Thoughts/Opinions on this pH Meter

[Sailor Con Queso]

Had an Extech 100 with a non-refillable probe. Extremely pleased with it, but the accuracy started drifting a bit too much for my taste and I was calibrating at the start of every cheesemaking session. Talked to Extech and they replaced the entire unit for free with no questions asked. Didn't even ask for the old one back. Their products are great and the customer service is amazing. Cheapo meters are just a waste of money.

[MarkShelton]

I find that the cheapo (everything)s are a waste of money. Even if they last well enough, they don't have all the features I want, and I end up buying the good stuff anyways.

[TroyG]

We plan to give a lot of cheese away and eat a lot in the beginning. We want to get opinions and make sure our product is solid before we start taking people hard earned money.

You know I do like the thought of having the base on the table next to the vat. I can see how trying to read it would be a pain. Still not sure it would justify the cost of the unit.

I do like this unit.
http://www.extech.com/instruments/product.asp?catid=40&prodid=447

[linuxboy]

That's wonderful, Troy. It's what I always try to tell dairy people getting into cheese; focus on 2-4 cheeses and make them well, and sell the heck out of them. Some artisan people drive themselves crazy with 14 varieties. It's not bad per se, I just don't know how they do it and still turn a profit. Fun to experiment for oneself, but the marketplace out there in most cases is still interested in perhaps a dozen styles.  You don't look credible if you have all those styles because people will think you can't possibly do all of them well. Most of the time, they're right. This doesn't exactly apply for flavored fresh cheeses like chevre, however. Do your specialties well, take notes so you can recreate them, and get out in front of as many people as possible and that's that.

I like to save my experiments or pieces vac packed for years at a time, and once in a while I'll open one up to see how its maturing. Cheese will keep for decades like that. If you have some space to store for longer aging, could be fun to do

I was in Vancouver last year and went to a market. There was a cheese vendor there who sold alpine-style raw milk cow cheeses. They had three styles, I think. Fantastic examples of the alpine tradition... very complex notes, layered flavors, could really tell the cows had no silage and were pastured only. They charged $7-$10/100g and many, many people were buying after trying the cheese.

Anyway, that's me on my cheese-selling soapbox.

You can still have the Extech on the table. Get a container of water, a container of pH7 solution, and a container to hold your sample in. Take a sample, put in sample container (like a small yogurt container, or a beaker if you have one), then rinse the tip of meter in water when done (under tap is fine), and put in buffer for temp storage. Keeps everything clean. The Extech keeps displaying the reading even after you take it out, so it's not terribly inconvenient. Have to rinse it off anyway, so you don't have to tilt your head to read it.

[humble_servant7]

That's wonderful, Troy. It's what I always try to tell dairy people getting into cheese; focus on 2-4 cheeses and make them well, and sell the heck out of them. Some artisan people drive themselves crazy with 14 varieties. It's not bad per se, I just don't know how they do it and still turn a profit. Fun to experiment for oneself, but the marketplace out there in most cases is still interested in perhaps a dozen styles.  You don't look credible if you have all those styles because people will think you can't possibly do all of them well. Most of the time, they're right. This doesn't exactly apply for flavored fresh cheeses like chevre, however. Do your specialties well, take notes so you can recreate them, and get out in front of as many people as possible and that's that.

I like to save my experiments or pieces vac packed for years at a time, and once in a while I'll open one up to see how its maturing. Cheese will keep for decades like that. If you have some space to store for longer aging, could be fun to do

I was in Vancouver last year and went to a market. There was a cheese vendor there who sold alpine-style raw milk cow cheeses. They had three styles, I think. Fantastic examples of the alpine tradition... very complex notes, layered flavors, could really tell the cows had no silage and were pastured only. They charged $7-$10/100g and many, many people were buying after trying the cheese.

Anyway, that's me on my cheese-selling soapbox.

You can still have the Extech on the table. Get a container of water, a container of pH7 solution, and a container to hold your sample in. Take a sample, put in sample container (like a small yogurt container, or a beaker if you have one), then rinse the tip of meter in water when done (under tap is fine), and put in buffer for temp storage. Keeps everything clean. The Extech keeps displaying the reading even after you take it out, so it's not terribly inconvenient. Have to rinse it off anyway, so you don't have to tilt your head to read it.

And when testing the pH of the cheese/milk-- just testing and taking the sample from anywhere in the milk would be fine?

[linuxboy]

In almost all cases, yes. Some natural bacteria are bottom flocculants and some are top flocculants. Meaning they either settle to the bottom or stay at the top. In those cases, the lactic acid tends to be more localized and unless you stir everything up, unevenly distributed. So the answer is that assuming an even distribution of bacteria, taking a random sample from anywhere should give you a pH plot distribution that is within the acceptable margin of error for a calibrated meter. In other words, if you put the culture in and wait, and mix the milk about, you're fine.

Cheese testing is slightly different because cheeses age from the outward in, so you may have different pH levels in the middle than just under the rind. Depends on the cheese type as well. I check multiple points in a sample just to log more data, and if necessary, will emulsify and test the pH of the emulsion. This is overkill though. For aged cheeses, the pH is not a strong enough correlation of spoilage when doing HACCP, just one of the indicators. Proper checkpoint identification and design is more effective, for example.

[DeejayDebi]

I have this one and like it a lot. I also bought two probes a GP and a meat and cheese probe.

Here

I bought the meter from Amazon and the probes from Supply Cloud. I've only had it since June but I like it a lot. I got the probes in February.

[Brie]

Do you know who the supplier was for this, Deb? I bought an Extech on EBay and the supplier was Isopure--had nothing but problems with them and finally returned the unit. I need a meter, but prefer to buy from a company that is sweeter!

[DeejayDebi]

Sper Scientific sells the meter. Pretty reliable test equipment. The kit is cheaper in the long run but I miss read the Amazon  ad. They did call to ask if I wanted probes also but I was  way at the time so they just shipped what I ordered.  I do like the little protective bottles on the probes - keeps them in solution and protects the tips.

[wharris]

This thread is making me want to upgrade my pH meter....

Hmmm.

[TroyG]

Wayne,

Why would you want to upgrade your meter? What does your current unit lack that you would like to add in a new purchase?

Troy

[Sailor Con Queso]

Wayne just wants a BIGGER one.

[humble_servant7]

Wayne,

Why would you want to upgrade your meter? What does your current unit lack that you would like to add in a new purchase?

Troy

Maybe he wants one in which he could monitor and take the  reading of an already made cheese in his aging cave. IDK.

That's the only reason why I looked past the Extech ones with the General probes and considered buying the ones with the point.
I also have meat-curing I could use this monitor for.

[wharris]

Actually, I am happy with mine. The price, the performance, and the reliability is just fine.

But all this talk of smaller probe, and an easy to read bench top readout, and the articulating arm.......

and it just looks cool.  Better than my current layout.

[DeejayDebi]

I use mine for sausage more than cheese.