Today I’m using my PH meter for the first time.
Upon advice from several cheesemakers I bought the Hanna Model: Checker I
I’m basically wanting to make sure my readings are in line with what they should be, at this point in the game.

I started off with 4 gallons of store bought, homo/past.  milk (3 gal. 2%, 1 gal. whole & 24 oz. of whipping cream).
Warmed the milk to 90 degrees F and checked the PH.
At this point the reading was 6.70
I then added my Mesophilic A starter culture and CaCl2 and allowed the milk to ripen for one hour. The PH after the hour of ripening time was: 6.63

I did calibrate the meter last night using both 7.01 and 4.01 calibration fluid and had the numbers right on the money.

Thanks for any advice/input anyone can give me.

Dave

Check my last batches on my website, I posted all the reading every 30min. Im pretty sure the milk PH will depend on the manufacturer. Mine starts around 6.5 and the curding sets at 6.1—6.0, so from my experience I wait for that 6.1 magic number.

Dave ur reading is normal , good luck

Neil 6.1 number is the draining point for cheddar , this is the most critical point, u have to finish all setting cutting cooking an stirring before this point

it is not a maginc number for other cheeses

The more I dso the more il get a feel for the readings and changes, a list will def be helpfull as a guideline for us.

Neil..
On the University of Guelph website, they have several recipes that give Ph readings at each step in the process.
I made my traditional cheddar yesterday following thier recipe.
The thing I found fascinating was that I had to “change” the recipe at different points inthe process to hit my PH mark.
My wife asked “what will you do if you don’t hit the right Ph marks at the right times?”
My response was that I will follow the Ph meter.
I figure the meter is a tool that’s NOT meant to tell you that you’re screwing up…..it’s meant to KEEP you from screwing up.
Becaue of that I had to drop a few minutes off of a process here and add a few minutes there, but at the end of the make, I did hit my final PH mark of 5.3 right on the money.
Honestly, I had a blast using this thing and can’t wait until I get the chance to do it again. I think this might just be something that takes me to the next level.

Dave

LOL, yup it is a blessing, Their milk however starts at 6.7 I thingk it was, maybe thats raw milk, so I do suggest to learn how your particular milk reacts.