test strips vs PH meter

as I was making my own hot sauces it was needed to make sure the PH of that end product is below 4.1.

I tried trips and eventually bought a meter, so now I can show you what I have found

[KittyKarenpoo]

The real issue is that over time a meter may either become defective, have corrupted tips or fall out of meter tolerance, requiring recalibration. How would you know? Well, the smart and easy way to know is to periodically grab up the strips and do a test, attempting to see if the meter is still within your needful tolerance. You could do basic tap water (likely somewhere around 8, in most places), then drop in 10 drops of down and check a more acidic measurement (likely down in the 5 range). If the meter follows the test strips, put the strips up for another month, and proceed.