Cheese Lab Conlusion

Cheese Lab Conclusion

In this lab, we asked: “What are the optimal conditions and curdling agents for making cheese?” Based on my data, cheese is best made in a hot, acidic environment with chymosin added in. In the experiment, we measured the time to curdle for various curdling agents, chymosin, rennin, buttermilk, and none. We tested whether a acidic or basic environment and whether a cold or hot environment was best. In an acidic environment,both milk with chymosin and  milk with rennin curdled in 5 minutes.  In a hot environment, milk with chymosin curdled in 5 minutes and milk with rennin curdled in 10 minutes. In the control temperature environment, the milk with chymosin and the milk with renin both curdled in 15 minutes. In the control pH environment, milk with chymosin curdled with 15 minutes and milk with rennin curdled in 10 minutes. Milk in a basic or cold environment, or milk with buttermilk or no curdling agent did not curdle within 15 minutes.  This was expected because a cow's stomach,  where renin is made,which makes milk naturally,  is acidic and hot. According to current scientific knowledge, chymosin is the fastest curdling agent. Since cows naturally produce rennin, it would be best to emulate the conditions of a cow’s stomach to curdle cheese fastest.

While our hypothesis was supported by our data, there could have been some errors. A possible error was that since we only checked for curdling every five minutes, The cheese could have curdled in between that time, so it would have been recorded as taken more time than it really did. Another possible error could have been due to lack of precise measuring. Even a little bit more of an ingredient could have made the time to curdle more or less. To combat these errors, the test tube should be checked for curdling every minute and more time should be spent accurately measuring out ingredients,

This lab was done to demonstrate what the optimal conditions and curdling agents for making cheese. From this lab,  I learned about how enzymes can speed up reactions, and how pH and temperature affect these enzymes. This directly correlates to what I learned in class. Based on my experience with this lab, I now know the effects of enzymes on reactions and the effext of pH and temperature on enzymes.

Time To Curdle (Minutes)
Curdling Agent	chymosin	rennin	buttermilk	milk (control)
Acid	5	5
Base
Cold
Hot	5	10
Temperature Control	15	15
pH Control	15	10