The purpose of this experiment was to find out which type of milk ( reduced fat, low fat, or powder) produced the highest amount of curd mass compared to whole milk.
The actual origin of curdling is unknown. It was discovered later at some point during 8,000 BCE. A ceramic colander from 6,000 BCE was found to have been used to create curd (Joshua Angel, 2013). It was not until later in history, when salt was added to the curd and most of the liquid squeezed out, that cheese was made.
The curdling process occurs “As the pH drops and becomes more acidic, the protein (casein) molecules attract one another and become ‘curdles’ floating in a solution …show more content…
This experiment will be focusing only on four of them: Whole, Reduced (2%), Low Fat (1%), and Powdered milk. Whole milk is the baseline comparison since it is the milk that has been tempered with the least. The 2% and 1% milks have had most of their fat removed. Powdered milk goes through an evaporator, removing most of its butterfat and ¾ of its water. Both 2% and 1% went through another process in which fat was removed from the milk after placing it into a “centrifugal separator” (Christine Gallory, 2015).
Hypothesis: If different types of milk were to go through the curdling process, then they will produce varying amounts of curds. All of the milks being used in the experiment (Whole, 2%, 1%, and Powder) have different amounts of fat. This means that they are likely to have varying amounts of curd. Whole milk should produce more curd, since it has more fat than the other milks. …show more content…
Type of Milk
Data Analysis:
From the information gathered, it can be determined that whole milk makes the most curd, 2% makes the second most curd, 1% is third, and Powder milk makes the least amount of curd. 1% (20g average) and 2% (23g average) have the closest curd mass average. Even with the differences between samples in each trial the trend stays the same. (Ex. Whole milk will always make more curd than 2% milk)
Conclusion:
Whole milk produces the highest curd mass. The range of recovered curd goes from 26.8g to 30.9g. This is the largest amount of curds obtained. This happens because whole milk has more fat to be turned into curd. This fat is transferred to the curd during curdling process. Since the other three types of milk have little to no fat, their curd masses are severely reduced. 2% (5g of fat) and 1% (2g of fat) have the a closer curd mass average, because they have similar amounts of fat. Since whole milk has the largest amount of fat, it should be used to make more curd.
For future experiments, other animals’ milks can be used. Different animals make different milks that have various amounts of fat and other components that might produce a different