is there a low-rpm electric stir paddle on the market?

[twd000]

I'm doing electric BIAB, single vessel, no pump. Was thinking it would be really nice to have a stir paddle rather than using a spoon

- I often heat strike water unattended, and I get temperature stratification so the controller cuts off early
-during mash stirring improves efficiency and even mixing
-during chilling, my immersion chiller works much more efficiently when the wort is circulated, but my hands are full getting fermenters sanitized

looking for something with a stainless paddle and a simple 120V AC motor that I can control to maybe 30 RPM just to keep everything circulating

anything out there I can buy, or do I need to make one?

 

[tracer bullet]

I looked a LOT and couldn't find anything that already existed. I ended up with something off Amazon for about $100. Look for "overhead stirrer". But that's just a motor and speed controller, with maybe a stand that you probably can't use.

Beware it's a sequence of events to deal with. What size can I fit into the collet? How long can I find something that small that reaches into the kettle? How do I hold it still on top of it? Will it fit inside the inner diameter of my immersion chiller or bang it up? Have to put a hole in the lid. Etc.

I ended up with a working solution but honestly if I had to do it again I'd just get a pump. That would be my recommendation.

 

[3 Dawg Night]

We need to set up your thread and this thread on a blind date.

 

[twd000]

We need to set up your thread and this thread on a blind date.

thanks I just posted over there

 

[twd000]

I looked a LOT and couldn't find anything that already existed. I ended up with something off Amazon for about $100. Look for "overhead stirrer". But that's just a motor and speed controller, with maybe a stand that you probably can't use.

Beware it's a sequence of events to deal with. What size can I fit into the collet? How long can I find something that small that reaches into the kettle? How do I hold it still on top of it? Will it fit inside the inner diameter of my immersion chiller or bang it up? Have to put a hole in the lid. Etc.

I ended up with a working solution but honestly if I had to do it again I'd just get a pump. That would be my recommendation.

thanks I'll check out the overhead stirrer

my plan was simple - forgo the lid, and clamp the electric motor to a block of wood set across the vessel rim. Drill a hole through the wood for the paddle shaft. I'm thinking a 3" x 3" paddle would be small enough to fit any immersion chiller, but big enough to move some liquid. Those paint stirrers paddles are very much surface area and they really thrash the paint around - problem is they're not stainless/food-safe

 

[twd000]

this gadget looks promising, but light on specs

https://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Mixer-Auto-Stirrer-Cooking-Easy/dp/B07DV2YQBJ?th=1
I wonder if you could extend the shaft length with an extension to reach down into a keggle?

no word on the RPM setting, but I assume it's slow enough to not slosh soup out of a 6-quart stock pot

 

[smcinco]

If you could find a used Heidolph overhead lab stirrer, that would be ideal.

https://www.ebay.com/i/174326735866...1291&msclkid=0539c6bc8bf911579624998921a8fa81

 

[tracer bullet]

https://www.amazon.com/CO-Z-Electri...ywords=overhead+stirrer&qid=1597353106&sr=8-3
As an example. Depending on your lid it might actually happen to sit on top but for me it wasn't stable. I ended up putting the vertical post into a hole in a block of wood, then using their setup to position the motor itself. from that post. I drilled a hole in my lid that can fit a stopper in it. Stopper has a plastic bushing inside. I run the stirrer through the lid from the opposite side then to the stirrer itself.

But - I had to fab up a 6x6 block of wood to sit at an angle because the lid was angled, replace the chuck in the stirrer with one that could accomodate off the shelf stuff that was a bigger diameter than what came with the setup, buy a stainless paddle, and so on. It's a rabbit hole to go down, that's for sure. And yes you can get collars to hold shafts together but it's another thing, and another thing, and another...

 

[Bilsch]

I tried to find something like this as well but ended up building instead. Biggest issue was finding a slow and powerful stirrer. I used a Fisher Stedfast SL300 and it is perfect. Although this is just for chilling, the mixer would work just as well in a mash.

 

[jschein]

What’s old is new again! I knew there was a thread from a long time ago. This is a build not bought.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/torque-and-inch-pounds.27045/#post-266011

 

[tracer bullet]

I tried to find something like this as well but ended up building instead. Biggest issue was finding a slow and powerful stirrer. I used a Fisher Stedfast SL300 and it is perfect. Although this is just for chilling, the mixer would work just as well in a mash.

Nice! That's a step up from mine for sure. I have a couple of pieces of wood cobbled together to hold the mixer and simply cut a hole in the lid for the immersion chiller. It works, but isn't quite a drop-in solution like this.

That said, LOL, I'd still do a pump if I did it again. Even with these ideas.

 

[Wayne1]

Mattmill Mash Mix

Brush up on your German or Google Translate

 

[mabrungard]

You have two choices: move the wort or move the grist. It turns out that moving the wort is approximately a zillion times easier than moving the grist. I strongly recommend getting a pump.

 

[day_trippr]

lol! Totally agree - though I do admire @Bilsch's handiwork. That could not have been easy to fabricate...

Cheers!

 

[Bobby_M]

A pump ends up being the cheaper option too. If you're using a bag, I can see the bag getting snagged on the prop and getting shredded.

 

[dtashmore547]

I have a simple setup a little bit like you describe, in the past I have used a windscreen wiper motor attached to the lid, I have since changed this to a geared motor but it was sourced at a car boot sale. the windscreen wiper motor was a good speed and easy to fix to the lid via 3 screws. I prefer to spin a basket containing the grain hooked on a ring spun by the motor.

 

[Curtis K.]

Mattmill Mash Mix

Brush up on your German or Google Translate

I have checked into the Mattmill - a bit on the pricey side, the only thing that stopped me was they wanted me to pay German VAT, which is BS since they don't need to pay that to the German tax collector on products exported out of the EU. So I would have had to pay the German VAT and then pay US Customs import tax... The second link, a homebrew shop in the Netherlands, will give an idea of their prices, but they won't ship to the USA - as far as I could tell going through Kraushaar Exports is the only to get it shipped to the USA (the email link is at the bottom of the first link).

https://www.kraushaar-exports.de/mattmill-mashmix/https://www.braumarkt.com/en/mattmill-aut-roerwerk-voor-27l-en-36l-ketel
I decided to build a HERMS instead...

Cheers!
Curtis

 

[cfrazier77]

What about an old ice cream maker? They used to be used for this.

 

[JAReeves]

What about an old ice cream maker? They used to be used for this.

Hmmm, I have one of these sitting and getting dusty...

 

[balrog]

I tried to find something like this as well but ended up building instead. Biggest issue was finding a slow and powerful stirrer. I used a Fisher Stedfast SL300 and it is perfect. Although this is just for chilling, the mixer would work just as well in a mash.
View attachment 693773View attachment 693773

Wow.

Just, WOW.