Mash Paddle or Spoon?

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Gabe

It's a sickness!
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What is the best way to go when getting a new mash stir-er ? Wood paddle or SS spoon of some sort? I brew in a 15 gal keg so lenght of the handle should be at least 35". Got any ideas?
 
Here is the Mash Paddle that I use. The paddle is better than any kind of spoon, IMO, because it can be more easily moved through the grain bed to insure that there are no dry clumps.

John

3951.jpg
 
johnsma22 said:
Here is the Mash Paddle that I use. The paddle is better than any kind of spoon, IMO, because it can be more easily moved through the grain bed to insure that there are no dry clumps.

John

3951.jpg

That looks the business. I'd be a little concerned about the cleaning though, it says to use oil and I be niggled thet It may get in the beer. Wouldn't it destroy head potential? Or am I just getting to far from the DWRHAHB mantra?
 
smogman said:
At this stage ultra sanitation is of little importance because your going to boil your wart to sanitize.:)

I think his concern is that the oil you use to clean the paddle will get into the wort. No sanitation concern, but oil + beer = no head.
 
hmmm.... maybe I should bottle with oil instead of corn sugar..... :eek:
 
bad form, Mr. Bird. bad form......

you know first hand that I get more head then I really want! :cross:
 
I've had that mash paddle from MoreBeer for quite some time, and I have made many batches using it. I use block oil, which is nothing more than lemon oil, not petroleum based oil, and have never had any head retention problems. BTW, block oil is not for cleaning it after a mash. I clean it as I would anything else I use in my brewery. It keeps the wood from cracking, drying, or absorbing odors.

John

No head retention problems with this stout, wouldn't you say?

DSC02124.jpg
 
I'd say not. Nice Brew.

I use a little olive oil on wooden chopping boards.

I mash in an oblong cooler so the grain bed is only maybe 12-16" deep so I can use a long handled plastic spoon.
 
the_bird said:
I know, I know, your wife just can't stop doing that! Hell, she comes over to my office, she meets me after work...

Your mom, too... :D

Wow, you kinda took that joke to the next level. You Masshole. :cross:
 
Chairman Cheyco said:
I use one of those giant wooden novelty tiki forks to stir my mash. It's awesome. I got it at a garage sale for $0.25
I thought you used those PRS guitars????
 
johnsma22 said:
I've had that mash paddle from MoreBeer for quite some time, and I have made many batches using it. I use block oil, which is nothing more than lemon oil, not petroleum based oil, and have never had any head retention problems. BTW, block oil is not for cleaning it after a mash. I clean it as I would anything else I use in my brewery. It keeps the wood from cracking, drying, or absorbing odors.

John

Beg to differ, Lemon oil is just petro oil and lemon scent. Pure citrus oils ARE used in paint strippers. http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1938&articleid=2281

Block oil, for butchers, is possibly different. It could be Tung oil, but if it was the mfg would probably tell you. Wood finish producers are notorious for not telling you what the ingredients are. Block oil could just be baby oil (fine petro) blended with an expensive advertising gimmick.

Here's link to a pic, can you read the fine print "with pure food-safe mineral oil" http://images.rockler.com/rockler/images/15950-lg.jpg You might as well use baby oil from thre 99 cent store.

I don't put anything on my wooden utensils. I consider them disposable, once they get old/beat/rotten.

But, I use a stainless spoon to mix my mash in a large rectangular cooler, shallow enough for the 14" spoon.
 
Sorry, but the stuff I use is pure lemon oil, no petroleum product in it whatsoever. I also don't consider a $45 hardwood mash paddle disposable. I find it hard to believe that MoreBeer would sell a product that would ruin beer, or recommend a practice that would ruin beer. Maybe I'm just naive.

John
 
I made my own mash paddle out of hard wood, nice pint of beer on the top (very important;)) Sealed it with salad bowl finish, food grade and multiple coats so the thing should last a while. And I was able to mark the handle with lines for every half gallon in my kettle so I can fairly accurately[FONT=&quot][/FONT] measure how much wort I have. And that IS very important for coming up with efficiency.
 
johnsma22 said:
Sorry, but the stuff I use is pure lemon oil, no petroleum product in it whatsoever. I also don't consider a $45 hardwood mash paddle disposable. I find it hard to believe that MoreBeer would sell a product that would ruin beer, or recommend a practice that would ruin beer. Maybe I'm just naive.

John

I said it isn't pure lemon oil, that if it is it's so nasty it will strip paint. And I linked to a site that says lemon oils cause liver damage.

I didn't say it would ruin beer.

Can you link me to the mfg of your "lemon" oil? Perhaps it says something like "contains pure lemon oil"? plus, maybe a warning the "contains petroleum distillates"?
 
Dude said:
This is what I use.

http://www.instawares.com/winco-stainless-steel-mixing.wdi-mpd36.0.7.htm

Cheap, stainless, and just about perfect. Cheap too. Oh I already mentioned that.

I bought one of those, too. Took forever to get delivered.

Thing it, it's really too big to use in the mash tun, and the metal makes me nervous in the plastic tun (especially with a delicate-seeming stainless braid), so I use up mostly using a big plastic spoon.
 
I picked up a 36" Bayou Classic wooden paddle at home depot for ~ $8. They don't have it listed on their website, but they do have this stainless steel one for $20. Either one seems like a good deal IMHO.

050904010421_3.jpg
 
The wooden one EdWort posted is the one I got at Home Depot. I didn't see the stainless one in the store, but they've got it on their website. Do a search for paddle.

Cheers!
 
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