After building a mash tun and running my first batch of beer through it, I realized very quickly that trying to stir the mash with a kitchen spoon is not an easy task. There are many types of paddles available to buy online, but in the spirit of homebrew DIY and not wanting to spend much money, I decided to make my own.
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Most of the mash paddles you see for sell online are made of oak or some other exotic hardwood. I don’t know why this would be necessary so I used a piece of scrap pine 1×4 trim I had in the garage. I cut a piece off about 2 or 2.5 feet, drew a basic design on it with a pencil and cut it out with a jigsaw. Then I drilled a hole in the handle to be able to hang it and sanded down the edges so it was nice and smooth.
I thought about adding some sort of finish to protect it, but I wasn’t sure what I could use that would be safe to use in a mash that will eventually be beer that I and others will drink. Since it was so cheep to make (free) I decided to leave it unfinished and see how it held up. So far it hasn’t had any problems. I just wash it off and hang it up to dry when I’m done with a session and it looks as good as new.
Edit: I’ve been reading lately that butcher block oil is good to use on mash paddles. I might have to give that a try.
If you have made your own mash paddle, especially as a result of my post, let me know!
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