Cheese Production Lab

Sadie Ikeda
10/28/17
1/2 STEM

PURPOSE

Part 1: The purpose of this lab was to find out the most efficient way to make cheese.

Part 2: The purpose of this lab was to change one variable in the cheese-making
procedure to see if it would make a difference in the product.

Part 3: The purpose of this lab was to test our cheese to see what macromolecules are in
the cheese.

HYPOTHESIS

Part 1: If we test each curdling agent (FPC, NCB, buttermilk, and water), then I believe
FPC (Chymosin) will produces cheese at the fastest rate (mass/time).

Part 2: If we change the amount of milk from 3ml to 5ml, then FPC (chymosin) will still be
the best agent for making cheese at the fastest rate.

Part 3: If we had made the cheese sucessfully, then there should be macromolecules of
proteins, lipids and monosaccharides in our cheese.

PROCEDURE

Part 1:

1. Label four 6ml tubes with the type of curdling agent and group number.
2. Use a large pipette to transfer 3 ml of milk to each of the 6ml tubes.
3. Use a small pipette and transfer the entire contents of the tubes of fermentation
produced chymosin, natural bovine chymosin or buttermilk to the labeled tube
containing the milk. For water, fill the small transfer pipette to the bottom of the bulb
and add to the labeled tube containing the milk. Use a different pipette for each transfer
to avoid cross contamination.
4. Cap the tubes, invert the tubes three times and then transfer to 37C water bath or
place at body temperature (i.e. armpit) for incubation.
5. Set a timer and check for curdling every 5 minutes by gently inverting the tube and
examining for curds.
6. Record the time (in minutes) when the milk begins to curdle (small or large lumps) or
solidify.
7. If the milk has not curdled in 30 minutes, check for curdling every hour.
8. In a data table similar to the Data Table 1, record the time (in minutes) when the milk
begins to curdle (small or large lumps) or solidify.
9. Upon return to the lab, during the next work period (next day in most lab classes),
determine the amount of curds produced by each treatment.
10. For each treatment, weigh a paper cone and record the empty cone weight.
11. Transfer the entire contents of a tube into a labeled filter paper cone over a suitable
collection vessel. Once all liquid has drained through, dry the filter paper with curds
overnight.
12. Weight the dry cone with dry curds. Subtract the dry cone weight. Record the weight
of the curds in mg by multiplying the mass in grams by 1000.
13. Repeat with each treatment.
14. Create a data table that reports the Rate of Curd Production (weight/time) by each
Curdling Agent.
15. Create a bar graph that shows the Rate of Curd Production (weight/time) by each
Curdling Agent.

Part 2:

1. Label four 6ml tubes with the type of curdling agent and group number.
2. Use a large pipette to transfer 5 ml of milk to each of the 6ml tubes.
3. Use a small pipette and transfer the entire contents of the tubes of fermentation
produced chymosin, natural bovine chymosin or buttermilk to the labeled tube
containing the milk. For water, fill the small transfer pipette to the bottom of the bulb
and add to the labeled tube containing the milk. Use a different pipette for each transfer
to avoid cross contamination.
4. Cap the tubes and invert the tubes three times and then transfer to 37C water bath or
place at body temperature (i.e. armpit) for incubation.
5. Set a timer and check for curdling every 5 minutes, by gently inverting the tube and
examining for curds.
6. Record the time (in minutes) when the milk begins to curdle (small or large lumps) or
solidified.
7. If the milk has not curdled in 30 minutes, check for curdling every hour.
8. In a data table similar to the Data Table 1, record the time (in minutes) when the milk
begins to curdle (small or large lumps) or solidify.
9. Upon return to the lab, during the next work period (next day in most lab classes),
determine the amount of curds produced by each treatment.
10. For each treatment, weigh a paper cone and record the empty cone weight.
11. Transfer the entire contents of a tube into a labeled filter paper cone over a suitable
collection vessel. Once all liquid has drained through, dry the filter paper with curds
overnight.
12. Weight the dry cone with dry curds. Subtract the dry cone weight. Record the weight
of the curds in mg by multiplying the mass in grams by 1000.
13. Repeat with each treatment.
14. Create a data table that reports the Rate of Curd Production (weight/time) by each
Curdling Agent.
15. Create a bar graph that shows the Rate of Curd Production (weight/time) by each
Curdling Agent.

Part 3:

1. Glucose
a. Obtain a vial, and place into it a cheese sample that is of the approximate
volume of 5mL.
b. Into this vial, pipette 5 mL of Benedict's solution. Mix well.
c. Heat for 2 minutes in a boiling hot water bath (100 mL of water in a 250-mL
beaker at 100 degrees celsius)
d. Record all color changes
2. Starch
a. In a test tube, mix 5 mL of cheese sample with 0.625 mL of Lugols iodine.
b. Gently swirl to mix. Do not heat.
c. Record all color changes.
3. Protein
a. Place 4 mL of a cheese sample in a test tube.
b. Add 1.5mL of Biuret reagent to the test tube.
c. Mix well.
d. Record the color change after 30 seconds.
4. Lipid
a. Paper Test
i. Melt the cheese in a test tube by inserting the vial in a heated water
bath.
ii. Pour the melted cheese onto a piece of paper.
iii. After waiting for the cheese to dry and disperse, hold the paper to
light.
iv. Record the percentage of translucence.
b. Sudan IV Test
i. Add 120 microliters of Sudan IV solution to a 4 mL cheese sample.
ii. Gently mix.
DATA

Part 1:

Group Data

Curdling Time Weight of Cone Weight of Cone Weight of Curds

Curdling Agent Rate (mg/min)
(min) & Curds (g) (g) (g)

FPC
7 3.06 0.38 2.68 382.85
(Chymosin)

NCB
1440 1.33 0.38 0.95 0.66
(rennin)

Buttermilk 1440 1.5 0.38 1.12 0.77

Water 1440 2.49 0.38 2.11 1.46

Class Data

Curdling Time Weight of Cone Weight of Cone Weight of Curds

Curdling Agent Rate (mg/min)
(min) & Curds (g) (g) (g)

FPC
5.65 2.59 1.12 1.23 178.32
(Chymosin)

NCB
1237.14 1.8 1.78 1.8 7.43
(rennin)

Buttermilk 1440 1.95 1.98 1.83 0.59

Water 1620 2.43 1.07 1.12 0.77



Part 2:

Curdling Time Weight of Cone Weight of Cone Weight of Curds

Curdling Agent Rate (mg/min)
(min) & Curds (g) (g) (g)

FPC
1200 4.57 0.44 4.13 172.08
(Chymosin)

NCB
1440 4.55 0.4 4.15 118
(rennin)

Buttermilk 1800 5.1 0.4 4.7 156.67

Water 3000 4.05 0.38 3.67 73.4

Part 3:

Standard
Description Positive Control
(Molecule Indicator used Description Negative
(Standard)
Tested)

Benedicts
Glucose Blue>Yellow>Orange Stayed Blue
Solution

Lugols
Starch Dark Brown/ Black Light Brown
Iodine

Biuret
Protein Turned Purple Turned Blue
reagent

Fat None Dark Pink Light Pink

Lipids None Translucent Non-translucent

OBSERVATIONS

Part 1:

Chymosin curled fastest

Water curdled slowest
Cheese was slimy
Cheese was wet
Cheese dried flat

Part 2:

More milk
Milk almost filled to the top of the tube
Chymosin curdled fastest
Water curdled slowest
More cheese
Cheese was less wet (more curdled and lumpy)
Cheese dried with some lumps

Part 3:

Glucose had the most drastic change

Fat barely changed
Starched changed the fastest
Iodine stained more on the surface
Positive control colors were darker
Negative control colors were less dark (more translucent)

ANALYSIS
Part 1:
Based on our data, we can see that FPC (Chymosin) is the fastest and most efficient
curdling agent to make cheese. FPC took the least amount of time to curdle with the time
of 7 mins. All the other agents we tested had to stay overnight because they didnt curdle
within our class time. This experiment proved my hypothesis to be right that FPC would
curdle the fastest.
There were many possible errors for this lab experiment, one example being
accurate measurement. This lab required precision in about the amount of curdling
agent or milk that shouldve been added, but that was hard to achieve. Another possible
error could have been in the filtering process. The paper absorption can affect the
amount of whey that filters through. Lastly, movement is an issue that could have
possibly occurred. Shaking the tube with curds formed in it could have broken up the
curds, therefore increasing the amount of whey measured and decreasing the amount of
curds measured. One way to improve the lab to prevent the curds from breaking down
would be to put the tube in a more stable area and not shake the tube.
As for further investigations, I would like to try mixing buttermilk and Chymosin
together as an agent and test it on different types of milk such as cow milk and goat milk
to see how well (or not well) the agent curdles the different types of milk.

Part 2:
For the second part of this lab, we increased the amount of milk we tested to 5ml
instead of 3ml. We wanted to know if it would affect how fast each agent curdled. It
turned out that our results ended up much like the first experiment. The main difference
was that this lab created more cheese, which makes sense because we used more milk.
So, yet again, chymosin was the fastest to curdle with a time of 1200 minutes. This
experiment proved my hypothesis to be right that chymosin would curdle the fastest.
As for possible errors, they were the same errors present in part 1. These errors
include possible inaccurate measuring of the liquids, issues with the filtering process,
and possibly shaking the tube while curds are trying to form. To improve this lab, like
stated in part 1, we could be more careful with the cheese as the curdling process takes
place to prevent unneeded shaking. To do this we should put the test tube with the
cheese somewhere stable.
As for further investigations, instead of changing the amount of milk, I would like
to change a part of the incubating process. To be more detailed, instead of incubating
with our own body source, our armpit, I would like to incubate the cheese in hot water. If
we incubated the cheese in hot water I think it would incubate much faster.

Part 3:
For this portion of the lab we tested which macromolecules were positive or
negative (there or not there) in our cheese. When testing for the macromolecules, we
found that, in our cheese, there were monosaccharides, lipids, and protein. That means
there was sugar, fat, and protein in our cheese. My hypothesis stated that there would be
monosaccharides, lipids, and protein in the cheese and that hypothesis was proved right
since all three were present.
One possible error could have been inaccurate measurement. When transferring
liquids with a pipette, it can be challenging to get the right amount. Not having the right
amount of liquid transferred could have altered the color. There's no way to truly
improve this lab and prevent this from happening, but we could work with pipettes more
frequently so we get better at transferring more exact amounts, or we could use a
different, more accurate and exact pipette.
As for future investigation, Id be curious to test different foods to see what kinds
of macromolecules are in (or not in) other types of food.

CONCLUSION

To conclude this lab, my claim is that FPC (Chymosin) is the most efficient curdling agent
for cheese production. For this lab we tested four curdling agents: chymosin, rennin,
buttermilk, and water to see which curdling agent would be optimal for making cheese.
To do this, we conducted a couple experiments where we formulated cheese (mixed milk
and a special curdling enzyme) in a tube and incubated it in our armpit until the cheese
started to curdle. After the first experiment using 3 ml of milk, we quickly figured out
that chymosin curdled the fastest. Chymosin took 7 minutes to curdle, while the other
agents took 1440 minutes (24 hours) to curdle. Then we did another experiment with 5
ml of milk, and this again proved chymosin to be the fastest curdling agent. When using
5 ml of milk, chymosin curdled in 1200 minutes (22 hours) and the other agents ranged
from 1440 minutes (24 hours) to 3000 minutes (50 hours). Knowing which agent creates
the cheese in the fastest amount of time is great for modern-day cheesemakers. If
cheesemakers knew what agent produced cheese the fastest, they could use these agents
to produce more cheese and make more money off of it.