Better efficiency through stirring?

I did my second ag brew on Saturday, my first netted me a disappointing 68%, this one a back slapping 80%. There were only 2 different factors that I believe contributed to this. First my grain came from a different place (i don't have my mill yet), it had a lot more flour in it than the first one did. And secondly I stirred the mash a LOT more than I did on the first one. This is the only two differences between the first brew and the second.

I stirred a good 5 minutes at dough in, was 2f high (156f) at 15min so I stirred again, went down to 153f, gave it a good 5 min stirring before first and second sparge, and tada 80%. Is it possible that a lot of peoples efficiency problem's can be related to something so simple as laziness? This seem's to be the case with me.

I guess it's possible that we could all be missing out on some efficiency points by not stirring as much as you did. Lately I've been able to hit 80% by simply extending my mashes from 60 minutes to 75 minutes.

How thick was your mash? That could be a factor in how easy it would be to do that much stirring.

ohiobrewtus said:

I guess it's possible that we could all be missing out on some efficiency points by not stirring as much as you did. Lately I've been able to hit 80% by simply extending my mashes from 60 minutes to 75 minutes.

How thick was your mash? That could be a factor in how easy it would be to do that much stirring.

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Actually, my first batch had a small grain bill and was soupy, this one was much thicker, and a lot more effort was required to stir, but it was worth it.

I just did my 3rd AG batch on Sunday and found the opposite to be true. This was the first time I did not stir the mash and I hit 85%. My guess is that it has more to do with the crush - mine appeared to have more flour this time too...