Gas burner or a home hob/stove?
A traditional paella pan was designed for an open flame or a wide outdoor gas ring. Here's what changes when you move it to a kitchen hob (stove) instead.
Why a traditional pan can sit awkwardly on a hob
Paella is traditionally cooked over an open fire on a wide, flat-bottomed pan built for a large, spread-out flame — a wide gas ring or an outdoor paella burner is designed to heat the whole base evenly. A domestic hob/stove ring is smaller and more concentrated, so a large-diameter pan on a single home burner heats less evenly across the base than it would on a wide outdoor ring or over an open flame; splitting the pan across two burners, or using a lower, steadier heat and moving/rotating the pan, are common ways cooks compensate on an indoor hob.
Induction hobs specifically
Induction hobs only heat cookware that contains a ferromagnetic metal, such as cast iron or magnetic grades of steel — the field induces current directly in that metal. A simple way to check any pan is the magnet test: if a magnet sticks firmly to the underside, it will work on induction; non-ferrous metals like plain copper or aluminium won't heat on an induction hob at all. Carbon steel is typically ferromagnetic, but enamelling and the exact alloy can affect this — we haven't confirmed an induction rating for this specific pan against a primary manufacturer source, so if you cook on induction, check the base with a magnet (or the listing's own compatibility line) before relying on it.
Gas and electric (non-induction) hobs
A flat-bottomed pan makes contact across more of the burner or plate on gas or standard electric hobs, which is the main practical difference from a rounder or footed outdoor design. Two side handles (rather than one long handle) are the traditional paella-pan shape either way, indoors or out.
The pan we're using
Alises Anti-Rust Steel Paella Pan, 40cm. Flat or convex base: unknown from the Amazon listing (accessed 2026-09-04, `research.md` §3) — check your unit before assuming either way, or see the magnet test above for induction.
See also: caring for the pan once you've cooked on it.
Sources (accessed 2026-09-04): Wikipedia, "Paella" (traditional open-fire cooking); Wikipedia, "Induction cooking" (ferromagnetic-material requirement, magnet test). The indoor-heat-distribution point is general cookware knowledge, not from a single cited source; the induction rating of this specific pan is unknown and flagged as such above, not guessed.