DIY cheese\curd stirrer,anyone made one?

[Tomer1]

Having back problems (FBS) and leg pain means making cheese is not as fun as It should be,
Espacially cheeses which require frequent stirring and prolong standing by the stove.

I was thinking if designing-building a cheese stirrer which can be mounted on a pot,
Has anyone attemped one and can give some hints or even plans?  ^-^

To keep costs low I was thinking of using a PE shaft with PE "arms" attached to it
Perhaps I'l make a long slit at the center,insert the plates and secure with SS bolt.
Plastic will be several times cheaper then having it fabricated from SS.

[zenith1]

Hey Tomer, I have been tinkering with trying to design one also. My father many years ago(35?) made a pot stirrer out of an old grill spit motor. He fashioned the stirrer out of the spit rod with attachments for the stirring. Wish I still had it around now to copy the design. I know now that you can buy commercially made pot stirrers.

[Tomer1]

I'l have to import it and it will cost a fortune I dont have.
To my understanding the gear needs to either have planetary movment or "simple circular motion" with fins wide enough to cover the entire diameter of the pot.
I need to figure out the moment required and recomended rpm to just stir,not abuse the curds  so I can chose the right motor and gear.

[FarmerJd]

I used an ice cream motor for over a year and it worked well. I made wooden paddles at first, then I upgraded to stainless steel paddles made by cutting a 2" SS pipe in half to make two 12: paddles and attached them to a SS shaft. I then attached that shaft to a small DC motor with a resistor so that I could control the speed. The frame it mounts on attaches to the handles of the pot. You are looking for a motor with around 1 to 5 rpm.


Pics are here and here. No pics of the SS one yet.

[smilingcalico]

There's Farmer JD!  I was just about to point him to your post.  I hope all is well.

[FarmerJd]

Always lurking in the shadows.  :)

[Tomer1]

I have an old fan,
Maybe I can rip it apart and combine a gear stage to slow down the output.

[FarmerJd]

Try looking around a body shop or ask a mechanic if they have an old electric window motor. They are almost perfect rpms, they are dc so you can easily regulate the speed, and they are often mounted on a 90 degree angle so they are easy to setup. You can find one on ebay I am sure. I converted my stirrer to one of these. I use a simple ac/dc converter to provide power. Here is an example of one so you can see the way it could be attached. I am sure you could find a cheaper one. I had a body shop friend give me two of them. Good luck.

[Chicken man]

Hey guys.
I am just putting together my pot stirrer right now!
I have found an old juice extractor.....the type that work by pushing the lemon half onto the spindle and it turns on .
I found the on off switch is operated by a simple micro switch that can be easily bypassed and i intend to fit a normal light switch to the outer body.
I cant regulate the RPMS, but it turns very slowly.
The hardest part will be making some kind of mount for it
Ian

[FarmerJd]

Good luck. Keep us posted and post pics if you can.

[ellenspn]

I'm also very interested since my carpel tunnel is acting up while doing a lot of stirring  :'(

[Tomer1]

A juice machine is an excelenet idea!  The motor is strong and there is a high ratio gear stage so the RPM is really low and have good torque.

[smilingcalico]

Nice find, Tomer, that sounds like it ought to do the trick.

[Chicken man]

i picked up some stainless steel today for the stirring bit.
Just haven't figured out the best profile for the most efficient and all-round  stir yet
(curds and milk)
I'm also fitting the motor into a PVC housing.
This is a bit overkill, but I figure it will serve me for some time and i like the challenge.
Ian

[FarmerJd]

I used two blades; one on the bottom and then one about half way up the level of the milk. I put the bottom blade on one side of the shaft and the top blade on the other side.  Both blades are angled upward to pull the milk and curds off the bottom and toward the surface. 2" SS pipe cut in half worked great for paddles.