Paella pans

[holyschist]

This may be too specialized a question, but I thought I'd give it a shot.

I love paella, because it is easy and cheap! Both of which are important considerations for me right now. Also it is delicious!

But it is less easy when one does not have a paella pan, and this also generally results in burnt bits (not the tasty socarrat kind, the icky kind!), and means I can only make enough for two people, not two people + delicious leftovers! So I am in the market for a paella pan.

I went and looked at paella pans on Amazon.com and was TOTALLY OVERWHELMED. There are a zillion options, ranging from $10 to $250!

My pan must be

-Easy to clean (I am okay with nonstick or stainless or enameled, I know from experience that I will not use cast iron or carbon steel, defeating the point of having a paella pan).
-Work on an electric stove! This is key; I live in an apartment and I have the stove I have. I am many years away from a house, which would be the only way I'd get a gas stove in the US, and I can't afford a grill right now.
-Of modest size (the burners are only so big), but hopefully able to accommodate at least 2 cups of rice...maybe 14"?

Ideally it will

-Also be usable on a grill, should I ever get one
-Cost less than $40, for I am poor

Now I am looking at this flat-bottomed pan and this regular one. The regular one is a lot cheaper, and more traditionally shaped. Am I correct in thinking that since I have a regular electric stove with burners, not a flat-top or induction stove, that I can still use the regular pan with the convex bottom?

Comments

[lassarina]

I am unhelpful with regard to paella pans specifically, but re: gas stoves--there are actually a lot of places in the US where you can't get an apartment with an electric stove. (I've lived near Chicago for 10 years and have yet to find an apartment building with this mythical beast of an electric stove.) Er. For what that's worth, in the long-term planning. :)

[holyschist]

Really? Huh. It may have something to do with prevalence of older apartment buildings, or local codes or something.

I have never seen an apartment with a gas stove in Colorado, and I'm trying not to move away from the area (plus stove is really low on my priority list for apartments, well after 1) not a dump and 2) affordable). Anyway, at this point, I'm probably in this apartment until I can think about a house, so I need to buy cookware that I can use on any stove. It's why I have a fake wok, too. :(

[zarhooie]

You might want to ask this in omnomnom. I, as a mod, give you permission.

[holyschist]

Hee, I wasn't sure it was appropriate for omnomnom, but since you have blessed it, I shall ask!

[havocthecat]

That's too many options! I know next to nothing about paella pans. Mostly I just borrow my mom's when I want to make paella. Which was, admittedly, just that one time, but I've been pondering trying it again.