Paella on the KK (NakedWhiz version)

MadMedik · April 1, 2012

Hello. I finally did the Paella cook on my KK. I basically followed the instructions of NakedWhiz for making Seafood Paella. Quick summary: it tasted AWESOME! However, i did have quite a few variations from what NakedWhiz posts on his website. Here are my thoughts and observations: RECIPE: as you can see, i loaded this up with lots of seafood and linquica. I used 2 fillets (talapia) fish, 15 large shrimp, 12 scallops, 4 squid (they are gross to handle), and about 20 "mini linguica" that were size of my pinkie finger...i quartered the linquica. Some might say this was too much 'meat', but my guests disagreed. It was ALL gone quickly. I did precook all the fish per Naked Whiz recommendation...added the last 20 minutes or so to 'reheat' I used Red Bell pepper and Green Beans to garnish a bit. Peppers are really good like this... here is link to Naked Whiz Paella Help: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/paella/paella.htm The pictures below show LOTS of meat, so not "picture perfect', but oh my, it was tasty. This served 5 adults and we all had plenty to eat...but there was none left. A six person probably could have had enough...we all sort of pigged out. The Paella pan is 13.5" pan....sticker on it said 4 to 6 people...Got it a Sur La Tab. They have several sizes... I lit the fire with Chimney Basket fire starter ....first time i have done this, as i usually use weed burner. This basket lit completely in about 10 minutes, 3 pieces of paper....very easy to do and would recommend this method for all lights. My biggest issue and concern with the whole cooking event is the heat of the KK and the Paella Pan itself. I saute'd all the fish in the paella pan, but just having the lid open and the bottom vent closed, which is what the Whiz site said to do (i think), I could not generate enough heat to adequately/quickly saute' the fish. It just was not hot enough. So I opened vent completely and pulled the whole front tray out just slightly to allow air flow around the tray. This got things going nicely, and actually got it VERY hot. I had to adjust the vent, tray, and close the lid at times to keep the fire hot, but not too hot....I would close the lid and open the top vent too and it would reach 550 degrees... I did not want this too hot so would then close up the bottom vents a bit.... Anyway, it was back and forth with vents, open/closed lid, and messing with temp in general. I was concerned i would run out of Lump coals due to fact i was keeping the heat pretty high so i actually dumped some more coals in , twice, during the cooking process. By the time the rice was added and I just wanted it to cook at 350 until done...I could not get the temp back down as KK was very much heat soaked. I completely shut down the airflow and could not get below about 420 degrees. My goal, per Whiz, was to baked it at 350. I added the seafood/meat when there was just a little liquid left. I removed the pan from KK actually, cause it was quite hot, and added all the meat. The meat was room temp when put in the pan. However, i put the Pan back into KK for about 20 minutes longer..maybe 30...and the meat/fish warmed up nicely...was actually hot when served. Over all the cook was good and interesting. Fire regulation for saute'ing and browning the onion/tomato base was the most difficult, but i managed. I can see doing this on the stove, or unit with more precise temperature control would be easier. By the way, the rice did not burn, and was just starting to "stick to pan" , which i believe is desired, when i took it off. My guests commented on how they liked the "crusty/hardend" parts of rice. Just the bottom got like this. I will try again at some point. It was fun,different, and shows how the KK can be used many ways. Thanks for checking this out. Sorry for the long post. fetch?id=68448 fetch?id=68449 fetch?id=68450

DennisLinkletter · April 1, 2012