Stir Plate w/ Stir Rod in Boil Kettle
 

Has anyone attempted to use a stir plate with stir rod in their boil kettle? Obviously this would pertain to electric setups, not gas setups. Just curious how the results were, or if there were any issues. There are stir rods and plates rated up to 600 liters on the market, so it seems feasible.

What would the advantage be over a impeller type electric mixer? They are readily availabe and I would imagine cheaper than such a large magnetic stir bar type mixer. Do you know pricing on these......just curious?

The advantage could be that the lid to the BK doesn't have anything on it, and no electrical wires running up to the top of the BK lid. Also, I like nylon bags for my additions. This way nothing to snag or catch. The stir rod is just free in the bottom spinning around. Cost... thinking I'd use an old PC fan or something mounted below my BK. Stainless isn't magnetic, so thinking this might just work.

An old pC fan to spin a stir bar that large!? And what is this for? Whirlpooling? i dont' see the reason for any stirring mechanism in a boil pot.

I think you would need a box fan rather than a muffin (pc) fan for something that big. I agree, why are you trying to stir the BK so much? I could see if it was your HLT for a recirculation setup. What's your master plan?

There are a couple reasons. My MLT is also recirculated through my BK, via coil, to maintain temp... so having the water movement across the heater element and then across the coils will ensure good consistent heating...

During the boil it is good to just get the stir going to get the small nylon bags to move around get the hops and things mixed in.

Then later in the process my MLT is filled with Ice Water and that is circulated through my BK coil to cool the wort. Again, moving the wort around and across the coils is going to ensure good cooling and faster.

So it really has many benefits, and would sure beat the paddle!

I can see it for the HERMS purpose, but stirring during the boile is not really going to accomplish anything. The BK will have good convection current with a rolling boil, and swirling bags won't help isomerize hop acids, sufficient heat and time do that. For recirc during chilling, you're much better off using a pump to recirc and whirlpool, ala Jamil's article.