{"id":1675,"date":"2016-04-16T20:26:38","date_gmt":"2016-04-16T10:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gosciencekids.com\/?p=1675"},"modified":"2020-05-23T10:20:59","modified_gmt":"2020-05-23T00:20:59","slug":"curds-whey-ricotta-cheese-edible-food-science-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gosciencekids.com\/curds-whey-ricotta-cheese-edible-food-science-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"How to make Curds and Whey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever sung along to Little Miss Muffet, and wondered what ‘curds and whey’ are? Well, good news! Here’s an easy curds and whey recipe you can make at home with the kids, and it doubles as a fun edible science experiment<\/a> – yay!<\/p>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

I presume that everyone knows the nursery rhyme, but just to be sure, here’s how it goes…<\/p>\n

Little Miss Muffet
\nsat on a tuffet,
\neating her curds and whey.
\nAlong came a spider,
\nwho sat down beside her,
\nand frightened Miss Muffet away.<\/em><\/p>\n

Little Miss Muffet is one of my 3.5 year old<\/a> daughter Bumble Bee’s favourites. She sings her heart out! So when I heard that you could actually make your own DIY curds and whey at home, I knew she’d be keen to try it out.
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Suitable for<\/h3>\n

This is a great science activity for 3-4 year olds<\/a>, especially as this age often love singing along to nursery rhymes. My daughter Bumble Bee was 3.5 years old when we did this, and she was able to help with many of the steps involved. 5-6 year olds<\/a> may be able to do more of the steps independently. Older kids<\/a> may like to turn this into a true science experiment, by experimenting with different types of milk (raw milk, half and half, skim milk, UHT milk, or goats milk perhaps), or with different types of edible acid (lemon juice or buttermilk can be used instead of vinegar), or with different lengths of draining time, and see how each of these variables affects the results. (And they can earn bonus points if they use the curds to make homemade ricotta-filled cannelloni for dinner!)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Make<\/p>\n

This post contains affiliate links*<\/sup>. Thanks for your support.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How to make Curds and Whey<\/h2>\n

Curds and whey is the generic name given to curdled milk<\/a>, which separates into lumps of cheese called curds and a liquid called whey. You can curdle milk in a few different ways, to create different types of cheese. The way that we tried today makes a ricotta-like cheese. (Technically ricotta<\/a> cheese is made using a combination of regular milk and leftover whey from making another cheese, but since we weren’t making another cheese, we’ve used straight regular milk for our recipe instead<\/em>.) This is a similar method used to make paneer<\/a> or queso-blanco<\/a> cheese as well.
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\nIngredients<\/strong><\/p>\n