Ph meter for cheese?

[achik1990]

Is it viable if I use this ph meter to measure the ph level?
Stick it in the cheese curd and just read the measurement as normal.
What do you guys think?
Any feedback is greatly appreciated 

[Kern]

I have no data on the accuracy or repeatability of this pH meter.  Any cheese pH meter should be accurate to 0.1 pH units and it should be repeatable - that is, if you take a pH reading of 5.2 and then retake it 5 minutes later it still should be 5.2.  Finally, a pH meter should have the ability to be calibrated using a pH buffer solution because cheese pH readings are absolute, not relative.   

[Danbo]

I am pretty sure that this meter is not accurate for cheese making. I finally bought a good PH meter but until then I used PG strips. The strips is probably much more accurate that the spil PH meter - but still not as good as a quality PH meter for cheese making.

[achik1990]

I have no data on the accuracy or repeatability of this pH meter.  Any cheese pH meter should be accurate to 0.1 pH units and it should be repeatable - that is, if you take a pH reading of 5.2 and then retake it 5 minutes later it still should be 5.2.  Finally, a pH meter should have the ability to be calibrated using a pH buffer solution because cheese pH readings are absolute, not relative.

I see... 
well I have another ph meter at home.. but this one is for measuring liquid.
Can I calculate the ph by measuring the whey instead of the cheese itself?

[achik1990]

I am pretty sure that this meter is not accurate for cheese making. I finally bought a good PH meter but until then I used PG strips. The strips is probably much more accurate that the spil PH meter - but still not as good as a quality PH meter for cheese making.

Well I'm having trouble finding a good one here..
But I'll try looking it up ... I have bought 1 for measuring liquid.. not sure if i can measure the whey for the ph of the cheese

[Danbo]

I have an Extech PH-100 (http://www.extech.com/display/?id=14626). I think that it works reasonably well compared to its pricetag.

I use it for milk, whey and final cheese (just press it against the cheese).

:-)

[awakephd]

Initially, you will be measuring the pH of liquid in any case (milk or whey). Once drained, you CAN measure the pH of the liquid that comes off the cheese, e.g., while it is in the press, but there will be a difference between the pH of the whey and the pH of the curd -- I don't recall exactly, but it seems like the whey will be .2 or .3 higher pH than the curd. (Don't rely on that - hopefully someone else will have a more exact memory or data!)

Of course, for a cheese that needs to come out of the press at a given pH (e.g., an alpine style), as the time goes by the amount of whey coming out gets to be very little, so it may get challenging to get a reading!

[Danbo]

A cheese for a good explanation... 

[achik1990]

I have an Extech PH-100 (http://www.extech.com/display/?id=14626). I think that it works reasonably well compared to its pricetag.

I use it for milk, whey and final cheese (just press it against the cheese).

:-)

$99 

That's MYR420 for me

That's hella expensive hahaha

[achik1990]

Initially, you will be measuring the pH of liquid in any case (milk or whey). Once drained, you CAN measure the pH of the liquid that comes off the cheese, e.g., while it is in the press, but there will be a difference between the pH of the whey and the pH of the curd -- I don't recall exactly, but it seems like the whey will be .2 or .3 higher pH than the curd. (Don't rely on that - hopefully someone else will have a more exact memory or data!)

Of course, for a cheese that needs to come out of the press at a given pH (e.g., an alpine style), as the time goes by the amount of whey coming out gets to be very little, so it may get challenging to get a reading!

I see... well rite now I'm plannig to make mozzarella so I think I can survive ..some how..
So I assume that soil ph meter is not ok in general? 

[Danbo]

I would stick to the ph paper strips or just try to go by pure look and feel if not buying a precise ph meter. I wouldn't trust a soil ph meter at all.

[awakephd]

I would be surprised if the soil pH meter works ... but who knows? Won't hurt to try it and see what sort of readings you get. The key is getting repeatable readings within .1 (or better yet, .05), and that you can calibrate it (or at least know how far off it is from a true reading).

With mozzarella, the proper window for stretching is really narrow - 5.3 to 5.4. If you make mozzarella by adding citric acid, the goal is to add just the right amount of acid to wind up with the curd at that level. But if you make mozzarella by adding culture, you have to keep testing the curd to see when it hits the right point. The old-fashioned way, without a pH meter, is to keep pulling off a bit of curd, putting it in hot water, and seeing if it is ready to stretch. You could do that, and test with the soil pH meter at the same time, to see how well it tracks.

Of course, there is one absolute requirement ... that you report back on the results!

[Danbo]

If you zoom in on the soil meter image it seems like the space between for example 6 and 7 on the scale is very narrow. Even if the meter would be accurate it would be very hard to read differences below 0.5.

[awakephd]

Oh, you're right - I hadn't zoomed in until you suggested it. As you say, this suggests that the meter is only intended to give a general sense of pH, rather than the fine distinctions (.1 or better) needed for making cheese. Still might be interesting to experiment with it just to see ...

[Danbo]

Agree.