[mswilliams1975]

OK so to chill the wort before adding it to my water and carboy I have been putting the pot in an ice bath and stiring the wort to cool it quickly. I then add it to the water in the carboy to aerate then pitch.
Question is dos it hurt anything to stir the wort during the cilling process?

[chezteth]

I use an immersion chiller for chilling.  I gently stir the wort to speed the chilling process.  By gently stirring I am trying to minimize the effects of oxidation to the wort, especially at hot temps.  Thus, I think you will be fine.

[corkybstewart]

You should stir it to help it cool faster.

[gordonstrong]

Yes, stir it.  It's how cooks cool large pots of stock or soup.  I wouldn't go out of my way to whip it into a froth, but all you're trying to do is move the liquid within the pot so the warmer parts are continually being moved next to the cooler metal.  You can do that with just normal stirring, but focusing on making circular motions from the center of the pot to the side of the pot. While you are making these motions, keep the circles moving around the circumference of the pot.  Picture the moon orbiting the earth while the earth orbits the sun.  You want to keep moving warm parts from the interior towards the cooler exterior, but moving to different parts of the exterior.

[euge]

My own approach is to simply jiggle my IC every so often to get the wort moving.

[EHall]

Picture the moon orbiting the earth while the earth orbits the sun. 

*sip* ... le sigh...

[tom]

Stirring both the wort and the ice water will speed the cooling.  Gently without splashing.

[bluesman]

Yes sir!

Stir to your hearts content. It will help cool the wort faster. Just keep the agitation to a minimum while the the wort is above 80F to help mitigate oxidation. This is debatable but generally accepted practice.

Also aerate the wort prior to pitching the yeast, as the oxygen has been depleted during the boil. The yeast need oxygen to help build up sterols and strengthen the cell walls prior to fermentation.

[morticaixavier]

My own approach is to simply jiggle my IC every so often...

isn't that illegal in Texas?

[thomasbarnes]

Once the wort is chilled to below 120 F or so, I can't see any problems with stirring, even stirring vigorously. Before then, stir, but stir gently.

The only reason to not stir your wort is to avoid hot side aeration, but once you're at a temperature where that isn't a factor, I don't think it will be a problem to stir vigorously since you're just going to be aerating your wort anyway before you pitch your yeast.

If you have an immersion chiller, stirring helps a lot, since it helps push hot wort over the cool chiller coils. Monitoring temperature as the wort chills, I've seen huge temperature drops (like 5-10 F over 1 minute) stirring an using an immersion chiller.

[euge]

My own approach is to simply jiggle my IC every so often...


isn't that illegal in Texas?

Only if you do it n public.