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I finally got my pH meter to stop lying after three weeks of bad ferments
My hot sauce kept coming out flat and sometimes I'd get a weird thin layer on top. I blamed the peppers, blamed the brine ratio, even blamed the weather. After three weeks of throwing out batches, I realized my pH meter was reading 4.8 on stuff that clearly tasted way more acidic. Turns out the probe was dry and crusted with old salt, I only calibrated it once when I bought it last year. I soaked the tip in warm water and vinegar for 20 minutes, recalibrated with fresh buffer solutions, and my next ferment read 3.6. The meter was fine the whole time, it just needed some care. Has anyone else dealt with a drift that drove them crazy before they checked the probe itself?
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patricia_hill601mo ago
Not trying to nitpick but soaking the probe in vinegar can actually mess up the glass bulb over time, warm water and a soft brush is safer for cleaning it. The real killer is storing it dry though, keeping the tip in that storage solution is what stops the drift from coming back.
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