Newbie Question about Gravity

[FFOXhound]

I made my first batch of beer (Porter) two weeks ago. At the time, I did not have a hydrometer so I don't know what the OG was. But the fermentation in the primary seemed to be taking longer than everything I was reading about, so I went and bought one. At 10 days, my reading was 1.030 (about 65 degrees) so I let it sit. now at 16 days, there is still foam on the top and the gravity reading was 1.024.

Do I still continue to let it sit in the primary until it drops below 1.020 as long as it continues to change? With this being my first batch, I really don't want to screw it up so I'm very nervous about continuing to open it up to take readings because I don't want to spoil my beer.

How often should I check the gravity before determining when I can rack it to the secondary?

Thanks in advance, and thanks for all the contributions to this forum. I've been reading it for weeks and have had so many questions answered already. So to everyone who has helped me out with my first project and didn't even know it.....I appreciate your knowledge! :)

[corkybstewart]

Test with the hydrometer every couple of days. As soon as you see it bottoming out rack it to secondary and let it sit a couple of weeks.

[danno]

OG matters less for extract, if you're buying kits you can use the sellers OG reading fairly accurately...

and welcome!