A Kettle-Style Fire Pit Is Key For Perfect Paella At-Home

For food lovers, it seems the backyard pizza oven has been having a deserving moment, understandable as it's an easy way to create traditional-tasting tomato pies right at home. But if you are an avid outdoor entertainer, this may not come as a surprise to you. You may even have a wet bar or a hibachi-style grill installed in your own backyard as you work toward having a full outdoor kitchen experience. However, there is a new must-have outside cooking essential on the rise, and it's a kettle-style fire pit.

Basic fire pits have long been popular for hosting casual late-night bonfires. However, a kettle-style fire pit is more than just decoration or a source of warmth. It's a great cooking tool that will have you making more than just s'mores and hot dogs. While these simple dishes are great to use for a fire pit, utilizing the kettle's multiple functions will allow you to start cooking more complex meals, including the popular Spanish dish, paella.

Making traditional paella is a great dish to throw together when entertaining outdoors. This dish was historically made on a wood-burning fire in a special pan and eaten with wooden spoons. While this open-flame cooking method can be easily replicated on any outdoor grill or burning fire, the kettle-style fire pit is most ideal. Chef of Asheville's Cúrate and La Bodega by Cúrate, Katie Button, told Food & Wine that upon noticing her own Sea Island Forge kettle-style fire pit's lever function — which can move items up and down — she couldn't wait to make paella for her family and son Felix. 

"The Sea Island Forge team had me design an attachment for the kettle to cook paella, and it's incredible [to] see this idea come to fruition," Button said. "It's a piece of Felix's upbringing and heritage, and to be able to cook on a multi-faceted kettle and share the traditions from his Spanish roots with our kids and friends here is priceless"

Paella is a dish that needs close attention when making it, and such multifaceted functions unique to these fire pits make the process much easier. So, if you're looking for the perfect intimate weekend dinner to enjoy alongside fresh air and friends, it might be worth purchasing a kettle-style fire pit for some paella-filled evenings.