Cheese Curdling Lab

	Time to Curdle (minutes)
Curdling Agent	Chymosin	Rennin	Buttermilk	Milk (control)
Acid	5	5
Base
Cold
Hot	5	10
Temp. control	15	15
pH control	15	10

In this lab, we asked the question what is the most optimal environment to curdle cheese in? were learned how a calf's stomach was the source of making cheese. We found out that a calf’s stomach was warm and very acidic. We tried to replicate these results by using chymosin, rennin, buttermilk and Milk (as the control). We also used different amount of temperature hot, warm and cold. We begin our test. We check every five minutes to see if their is any curdling. Buttermilk, and milk were not able to produce any amount of curdling in the 15 minutes we set. While chymosin (acidic) and rennin (acidic) were able to produce curdling in under 5 minutes! Supporting the statement above. In conclusion, chymosin and rennin in an acid environment were by far the fastest.

Some mistakes were that some of the measurements were not exact as well as checking every 5 minutes is very vague and could have curdled faster.

This lab demonstrated the simple use of enzymes and how different pH levels and temperature affect the enzymes. This helps me understand how enzymes denature as well as activation energy. Based on this experience from this lab, I now know how enzymes affect the process of making cheese.