Mash/Wort stirrer

[Scooby]

Since changing from a CFC to IC and making the yeast stirrer I seem to have stirring on the brain.

I thought I could rig up a car windscreen wiper motor on a lid, fit it with a small paddle and use it to move the wort
round the IC aiding cooling and creating a whirlpool effect.

Moving on a bit why can't I do the same in the mash tun, a WW motor would have enough torque and would be a good
speed for mash stirring.

Is it worth it to save 10-20 mins stood over the boiler? Is there any advantage to be had by stirring the mash?

Is it just an overactive brain trying to find an problem for a solution

[HG]

it would certainly give you a more 'hands free' approach. Though you'd probably need something quite sturdy for thicker mashes, especially if you used it to dough in. But the cooling should be fine.
You might as well give it a go; might come up with something brilliant

[boingy]

Stirring the wort in the boiler as it cools would give you quicker cooling but I am always a bit wary of disturbing the trub. I guess it would settle out quite quickly once you stop stirring. I've never tried the whirlpool thing though.

Stirring the mash once you have doughed in is not really necessary unless you are doing multi-step mashes and need to "distribute" the new temperature. I have even read that over-stirring the mash can cause stuck mashes because the grains can disintegrate into smaller fragments.

Just to add to your stirring thoughts, how about something in the bottom of the FV to stop the yeast settling out too early?
(and having planted that thought, Boingy exits, stage left)

[Hogarth]

Just to add to your stirring thoughts, how about something in the bottom of the FV to stop the yeast settling out too early?

A stir bar would probably do it best. The next time I use a lazy yeast like WLP002 I'm going to perch the fermenter on the stir plate and give it a whizz now and then. Surely easier than using a paddle.

[WallyBrew]

Go for it Scooby.

I added motor power via an escort Mk5? wiper motor (same as sierra). Plenty of these around cheap and they come apart easily and are easy to wire up.

My mash paddle is a mk1 version but will mash 10kg of grain in 3mins with excellent consistency of mash. It does need holding in place with a cramp though as when the mash starts to stiffen it really wants to move around.

The paddle design was made for mashing and also to fit over the cooling coil already in place in the fermenter. On the last brew I left it stirring the wort for 12 hours after pitching instead of aerating it.

For mashing purposes it is run from a 12 volt motorbike battery and for subsequent stirring duties it is powered from the 5 volt side of a computer power supply that I use for the motorised sparge arm.

Aside from saving all that physical work when mashing in, because the entire tun is enclosed, it keeps the dust to a minimum.

No I don't have any pics of it at the moment.

[Scooby]

Cheers WB, I'm off down the scrap yard and my car battery needs replacing before it catches me out

I know where I can get an ice cream maker motor, might have a use for that

[edit1now]

Picture please, WB?

I want to agitate my mashes...

[Aleman]

I want a gadget to agitate my HLT while it comes up to temperature . . .I get the feeling this is going to be a common theme . . . . And I have the 12V feed for it already built into the control box . . . Just need to work out how to connect the wiper motor to a shaft through the thermobox lid

[Scooby]

Had a dig around and found this Mash Stirrer and This

And this pic;

[Scooby]

Couldn't find that big shiny spoon though Chris

[Scooby]

Well I never! I've got at least 2 of them in the kitchen

Now if I can find a way of fixing them to a shaft.................

[Aleman]

I bought a really big shiny spoon from the catering department in Macro. It's really good at stirring the HLT to ensure an even temperature

Wow, A Brilliant Solution . . . and will it do that while you are at work but want to brew in the evening when you get home? or at 6 in the morning while you are asleep but want to brew when you get up

[WallyBrew]

O.K. you'll have to turn your head or screen through 90 degrees because despite rotating them they are not playing ball


The stirrer attached to new shaft on escort wiper motor. Note that I am not paranoid about lead or copper.

The shaft is 10mm in diameter and can be romoved as in "Linky"

To replace it in the gear wheel the end of the shaft had several vertical grooves hacksawed into it and was heated as it was slowly pushed back into the plastic. I have a lathe that facilitated exact aligngment for this part.



The stirrer in position for mashing



The stirrer replaced by the sparge arm



The stirrer in position over the FV



This is the MK 1 version which suggests it may undergo some improvements well it might

Ideally I want to replace the solid shaft with stainless tube so tat I can use the same motor assembly for mash and sparge - only having to remove the lower assembly which is held in place using a split olive.

[Scooby]

Cheers for that WB much appreciated I hadn't though of constructing the paddle in copper

[edit1now]

Wow - starting to feel inspired. Thanks WB!