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Spent $40 on a proper pH meter after my last batch of hot sauce went moldy.
It showed my 'safe' ferment was sitting at 5.2, not the 4.6 I needed, which explained the fuzzy green problem. Anyone have a favorite brand that holds calibration well?
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finleyrivera2mo ago
What kind did you get? I used to just trust the brine color and smell, but a bad batch of pickles proved me wrong. Now I check everything with a cheap meter from the garden store.
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zaranelson2mo ago
My Apera lasted years before needing a new probe, way better than the garden center ones. What's your target pH for hot sauce?
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blair_torres702mo ago
Yeah, the whole brine color thing is a gamble. I got too confident with some fermented garlic honey once. It looked perfect, smelled amazing, then gave me a scary fizzy explosion when I burped the jar. Turns out it was way more active than it should have been. Now I don't trust my eyes or nose alone anymore.
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caleb_bell59d ago
Idk if I'd call 4.6 your target, that's actually a bit high for shelf stability. Most food safety folks say you want to be at 4.2 or lower for hot sauce, especially if you're not refrigerating it. 4.6 is the cutoff for things like pickles in a vinegar brine, but with ferments you've got more variables. I use an Apera myself and it's held calibration for like two years now, but you gotta rinse the probe after every use or it drifts like crazy. Worth the $60 or whatever they cost now though.
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