Clearance ice cream machines...

Just a heads up that Target, in my area at least, has their ice cream machines on clearance.

Picked up the one linked below for $17. About the same price as a 12VDC wiper motor but without the hassle of scrounging up an AC/DC converter. The motor's about 200W or about 1/4 hp. I'm hopin it'll be strong enough to stir the mash for a 6 gal batch. I can get it to stall out by holding the drum that the motor spins but: 1. I think the force it gives should still be enough to stir the mash. 2. The directions imply that it's designed to stall out when the ice cream gets to a certain thickness which makes me wonder if there's a little tinkering I can do to give it a bit more umph. I'm going to try to use it as is and only start hacking it if it doesn't work without modification. The big challenge now is deciding how to couple a stirrer to the motor. The coupling on the motor isn't to user friendly if not used as intended.

Rival Ice Cream Maker Bucket : Target

I have one of those for some reason and was thinking of doing the same thing, but then i realized that there really isn't any benefit to stirring my mash unless i was using steam..

I'm going to HERMS and I'm worried about compaction and channeling more than the hot spots associated with steam.

Hmm...i'm still under the impression that even with HERMs you would not want to stir...

All the AG guys in my brewclub stir their mash. However, they only do this in the beginning. My understanding is they're just doing it to ensure that all of the grain gets saturated.

I'm not sure what the benefit of an electric stirring system would be, unless you were trying to do something cool like completely automate the process.

I wonder if you can get a whirlpool going with one.

I'm heading out now to get one of those ice cream makers. I've been wanting one for awhile, even put it on my christmas list. Don't want it for making beer, want it to make Ice cream. Gee, thanks.

Think that motor's strong enough to run a mill?

I'm heading to get two. I like to stir and it is a PITA. I like decoction and this would fold it back into the mixture. I am also heading toward steam infusion with recirculation to equalize the mash temperatures better in my system. I would think you wouldn't want to stir while your pump or gravity is working to move wort, but when everything is still I would really like the ability to stir without opening my tun. I did a little one for my best friend's wedding gift. Here's the link.

WortMonger said:

I'm heading to get two. I like to stir and it is a PITA. I like decoction and this would fold it back into the mixture. I am also heading toward steam infusion with recirculation to equalize the mash temperatures better in my system. I would think you wouldn't want to stir while your pump or gravity is working to move wort, but when everything is still I would really like the ability to stir without opening my tun.

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Hey monger, you think you could make something to automate the decoction stirring? I guess the paddles would have to scrape the bottom of the decoc. kettle.

Yeah korndog, it would take a very well fit paddle I would think to get that done. I am wanting to stir a non-direct fired tun, but if you had fire under it you would definitely want the bottom scraped clean constantly.

Honey said:

I'm heading out now to get one of those ice cream makers. I've been wanting one for awhile, even put it on my christmas list. Don't want it for making beer, want it to make Ice cream. Gee, thanks.

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Ha! Next thing you'll be telling me you fry turkeys with a turkey fryer. Seriously, who does that?