Group E: Grace Brindle, Zach McCrary, John Hoffman, Zoe Orlin
Data Recorder: Grace Brindle
Date: April 8, 2021
Location: Mai Fete Island, Carleton College, Northfield, MN
Weather: 63° Fahrenheit, partly cloudy, 11 miles per hour winds SE

Part I: Creating Cheese Curds and Whey
Initial Measurements
Milk weight:
Container 1 (empty): .905 kilograms
Container 2 (empty): .910 kilograms
Container 1 (milk + container): 2.845 kilograms
Container 2 (milk + container): 2.865 kilograms
Milk (subtracting container’s weight):
Container 1: 2.845 – .905 = 1.940 kilograms
Container 2: 2.865 – .910 = 1.955 kilograms
Total: 1.940 + 1.955 = 3.895 kilograms
Milk volume: 1 gallon
Vinegar weight:
¼ cup weight (without vinegar): .02 kilograms
Cup with vinegar: .08 kilograms
Total: .08 – .02 = .06 kilograms
Process
Heating the Milk Before Adding Rennet
We began this process by slowly adding two cups of water and a quarter cup of vinegar to a gallon of milk in a cast iron pot, stirring the mixture as we poured. We then put the pot on a grate over the fire pit and waited for the milk to reach a temperature of 90℉ as indicated by a thermometer. The table below indicates the measurements taken while the milk warmed before the rennet was added.
Time | Time Elapsed | Milk Temperature | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2:05 | 0 minutes | Began heating the milk | |
2:08 | 3 minutes | 80℉ | Bits of ash are in the milk |
2:09 | 4 minutes | 90℉ | Moved the pot off of the fire |
2:10 | 5 minutes | 96℉ | Rennet tablet finished dissolving in 1/4 cup of water |
2:11 | 6 minutes | 94℉ | Slowly added the rennet water to the milk and took the pot off the fire |

Waiting for the Curd to Form
After adding the rennet, we had to wait approximately 15 minutes for the curd to form. The table below shows the measurements taken during this step; we successfully achieved a clean break of the curd after 16 minutes.
Time | Time Elapsed | Milk Temperature | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2:11 | 0 minutes | 94℉ | Rennet added |
2:16 | 5 minutes | 93℉ | |
2:21 | 10 minutes | 93℉ | |
2:22 | 11 minutes | 92℉ | |
2:25 | 14 minutes | 91℉ | |
2:26 | 15 minutes | 91℉ | |
2:27 | 16 minutes | Achieved a clean break of the curd | |
2:28 | 17 minutes | 90℉ | We cut the cord horizontally, vertically, and underneath with a knife |
2:31 | 20 minutes | 89℉ | We finished cutting the curd |

Waiting for the Cut Curds to Solidify
After cutting the curd, we had to let the curds sit in the pot to firm up.
Time | Time Elapsed | Curd Temperature | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2:32 | 0 minutes | We stirred the curds | |
2:33 | 1 minute | 87℉ | We put the pot on the fire to let the curds heat up because the temperature dropped below 90℉ |
2:37 | 5 minutes | 86℉ | We periodically stirred the curds as we waited for them to get more solid |
2:38 | 6 minutes | 90℉ | |
2:42 | 10 minutes | 100℉ | We took the pot off of the fire because it had gotten too hot |
2:48 | 16 minutes | We strained the curds and the whey through a colander into a bucket |

At this point, we let the curds sit in the colander so that any remaining whey could continue to drain into a bucket and the curds could continue to solidify. We periodically funneled the whey from the bucket into the empty milk containers as more whey separated from the curds over time. We noticed the curds definitely grew firmer over time, particularly around the edges where they began to clump together. We began this process at 2:48pm and concluded the process at 3:43pm, taking 55 minutes total. The curds were 69℉ and the whey was 75℉.
Final Measurements
Funnelling the whey into a milk jar Our cheese curds after they are finished straining
Whey weight:
Container 1: 2.780 kilograms
Container 2: 2.290 kilograms
Container 1 (subtracting container’s weight): 2.780 – .905 = 1.875 kilograms
Container 2 (subtracting container’s weight): 2.290 – .910 = 1.380 kilograms
Total whey yield: 1.875 + 1.380 = 3.255 kilograms
Whey volume: .75 gallons (approximately)
Curds weight: .928 kilograms
Input | Output |
---|---|
3.895 kilograms of milk | 3.255 kilograms of whey |
.06 kilograms of vinegar | .928 kilograms of curds |
2 cups of water |
Part II: Creating Whey Cheese
Initial Measurements
Whey weight:
Please note that we added whey from another group to Container 2 so we would have enough whey (approximately 1 gallon) to make the whey cheese. As such, the whey we used for the whey cheese was more than our whey yield for Part I.
Container 1: 2.780 kilograms
Container 2: 2.810 kilograms
Container 1 (subtracting container’s weight): 2.780 – .905 = 1.875 kilograms
Container 2 (subtracting container’s weight): 2.810 – .910 = 1.900 kilograms
Total whey used: 1.875 + 1.900 = 3.775 kilograms
Whey volume: 1 gallon (approximately)
Curds weight: .231 kilograms
We used 25% of our curd yield from Part I for our whey cheese.
Vinegar weight:
¼ cup weight (without vinegar): .020 kilograms
Cup with vinegar: .083 kilograms
Total: .083 – .020 = .063 kilograms
Process
To make the whey cheese, we combined the curd and whey from Part I in our pot and placed it over the fire. We then waited for the mixture to come to a boil and added vinegar. After five minutes, we took the pot off of the fire and strained the whey cheese through a colander. The table below lists our precise steps and measurements.
Time | Time Elapsed | Whey-Curd Temperature | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
3:45 | 0 minutes | We put the pot on the fire and waited for it to boil | |
3:48 | 3 minutes | We added logs to make the whey-curd mix hotter | |
3:49 | 4 minutes | 90℉ | |
3:55 | 10 minutes | 136℉ | |
4:01 | 16 minutes | 150℉ | We put the pot lid on the pot to help the mixture boil faster |
4:07 | 22 minutes | 180℉ | We removed the thermometer from the pot so the pot lid could completely seal |
4:09 | 24 minutes | 190℉ | We believed the whey-curd mix had boiled and added the vinegar, taking the pot off the fire |
4:11 | 26 minutes (2 minutes after vinegar added) | 150℉ | |
4:15 | 30 minutes (6 minutes after vinegar added) | We poured the whey cheese into a colander |

Final Measurements
Our whey cheese The leftover whey
Whey weight:
Container 1: 2.275 kilograms
Container 2: 2.365 kilograms
Container 1 (subtracting container’s weight): 2.275 – .905 = 1.370 kilograms
Container 2 (subtracting container’s weight): 2.365 – .910 = 1.455 kilograms
Total whey remaining: 1.370 + 1.455 = 2.825 kilograms
Whey cheese weight: .263 kilograms
Input | Output |
---|---|
3.775 kilograms of whey | 2.825 kilograms of whey (-.950 kg) |
.231 kilograms of curds | .263 kilograms of curds (+.032 kg) |
.063 kilograms of vinegar |
Qualitative Results
The whey cheese appeared pretty similar to our cheese curds from Part I and it was difficult to tell a difference, which caused us to wonder if we failed to process the whey cheese. If we did, we believe that this failure was because our mixture did not reach a high enough temperature to properly boil; the placement of the pot lid may have tricked us into thinking it was boiling due to the release of pressure. However, the curds did look slightly softer after Part II. The ‘whey cheese’ tasted mostly like milk with a slightly sweet aftertaste.
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