PH readings are they REALLY needed?

[BauerHaus]

How far along in ones cheese making career does one break down and start testing PH levels?
Can you get by with the strips?
Do the strips help at all or should one go right to a meter?

We are up to 12 lbs with 3 types, Moz, Fromage and Farmhouse. Only "lost" the first batch but more on technique than anything else.

PS
Wayne Harris' posts on different PH meters was great

[wharris]

BauerHaus,
As you might suspect, I am biased on this topic. I would not consider makeing a batch without it.

But, as others here have pointed out, they have been making cheese for 7500 years. Thermometers have only been round for about 500 years, and pH meters have only been around for a scant 50 years. So the reality is that you can make cheese without a pH Meter. 

The only question you have to ask yourself is this.  How much wasted cheese are you willing to endure while you perfect your skills?
 
For me,  it took about about 10 wheels of bitter, overly acidified cheddar bofore I broke down and bought a meter.

I'm not sure that I could have ever been able develop the skills needed to know when my cheese milk is 6.15pH as opposed to 5.9pH.

[linuxboy]

My perspective is that nowadays everyone needs a pH meter that reads to two digits. I believe the reason that cheesemakers were able to make cheese consistently without advanced tools is because they had a deeper knowledge of old-world techniques. For example, I've met people who can consistently tell temperature within 1-2 degrees C using their fingers. Similarly, you can tell the general range of pH readiness by testing the cheese curds with your hand. If you take a few tablespoons of curd and squeeze them, they should mat together, yet still be springy. Hard to explain, but easy to imitate after a few dozen batches because your brain and muscles retain that memory.

In the past, cheesemaking was learned through apprenticeship, and so not much cheese was wasted through trial and error. I think in modern times, people have lost many of these abilities, and have also lost the tendency to learn quickly old-world techniques.

Thankfully, we have science to help us achieve repeatable results. Cheddar is not such an old cheese as alpines and tommes, and actually requires scientific measurements to be exact. It's not as forgiving as other types.

[DeejayDebi]

I have always tested the curds by hand. I finally started trying to use the pH tester and forgot to put it in solution and ruined it. 

[cmharris6002]

I go by feel. Every now and then I take a pH reading with the strips I use for making lotion (reads 0.2-0.9) to see if I'm hitting the mark. I'd like a meter and hope to get one next year. Most of my recipes don't include pH markers.

Christy