For years, I used an aquarium bubbler for stirring. Then I switched over to mechanical stirring, using the motor out of a dead dustbuster, an old wall wart power supply, an inexpensive speed controller I bought on Amazon, and a plastic spoon. I use the wide silver strips that they sell. I've never needed them for support. I make it by the gallon, with the electrodes inserted into knife slits in a large plastic lid, spaced the same distance as they would be if used in a quart canning jar.