Making proper candy sugar without risking my pHmeter head

[Birrofilo]

A fatal attraction leads me toward Belgian Dubbel (and Belgian strong ales in general), and fighting it is like fighting gravity, it just won't work.
I will have to make candi sugar at home.

I understand the method is, in summary and in principle, easy:
First invert sugar: sucrose, water, acid, heat (70-80°C), stir for 30 minutes. Then open window, add ammonium bicarbonate, try not to breath the ammonia which is released, that stinks and it ain't good for you, then when the bubbling ends heat again to above 110 °C and below 150°C for the Maillard reaction to happen, always stirring, "until" the browning is satisfactory (the longer the "cooking", the more pronounced will the Maillard reaction be).

This is the short story, now let's introduce the details with all the devil that comes with them.

The inversion of sugar can be very slow, or very fast, depending on pH.
At pH 2, 30 minutes will invert 90% of the sucrose into its costituents. The process continues asymptotically so it doesn't matter to continue inverting, 30 minute is fine. pH = 2 (or less) is crucial. If pH is higher than that, the speed of inversion slows dramatically, and one would have to stir syrup for hours. One could know pH, or could just go for hours and hours "just in case". I prefer knowing pH.

I have a pH meter but it's out of question that I put my expensive and precious pH meter's head inside that sticky sugary stuff, because I am afraid that I will have a hard time cleaning it and I would risk damaging it. I could buy some pH paper strips, but they are notoriously unreliable.

So the goal is to find a way to be certain of the pH of the sugar syrup that I want to invert, without measuring the pH.

Considering the marvelous exactitude with which spreasheets such as Bru'n Water and others calculate mash pH, which is I suppose a very difficult task in comparison to our syrup mash, the pH of which I assume would be very easy to calculate, I would like to know whether:

a) a calculator exists that, given a certain amount of water, sucrose, citric acid gives me the pH of the syrup;
b) it makes any sense to use spreadsheets like Bru'n water for this purpose: one adds only sugar in the grain bill, and the little water, and plays with the acid addition until the pH of the "mash" is 2. But I wonder whether such spreadsheets would be useful for a purpose which is very far from the original intent. The result might be very inaccurate;
c) whether there is, in this forum or in the great net, a precise recipe which states a known pH of 2, so that I don't have to find a calculator; a certain quantity of sugar, and water, and citric acid (lactic acid etc.) gives pH 2, and that's it.

I understand that the bicarbonate content in the water might have a role in the final pH so maybe a calculator which takes into account bicarbonate in water would be better.

Also, I don't know how much ammonium bicarbonate should I add for the second phase, the Maillard reaction.

I think a "definitive" exact recipe to make candi sugar would be welcome by the homebrewing community, but I couldn't find one.

Actually i found one: 1 kg sugar, 300 g water, 5cc lactic acid (that's normally 80% strenght in Italy, or in Europe I suppose). Does this give a pH of 2? This is the question.
The same recipe calls for an addition of 2 g of ammonium bicarbonate.

Will the many chemists in this forum confirm this makes sense?
And how much citric acid instead of the 5cc 80% lactic acid, if one wants to use citric acid?
And how important is the bicarbonate in the water?

Thanks in advance

 

[Protos]

I acidify my cold water and measure pH BEFORE boiling it and adding sugar to it. I don't think adding Sugar changes the pH dramatically (though it surely does to a certain measure, just because of increasing the volume of the liquid - never measured how much though).
I use citric acid. No exact measurements. Just adding it in small increments till I reach the desired pH.

 

[cire]

Measure out double the quantity of water required. Treat it slowly with your chosen acid to pH 4.4, using your pH probe as the stirrer, but keeping it still when taking a reading. pH 4.4 is the accepted end point of alkalinity.

Next take half of the treated water, and slowly adding acid while recording the amount until it reaches pH 2.0. Note the amount of acid needed, then dispose of that batch. Clean and rinse the pH probe, then store in storage solution.

Into the remaining batch of water at pH 4.4, add the sugar, heat gently and stir continually until it reaches 70C. Then stir in the amount of acid recorded to lower pH to 2.0. Follow instructions for the inversion period, then remove heat and gently add the weight of base advised to neutralize the inverted sugar to pH 5 to pH 6.