Sailor - my mistake. I dont have pH strips (which is something I will invest in right away). From the taste, i could tell that the curd was sour, hence acidic(?).
I make fresh yogurt every day so have an idea what time it takes for the yogurt to turn out 'just' right based on average temperature when i put the milk to set. I make buttermilk once a week with the accumulated cream from boiling milk every day. These are my sources to acidify my milk, which is fresh from cows in the neighbourhood.
What I have found is that after I mix in the rennet, I get a clean break in under 3 hrs. If I wait for, say about 5 hrs, a fluffy kind of crop forms on my cheese. From what I have seen, that is the point of no return, as the curd and whey have 'turned' sour. That's been my indicator for a while with a hit rate of about 50% - growing better I think with more experience
. Though not as scientific as pH strips, this worked most of the time.
Looking forward to using the pH strips to see if I can make this process more fool proof.