Garcima 13 1/2-inch Pata Negra Restaurant Grade Paella Pan, 34cm

Very easy to use, cook and serve. sturdy and good quality

I purchased a 40cm (16") Pata Negra Garcima paella pan and I'm delighted with it. It worked wonderfully and I was making perfect paella from the beginning (see photos). I already had some experience making paella with a smaller 13" carbon steel pan with a flat bottom and no dimples, but this professional version is better, since I was able to selectively cook the various ingredients. Note to all those purchasers who reviewed the Garcima carbon steel pans and gave them a 1-star rating because of the rust on the surface: these paella pans are not made of stainless steel--they will rust unless you dry them thoroughly after cleaning and coat them lightly with vegetable oil! Just read the instructions to avoid the rust and get rid of it!

Fantastic Paella pan. Ideal for cooking the best Paella ever! Heat distribution is by far evenly spread throughout the pan to assure excellent results. I highly recommend this item and seller.

Good pan.. Description was accurate. Bottom is heavy to spread the heat but pan is not to heavy to use like a cast iron pan. I seasoned mine in the oven at 475 degrees and it turned blue as would be expected. It did not warp. I plan on using mine for more than Paella and on a grill and open fire so i need the thicker bottom I wish the handles witch are nice would be more upright just for ease of use on a open fire but overall a nice pan

I purchased this pan two years ago and never used it, however, I did season it as recommended. I stored it wrapped in paper. Yesterday I baked a chicken dish and used the pan to serve. As I hand-washed it, I noticed an awful metallic smell and to my horror, black splotches all over the bottom of the pan! I used a paper towel to dry it immediately and it was full of rust. I wish I had read the many, many reviews that called out the rust problem. I have no recourse now that I am two years out from my date of purchase. I am just so upset with this. Why are so many people thrilled by this product and so why are so many disappointed? And to think, I never actually cooked with this but just used it to serve.

I've had a 42 cm red-handle Garcima paella pan for over 30 years. It's almost always too big for the number of people I'm cooking for. It's the traditional Valencia shape and metal thickness: that is, it rocks on a flat surface, and you have to be very attentive to heat control because the metal is thin. It's a great pan; in fact, they're all great pans, but you should understand how they're different. The Pata Negra pans with the black handles are made of metal that's twice as thick as the traditional red handle pans. That means that the pan is more rugged, that it changes temperature slightly more slowly, and that it's somewhat less liable to get hot spots. Look at the product brochure I've scanned for you, and notice that most of the sizes are printed in black, but that four of them are printed in red. The red sizes don't rock when they're on a flat surface; they're made to be usable directly on an induction stove or a glass-topped range. The sizes in black have the traditional Valencia shape, where the middle of the pan is slightly depressed, the pan rocks, and you can't use it on an induction cooker without an adapter plate to turn it into a radiant cooking heat source. If they won't work on induction stoves, which are becoming increasingly popular, why keep making the Valencia shape? Because there are cooking techniques you can do with that shape that aren't possible if the pan is dead flat. The belly allows fats and juices to pool in the center of the pan. That means that you can use that part of the pan to color your proteins by frying them in oil, then push them up to the higher parts of the pan until it's time to start adding your rice and liquids. When the pan is completely flat, there is no particular place where the oils collect, so the way to use them is to brown your proteins a little at a time, grab the browned ingredients with a pair of tongs and put them aside on a tray to hold, and only after everything is nicely browned, then put everything back into the paella pan with the rice and the liquid. It's a different technique demanded by the fact that the pan has a different shape. Is this better or worse? Don't ask silly questions; just know what the attributes of the tool are. If you're always cooking on an induction stove, you'd be nuts not to get one of the flat bottomed pans. If you're cooking over a flame — gas, wood, or charcoal — both shapes will work for you, but you'll need to use different techniques on the completely flat shape than the traditional descriptions of techniques you may have read about when the demonstrator is using a pan in the Valencia shape . The important thing is to know that there is a difference, and to use a technique that will produce the result that you're looking for. By the way, there's a lot of whining in the reviews about the metal discoloring or rusting. If your pan doesn't end up black, it's because you don't use it. As for rust, after you've cleaned up, melt a little dot of lard on the clean, warm pan that you've just dried over your heat source, and use some kitchen paper to rub a thin film of lard all over the metal. My 30-year-old pan is black and mottled, and has never had a bit of rust.

Great product. Exactly what we needed for a good price.

Used for Seafood Paella stove top. Worked beautifully, heavy duty steel distributed heat without burning rice. Handles stayed cool to touch. Used as serving dish, impressive presentation