Gearing up to be able to measure pH and Titratable Acid much more reliably. This is for cheese and wine making.
I had this:
(http://www.firelandcheese.com/site/ImageGalleryHandler.ashx?id=7e342deb-b53e-46ef-9651-6eecc43f368e&blobId=841e089e-a49a-4641-9800-2a1ed55e1220&prefix=Fullscreen&cache=True)
I upgraded to this:
(http://www.firelandcheese.com/site/ImageGalleryHandler.ashx?id=d31bfd55-3719-4afe-abad-a824f542ed5c&blobId=251b8468-9eaa-45ee-a8e4-3e1531560f0e&prefix=Fullscreen&cache=True)
(http://www.firelandcheese.com/site/ImageGalleryHandler.ashx?id=1a440f9d-bc60-418f-bd9e-1ae07cdfb3f9&blobId=c54c64fd-5ca3-4a21-99b8-6b04ad200a8f&prefix=Fullscreen&cache=True)
Not pictured is a 50ml burret....
I got this from here. (http://www.hometrainingtools.com/catalog/chemistry/cat_lab-equipment.html)
Big rig to just hold a little gauge . . . each to their own I guess.
Oh, I just noticed that this is for your titration system ;) . . . we'll have to start calling you Wayne the Science Guy ;D.
It is a bit overkill. Perhaps
But the stand only cost like 10 bucks, and I am tired of the pH meter falling over.
Here is a picture of it all together.
I know how much wayne hates for me to comment...but I digest.
Are you going to measure the same sample with both? I thought about it and after talking to tech support at Hannan they say PH meters leak a little electrolytes into the solution, so my questions is will that mess up the titration reading? And will the Lye, sodium hydroxide hurt the probe in the PH metere, I would think so.
How does a burret work, I was looking at them after watching an epsiode on TV about wenslydale. But I didn't feel like calling up a lab supply store and asking them how accurate they are at dropping a single repeateable drop.
I use an eyedropped and tested it with water on my gram scale. I get exactly 20 drops per ml, so I can get my titration down to .005 percent. It's actually pretty accurate. after doing it about 5 times you start to realize it turning faint faint pink. I just takes getting used to. If any of you have done regular wine titration it turn bright pink but you're also squirting in 1 ml at a time not 1/20 of a ml.
I do not use Lye for my titration..
But I do get fine-grain control for my NaOH- titration. The burret is graduated to 1/10th of a ml, but I can get up to 1/20th of a ml accuracy..
This allows me to very very accurately determine the endpoint of a titration. I am no longer waiting for a color to change and no longer need phenophalin. I just add enough NaOH- to raise the pH to specific number.
Wayne, sorry, didn't mean it negatively, I knew the stand was really for the burret, looks great.
No offense taken. I am always open to criticisms and reality-checks. Just ask Carter!
I will say that from a TA perspective, having a setup that allows to me to precisely gauge a reaction by using a pH meter, as opposed to interpreting a subjective color change, is a huge leap forward for me.
I would estimate that this makes me an order of magnitude more accurate.
Lucky after we talked a few weeks ago I looked everywhere for what you were talking about using the PH meter to check titration. Where did you find it?
Also I thought Sodium Hydroxide was lye? My bad.
I found a rather concise explanation online in the wine forums (http://groups.google.com/group/rec.crafts.winemaking/browse_thread/thread/b1c4f2054796e427/c19bc31c3bc66533?lnk=gst&q=TA+pH+NaOH). So for, I am only using this for wine, but will adapt to cheese.
Thanks Wayne.
Thanks Wayne for that link. Very informative! I've been brewing for years and have tried some wine kits but they all suck. I've always read that they say you can't screw up a kit wine but mine are all off. I guess I need to apply a little more science to my process and try and discern where I'm going wrong. I thought it was my water. I've tried a couple variations on that with RO/distilled/etc. and still have marginal results. My wife (the official judge) says stick to beer. :) Now it may be getting personal! ;D
Anyway sorry to digress but the info on the link you posted was most informational.
Ryan
The ability to bring pricision to this, or any game makes me all happy inside...
;)
Definitely! That is why my Camembert was particularly fun this weekend. Watching the pH hit the marks was quite nice and will provide a nice baseline (should it turn out in the end) for the replicating this cheese. I'm also going to record the temp/humidity with my wireless weather station which also has a computer interface. OK maybe that is a little more geek than I should have let out there! :)
How does one using TA measurment instead of a PH translates PH figures to TA figures in various recipes?