Cheese Lab

The question of this lab was what the optimal conditions and curdling agents for making cheese? Through our experiment, we found out that acidic and hot conditions are the optimal conditions for curdling agents, and that chymosin is the best curdling agent. In our data, neither buttermilk ther control of milk with no curdling agent curdled at all. However, both chymosin and rennin did curdle. In an acidic pH, both of them took 5 minutes to curdle, while in basic pH, there were no curdles at all. In a neutral pH, the milk did curdle, but it took 15 minutes. This supports our claim because in our claim, we stated that acidic was the optimal pH for milk to curdle, and in our experiment, an acidic condition only took 5 minutes. When we made it basic, the enzyme denatured and it increased activation energy. The neutral conditions curdled slower, but because it just turned a little less acidic, it still curdled. In hot conditions, chymosin took 5 minutes and rennin took 10 minutes to curdle. Meanwhile, in cold conditions, no curdling was visible, while in a neutral temperature, it again took 15 minutes to curdle. This supports our claim because it shows that a hot temperature is the best temperature because it took the least amount of time to curdle. Also, chymosin curdled faster than rennin, which supports our claim that chymosin is the best curdling agent. This is because we wanted to see which curdling agent would curdle the fastest, and the data from hot conditions shows that chymosin does that.

While our hypothesis was supported by our data, there could have also been a few errors that affected the results of the experiment. Firstly, our data says that in an acidic pH, chymosin and rennin curdle at exactly the same time, but this is probably not true. This could affect our results by not specifying which curdling agent took the least time, so we wouldn’t know which one is the best curdling agent if we just tested an acidic pH. The issue repeats in the neutral temperature as well, with both chymosin and rennin being 15 minutes. Also, in hot conditions, we don’t know if it is a closer difference between chymosin and rennin because the curdling is checked every 5 minutes. A way to eliminate this mistake would be to check for curdling every thirty seconds to a minute to give us more accurate data. Secondly, everyone’s armpit has a different temperature. This could affect our results by the curdling being off by a minute or two. One armpit may have been a little cooler than others, so by the time we checked at 5 minutes, there was no curdling. The next time that we checked would have been at 10 minutes, while it may have curdled earlier, so our data wouldn’t be as accurate.  A way to fix this is to find a more constant place to put the test tube, like maybe just outside in the sun.

The purpose of this lab was to find out what the optimal conditions and curdling agents for curdling milk and making cheese are. This lab helped strengthen my understanding of enzymes denaturing and activation energy, while also reinforcing how pH and temperature affects the rate of a chemical reaction. Based on my experience from this lab, I can explain enzymes to others while also teaching others how to make cheese. I hope this experiment will help you make your new cheese.

	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