gadgets PH meter question

Torch

Torch

Hi I'm about to buy a PH meter. I have no experience with them.

What does PH resolution 0.1 ph mean?

PH accuracy says plus or minus 0.01 ( does this mean if meter says my sauce is 4.2 that really means it can be 4.1, 4.2, or 4.3 ph)?

Are these good enough specs for making hot sauce?

It's this one. http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/milwaukee/ph-meters/ph56.htm

Thanks
 
From the information you posted, there are some discrepancies. One decimal point is huge. Is it .1 or .01 ???




If you have a meter that is +/- .01 that is a pretty tight meter.


For sauces, in general, if you are below 4.0 it's a pretty safe area, and if you don't have any things like dairy in your sauce, it's a pretty safe area.

When you start adding high risk things like dairy to sauces (usually in wing-type or bbq-type sauces, not usually in hot sauces) then you have to be more accurate in the pH controls.


_____________________________________
Back to the original question, if it says it has +/- .1 margins, then yes, the sauce could be 3.8pH or 3.6pH and still register as 3.7pH.

You also need to calibrate the pH meter each and every time it is used, so make sure to get the buffering solutions that work with your meter.

I'm not a process authority, but from what I've seen, if the pH of the sauce is below 4.0, it's a pretty safe sauce as long as it's hot packed with the hot fill methods.
 
id like to think i know alot about ph meters in general.

short answer is to just buy a "general purpose" cheap plastic bodied gell electrode and see how long it lasts you. AND buy a real ph meter, not a pen. pens are annoying, and poorly made.

you also need a set of calibration buffers, electrode cleaning solution, electrode storage buffer(an absolute must), and a wash bottle with distilled water. get a cheap lab stand with a small gribber or burret stand, that way you can hold the electrode... ive broken several electrodes trust me. keep in mind your salsas are going to get your probe dirty, if your probe has a shield its probably going to trap crap next to the bulb, when this happens you must wash it away with a jet of distilled water from your wash bottle. if that wont work, work it free with a soft brush or tooth pick, just be gentile with the glass membrane.

if this electrode dosent suite you, then so what you only wasted like 50 bucks. where as you could spend like 300 dollars on a fancy ross type glass bodied probe and find that its way too much hassle to deal with and unnecessary accurate and well built for your purposes.

scour ebay for a good lab quality meter, i bought an accumet ab15 for 100 bucks, it came with a good refillable type double junction ATC elctrode too. the ab15 will auto calibrate to which ever buffer you select and calculate your mv and slope automatically. what that means... is it takes you 1 min to calibrate your meter and not 15.

heres one... not a super deal or anything but what ever. just be patient.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FISHER-SCIENTIFIC-ACCUMENT-AB15-PLUS-PH-METER-/360463265204?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53ed48edb4
 
queequeg152 said:
id like to think i know alot about ph meters in general.

short answer is to just buy a "general purpose" cheap plastic bodied gell electrode and see how long it lasts you. AND buy a real ph meter, not a pen. pens are annoying, and poorly made.

you also need a set of calibration buffers, electrode cleaning solution, electrode storage buffer(an absolute must), and a wash bottle with distilled water. get a cheap lab stand with a small gribber or burret stand, that way you can hold the electrode... ive broken several electrodes trust me. keep in mind your salsas are going to get your probe dirty, if your probe has a shield its probably going to trap crap next to the bulb, when this happens you must wash it away with a jet of distilled water from your wash bottle. if that wont work, work it free with a soft brush or tooth pick, just be gentile with the glass membrane.

if this electrode dosent suite you, then so what you only wasted like 50 bucks. where as you could spend like 300 dollars on a fancy ross type glass bodied probe and find that its way too much hassle to deal with and unnecessary accurate and well built for your purposes.

scour ebay for a good lab quality meter, i bought an accumet ab15 for 100 bucks, it came with a good refillable type double junction ATC elctrode too. the ab15 will auto calibrate to which ever buffer you select and calculate your mv and slope automatically. what that means... is it takes you 1 min to calibrate your meter and not 15.

heres one... not a super deal or anything but what ever. just be patient.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FISHER-SCIENTIFIC-ACCUMENT-AB15-PLUS-PH-METER-/360463265204?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53ed48edb4
Click to expand...

Ok thanks I'll look into it. I think I should be able to figure the process out.

salsalady said:
From the information you posted, there are some discrepancies. One decimal point is huge. Is it .1 or .01 ???
Click to expand...

The specs read like this:

RESOLUTION: 0.1ph
0.1C / 0.1F ( TEMP)

ACCURACY: +/- 0.01ph
+/- 0.5C / +/- 1 F (TEMP)

So I'm confused what's the difference between resolution vs accuracy?

Let's just use +/- 0.01 ph like the accuracy spec is. If the ph meter said my sauce is 4 would the range be 3.9-4.1ph or even smaller?

 
It would mean that your sauce is between 3.99 and 4.01. The machine you asked about has a margin of error of one/hundredth (.01) of a unit of measure, not one/tenth (.1). The measurement reads ten times more accurate than the example you gave in your question.

That's plenty accurate enough for making hot sauce!
 
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