pans to serve the paella in (we'll have to cook it in larger pans and transfer it so the pans aren't hot as people pass them around)

Do you worry that the pans themselves might get too hot to hold just from the hot contents? The pans seem kind of thin....

Oddly enough I was thinking you might want to warm the pans up so they don't cool off the contents when served.

Just an FYI, Sur la Table is having a sale right now and they have paella pans in all sizes. I bought a 15" pan today (~8 people) for $20. They had the big one (pictured upthread) as well. I believe it was on sale for $42. Seems like a pretty good deal.

Thanks for the heads up. I've got a large one, but I've been thinking about purchasing a paella made for only 4-5 servings. I can't always invite a bunch of people over.

I ordered my other one from an Amazon supplier, with good results. $20.00 for a 15" is a decent price. I'm curious...is it carbon steel? dimpled with red handles?

thanks,
dan

gonefishin wrote:I'm curious...is it carbon steel? dimpled with red handles?

Yep, that's the one.

Welcome to LTH.

I would go with a small cheap pan and try it to see if you want to do it again. After some experience I think you will have better idea what pan you want as a better pan.

You didn’t ask, but if you are going to use sausage in your paella, I highly recommend the homemade chorizo ( it is Spanish style - not Mexican ) at El Mercado on Sheffield.