How can I achieve a good socarrat with paella cooked in the oven?
I'm cooking dinner for a friend who pointedly bought me a paella pan. Normally, I would never consider making paella in the oven, but my stove is electric and the coil is not nearly as big as the base of the pan. So I looked around and found this recipe from Bobby Flay.
I just made a test batch with just the sofrito and rice. Since the recipe didn't mention the socarrat, I figured I'd be slick by preheating my pizza stone at 500F and placing my paella pan on that. It didn't work for creating the socarrat, but other than that, I was mostly pleased with the results.
So, I'm pretty married to the technique in the recipe, but I'd still like to get that crusty rice layer on the bottom. I tried putting the pan on the burner for a few minutes after the rice was done, but that just gave me a burnt bottom layer.
Any ideas?
Best Answer
Putting the pan on the burner will deliver too much heat in too little time - aka a burnt layer.
You want constant heat from the bottom during the whole cooking time. In an oven, your pizza stone is an excellent start, supplying a thermal mass. I recommend increasing the heat from the bottom compared to the heat from the top, even if this could slightly increase the total cooking time:
Set your oven to "bottom heat" and / or put the pan on the lowest rack possible. A sheet of foil can also shield the pan from top heat.
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How do you get paella in socarrat?
The socarrat is achieved by turning up the heat in the final minutes of cooking. You'll know within the first few bites if the socarrat is present. Also, do not let your server dish out the paella onto individual plates. Paella should be served in its pan, lest you lose the coveted socarrat.Can a paella dish go in the oven?
No problem! Any wide, shallow skillet will be up to the job. If you're making your paella in the oven, just make sure that the entire pan, even the handle, is heat-safe. The most important tip to keep in mind is that your layer of rice should be no more than two inches deep.How do you make paella bottom crispy?
The crust on the bottom can be made in two ways. First, when the rice is almost finished cooking, take the pan with the paella off of the heat and let the rice absorb the remaining water. This will let the rest of the rice continue to cook while the heat from the bottom of the pan creates a crust.Should paella be cooked covered or uncovered?
The "experts" will tell you that real, true, authentic paella is cooked uncovered over an open flame. Dig a little deeper and you'll find that real, true authentic recipes call for toothsome morsels of rabbit and snails, not that there's anything wrong with that.Paella's Hidden Secret - SOCARRAT - In Your Own Kitchen
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Andrea Piacquadio, William Fortunato, Ketut Subiyanto, William Fortunato