Hey Jim,
that sounds like a lot of work that ACR can do for you pretty easily. I use the eyedropper tool and pick either white or black and it gets me pretty close. Then I adjust the color temperature until it pleases my eye.

In the studio, fleshtones are right on at 4500K. These shots are right on at 4800. Which means the sun was not quite at it's peak and the dog was somewhat in open shade.

Ultimately, you use what works. Once I fine-tune a session for color balance, I use those settings as presets for the rest of the session. If there are small differences from image to image, I adjust the ones that are selected by the customer.

I don't overdo proofs that are being presented via the internet (which these are) because differences in what folks have for monitors are substantial -- even those that have been calibrated for a particular workflow. And keep in mind that each of us has calibrated our monitor for our workflow. So what I see might not work on your monitor or James'.

Jim