[chumley]

I suppose the question of batch sparging, whether to stir or not, is a matter of personal preference.  My intuition says stirring might gain me a couple of points more, but I really don't know.  Certainly not stirring so you don't have to set the filter bed again is more convenient.  However, sometimes when I stir in the sparge water, I find a couple of dough balls that I didn't quite get crushed during the initial stir-in (particularly when using Maris Otter), so I know I am getting some more points. I usually let the stirred in sparge sit for 15 more minutes before finishing the lauter.

[toby]

I have not noticed a difference between cutting with a knife like Jeff or mixing up the top like Martin.  I do one or the other when I run on the first of the sparge water.

 (I sparge.  I don't know what to call it, because I do what commercial brewers called batch sparging before homebrewers invented a new thing and called it that.  Instead of a continuous flow of sparge water at a rate calibrated to match the runoff of wort, the sparge volume is divided into 3 or 4 batches each of which is run on all at once whenever the level nears the surface of the grain bed.  Not only very easy, but it "works" the mash and gives better efficiency than continuous flow.  Another example of Martin's point that sparging is all sparging, just differing in how and when you add the water.)

That's exactly how I do it at the homebrewing level, so I'm not sure how that's a reinvention. lol