I'm fairly new to mashing and have suffered 2/3 stuck sparges. My tun is a 23L cool-box with a false-bottom grill. Mashed have been simple 60 minutes at 67°C, properly doughed-in, and I've hit the target temperatures in and out. I've been thinking the sticks were caused by grain by lautering too quickly and/or movement causing the grain bed to collapse. But reading other peoples' experiences has made me wonder about the importance of stirring during the mash, namely because I' haven't been doing that at all. 
Some webpages on stuck sparges (here, here, here) make no mention. But it seems to me the grain is probably going to settle quite a lot before it really swells, so there's going to be pressure towards the bottom of the bed where the grain must force the stuff above it upwards as it swells. If this pressure is high enough it seems logical it's going to get compacted, and that if it isn't stirred you're going to have problems.
My next mashes will hopefully be more successful in light of this. But I just thought I'd put this out here as this technique doesn't seem to be covered anywhere in relation to the stuck sparge. Any thoughts appreciated.
Some webpages on stuck sparges (here, here, here) make no mention. But it seems to me the grain is probably going to settle quite a lot before it really swells, so there's going to be pressure towards the bottom of the bed where the grain must force the stuff above it upwards as it swells. If this pressure is high enough it seems logical it's going to get compacted, and that if it isn't stirred you're going to have problems.
My next mashes will hopefully be more successful in light of this. But I just thought I'd put this out here as this technique doesn't seem to be covered anywhere in relation to the stuck sparge. Any thoughts appreciated.
