I'll throw in another perspective, jumping on board from Trialben's comments above. I mash in my kettle with Brew In a Bag or BIAB setup. If you've not heard of this, it's basically like a big tea bag. Some people sparge a little, but I don't sparge at all. The mash is pretty thin and easy to stir because all the water is in there from the start. You don't worry about the water to grist ratio. You mash and then lift up (or hoist if you want to) the bag and toss the grains away and you're ready to boil. Easy and faster. If you're worried that your conversion efficiency will suffer, you can up it by milling grain a little more finely and/or throwing in another lb or two of base grain.