Home Brew Forum

After years using my own computer fan/hard disk magnet/phone charger, I found this Magnetic Stirrer so cheap I couldn't resist, With the 5% discount that was £16.18 delivered complete with a stir bar. Works perfectly.

(edited to correct price)

Thanks for the pointer, got mine ordered

Any idea what the stir bar is made of and/or it's temperature tolerances? Basically, I'm wondering can I boil it with my wort or do I need to sterilise it separately and add it after cooling?

Cheers, PhilB

Stir bar looks much the same as my existing one which I boil.

You should be fine with boiling stir bars, it's a "normal" use for them. And if you think about it, they're coated in PTFE (Teflon), which seems to survive being used in frying pans and the like.

I had no idea you could boil the stir bar - that’s good to know.

Northern Brewer wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 25, 2021 2:03 pm

You should be fine with boiling stir bars, it's a "normal" use for them. And if you think about it, they're coated in PTFE (Teflon), which seems to survive being used in frying pans and the like.

... yeah, I think I'd gathered that, but was wondering if maybe there are stir bars ... and then there are CHEAP stir bars

vacant wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 25, 2021 1:45 pm

Stir bar looks much the same as my existing one which I boil.

... Thanks! That's just the reassurance I was after

Cheers, PhilB

PhilB wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 25, 2021 10:22 pm

was wondering if maybe there are stir bars ... and then there are CHEAP stir bars

There are - but not that cheap.

Although they are boil-safe, it's worth mentioning that Teflon isn't perfectly non-stick, and lots of exposure to things like boiling wort can stain it a bit. Probably not a real issue for brewing, but can be a bit of a problem for sensitive chemical work.

vacant wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 23, 2021 8:30 pm

After years using my own computer fan/hard disk magnet/phone charger, I found this Magnetic Stirrer so cheap I couldn't resist, With the 5% discount that was £16.18 delivered complete with a stir bar. Works perfectly.

(edited to correct price)

What was wrong with your homemade one?

Phone charger was connected using two bits of paper clip, hard drive magnet I was using came unstuck from the fan every now and then. Apart from that it did its job fine.