How to make milk “plastic”
Have you ever wondered why milk is white or how cheese is made?
Teagasc’s food scientists took us into the research labs at Teagasc Moorepark and explain why common dairy products in our fridges like milk, cheese and yoghurt, taste, look and smell like they do and what happens if we leave them too long.
The video features Le Deng, who studies all things cheese. Next, we have Sean Wrenn and he studies the chemistry of milk. Also joining us is Meghana Srinivas, who studies the bacteria that are in some of our favourite foods. Last but not least, we have Antonio Lourenco who also studies bacteria - especially the bacteria that make our food go bad.
Make your own milk ‘plastic’!
Le Deng shows us how to make your own plastic out of milk. This is a fun activity you can do at home or at school.
Materials: Milk, white vinegar, a heat-resistant mug, paper towels, spoon. Food colouring and moulds are optional.
Caution: The milk and mug will be hot!
Instructions:
- Heat milk in a microwave until is steaming hot (not boiling).
- Add four teaspoons of white vinegar and stir gently. You should see the milk form white clumps that are called curds. This is because the acid from the vinegar causes the casein to form a solid mass, also known as the curd.
- Allow the mixture to cool.
- Once cooled, collect as many of the curds as possible from the mug and collect them on paper towels.
- Cover the curds in extra paper towels and press down on them to remove as much moisture as possible.
- Remove the paper towels and knead all the curds together in a ball in your hand, as if it were dough. You now have casein “plastic” in your hand.
- This plastic can be cut or molded into different shapes and food colouring can be added for colour.
- Leave the casein plastic at room temperature for 48 hours. Once it has dried, the casein plastic will be hard.
During the live webinar, with host broadcaster Jonathan McCrea, primary schools from across Ireland asked our scientists questions about milk and cheese. You can watch back the full webinar here.
Teagasc invites you to join us for an unmissable series of virtual and in-person events for Science Week 2022 as part of ‘The Festival of Farming and Food’ November 13-20, 2022.
The festival is an educational, inspiring and fun week, packed full of amazing science activities, experiences, talks and exhibitions, for children and grown-ups alike.
We’d love to hear from you. Be part of The Festival of Farming and Food journey on Social Media:
@Teagasc @ScienceWeek #FestFarmFood #ScienceWeek