Oak Plywood Brew Paddle

I made a brew paddle out of a piece of thick oak plywood. I haven't used it yet, but I just wanted to see if there's anything I should be aware of prior to putting it in a couple gallons of boiling wort.

Anyone have anything they'd like to say?

Do not shop at OakPlywoodPaddleDepot.com?

olllllo said:

Do not shop at OakPlywoodPaddleDepot.com?

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Dammit! I was just getting ready to use a joke like this in another thread.

"The plies are bonded under heat and pressure with strong adhesives, usually phenol formaldehyde resin"

I think I would stay away from it. But i have a sinking suspicion that you already knew that so, to follow suit...... Don't buy from OakPlywoodPaddleDepot.com

Drunkensatyr said:

"The plies are bonded under heat and pressure with strong adhesives, usually phenol formaldehyde resin"

I think I would stay away from it. But i have a sinking suspicion that you already knew that so, to follow suit...... Don't buy from OakPlywoodPaddleDepot.com

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"Phenol-formaldehyde resins are inexpensive, heat-resistant, and waterproof, though somewhat brittle. The http://www.britannica.com/memberloginpolymerization of phenol with formaldehyde involves electrophilic aromatic…"

A lot of things I'm reading say it's boil-proof.

Further, I found this:

"Mash paddle. An ordinary wooden spoon is useless for stirring much more than 10 lb of grain. A simple wooden paddle can be cut from a single piece of hardwood, greatly facilitating mash mixing. Do not use plywood to make a mash paddle; the adhesives used in its manufacture are not food-grade, and the pine wood will flavor the wort in an undesirable way."

This doesn't worry me very much. I'm not using cheap pine plywood, this is expensive oak plywood. Sounds like, at worse it'll oak my mash, which may be a good thing. I think I'll keep it.

Hope it works great for ya!

Maybe I'm nuts here, but I'm thinking why not seal it with a coat of water-based polyurethane? If you do two coats and let it cure thoroughly, I'd think you would eliminate any worries about glue leaching out.

Rhoobarb said:

Maybe I'm nuts here, but I'm thinking why not seal it with a coat of water-based polyurethane? If you do two coats and let it cure thoroughly, I'd think you would eliminate any worries about glue leaching out.

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Good call. Maybe I will. Want one? I can cut out more.

I saw a plywood mash paddle for sale at fermentinanoldshoeyoufoundbythesideoftheroad.com

http://bayouclassicdepot.com/1001_wooden_cooking_paddle.htm

This one is pine plywood.

Why not just buy one of these from bayouclassicdepot.com? They're only $6. LOL

FYI - I got the same paddle at Home Depot for $8. It works great.

Dammit, Cheesefood beat me to it! Too slow on the keys I guess.

Lil' Sparky said:

Why not just buy one of these from bayouclassicdepot.com? They're only $6. LOL

FYI - I got the same paddle at Home Depot for $8. It works great.

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I bought it, then realized it's pretty cheap. So I thought "I have oak, why not just trace it and make one out of oak?" So I've made two so far, but haven't used either yet.

are you sure it is all oak plywood? Usually hardwood plywoods are actually only hardwood on the outer veneers and something cheaper (like pine, or cheaper) on the inner veneers.

Sorry, not trying to be a pita just speaking from experience. You want a nice hard rock maple paddle? I can make one for you, I can get lots of hard rock maple scraps. I don't have a lot of time to make them, but I could get around to it with the right motivation

I was looking at making my own paddle and came accross this:
http://www.homebrew.com/articles/article08300201.shtml

All of that sawing and sanding seemed like a lot of hard work. Then I saw the pic of the one made of wood dowel. Hmmm. Off to HD. 8 or 9 bucks worth of hardwood dowel and an hours work with a saw and the drill press and I had a fair replica. I used aliphatic resin to glue it. (OK for short exposure to hot water.) I sealed it with mineral oil as the article suggests. Works great.

If I were really lazy, I would just spring for this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Mash-Paddle-Brewing-Home-Brew-Beer-Rake_W0QQitemZ200110592015QQcmdZViewItem

I bought a plastic mash paddle for $4... is there something wrong with me???

The Pol said:

I bought a plastic mash paddle for $4... is there something wrong with me???

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What? Why on earth would anyone use polymerized polyvinylchoride? Don't you know that they use a platinum catalyst to force the vinyl molecules into an unnatural chain? Are you trying to kill someone?????

BTW, I use a stick with leaves still on it.... I got it from "fermentinanoldshoethatyoufoundonthesideoftheroad.com" Great site

LMAOOOOO

Funny