Short answer: If it's the difference between doing partial mashes and extract/specialty brewing, keep on doing what you're doing and RDWHAHB.
My opinion is simple: Homebrewers needlessly worry too much about hot-side aeration. You've really got to work to get enough oxygen into the sweet wort to oxidize the lipids that are the precursors to staling compounds.
See this Mr Wizard column.
Here's the most important paragraph:
"Hot-side aeration can be demonstrated in medium and large commercial breweries because the brewing equipment is so big that splashing is a really dramatic event. Think of liquid flowing through a six-inch pipe at 400 gallons per minute and cascading 12 feet through the air before hitting the bottom of a tank. This — not roughly stirring a five-gallon mash with a wooden spoon —is what commercial brewers are trying to minimize."
It depends on the style. The vast majority of the HSA literature comes from megabreweries producing light American lager-style beers, where A., any off-flavor is impossible to hide; and B., mid- and long-term shelf stability are crucial to product throughput.
Can HSA impact homebrew? Yes. But here's the thing:
1. The vast majority of homebrew styles have flavor which will do much to mask the off-flavors associated with HSA (when's the last time you brewed anything in BJCP Category 01?)
2. The amount of time we permit our beer to remain in the package is generally too short (the Big Boys are worried about months and months of shelf time under less-than-optimal conditions, like temperature fluctuations, sunlight, etc.)
3. The manner in which we package - generally in the presence of live yeast, unlike the megas, who filter and pasteurize - means our homebrew changes flavor over time (even the light stuff). Once megabrews hit the package, nothing changes.
So relax. You really
should build/buy a proper mashing vessel, though.
Cheers,
Bob