Its always bothered me that step mashing, or even single infusion one temp rests are just accepted as fact. Reality is, the temps vary all over the kettle, from middle, to middle top, to sides, to the bottom. All too often Im on my way to the next temp rest and the bottom reads a good 4-6 degrees higher than the middle or top. Sides are somewhere in between. No wonder my beers dont taste as expected - my mash steps are shotgun blasts of temperature ranges all over. Id like them to be more uniform.
Seems to me it would be great to have a little drum or some sort of stirring element (something that wont tangle the bag) in the kettle, running off a small motor. Nothing fast, just a slow turning action, to make sure the temps I read are an average, and not spot checks.
Anyone make something like that or know of something available commercially?