How did your cooking process transform your food macroscopically and affect the food’s overall characteristics? Be specific and describe the transformations that happened on the molecular level that led to the observed macroscopic changes

By the alteration of the acid content of my cheese I was able to alter the physical properties of the food and drastically alter the shape and texture of the fat structure.  The changes in  the physical structure of the cheese resulted in a far softer and improperly congealed cheese, more like an ricotta than the intended mozzarella. The increased acid seems to have made it so that the water of the milk was improperly filtered from the curds in the curdling process resulting in a squishy and very inconsistent cheese that melted with minimal heat application and the resulted melted cheese did not re-harden into a solid even after several hours of cooling. In addition it resulted in a less smooth outer surface of the cheese and a less shiny outer shell of the cooled substance, the salt that was applied to the outside of the cheese was less efficiently absorbed. The less dense consistency resulted in a far smaller and lighter ball of mozzarella that despite containing the theoretical same amount of milk fat was far less heavy most likely due to the expunging of curds during the draining process of the cheese. The resulting final product was far lighter and smaller than the alternative outcomes and had a very soft and semi gelatinous formation without proper congeolation and improper absorption of secondary flavouring materials such as spice and salt. 

My personal hypothesis on the molecular process that occurred with my product is that the acid that results in the separation of curds from whey was involved in improper quantities. Without the right amount of acid the curds could not properly separate from the whey and thus as the fatty molecules of the milk did not become hydrophobic in the right quantities to form large and consistent curds. Likewise the whey (water) not properly being separated from the fatty molecules got mixed into the curds during the draining process making them soggy and filling them with water pockets that ended up in the final cheese product. This water was then not properly expunged from cheese during the draining process thus resulting in an watetry and spongy cheese that solely disintegrated as the bonds between the curds weakened and broke down, leaving an soggy and borderline inedible final product. In order to rectify this one could simply add more acid and a properly firm cheese should form. It is also possible that the lack of proper acid may have altered the cheese curds in such a way that when they are not properly hydrophobic they cannot form proper bonds. If this is the case then the fatty balls of the curds are actually soggy and weakly formed due to the fundamentally different chemical nature of the materials.

How does the ingredient you experimented with affect the food’s overall characteristics? Be specific and discuss the chemical structure of the ingredient and the chemical structures of the aspects of the food the chosen ingredient interacted with as part of your answer!

The acid that was added to the cheese was not sufficient according to the followed recipe. Thus the altered ingredient was the acid content of the cheese and the single altered variable within my ‘experiment’ It manifested itself in three separate ways, the first was to much acid (by the recipe) it seems to have had no macroscopic effect on the cheese except for the taste of the cheese which became more tangy and acidic, otherwise it seems to be nearly identical in terms of consistency and texture to the proper (by the recipe) amount of acid. The second outcome was a batch of cheese with the correct amount of acid added, this resulted in a seemingly standard ball of mozzarella with no noticeable change in the consistency of the cheese nor of the flavour as it tasted just a ball of mozzarella should taste. The final outcome of the altered acid content of a cheese is the cheese that does not have enough acid (by the recipe) added. This results in a subpar cheese both lacking the consistency of the previous two and being almost inedible due to the terrible and squishy texture and the well hydrated soggy cheese. And due to the fact that the lacking acid seems to have altered the chemical structure of the fatty molecules in such a way as to make them hydrophobic yet not to such an extent that they can properly form good tasting cheese due to the watery and low flavour resulting product.

My theory regarding the different cheese is as follows, firstly the cheese with too much acid formed properly and underwent the correct process but the high acid seeped into the cheese and altered its flavour through simple absorption. The second cheese underwent the correct process and resulted in an average example of a well formed and properly flavoured Mozzarella.  The third cheese however underwent the same chemical process as the first two as the acid added hydrogen molecules to the fatty acid and turned them from hydrophilic with the water in the milk to hydrophobic thus separating them like oil and water. However unlike the previous two samples the lacking acid resulted in only some of the fatty molecules becoming hydrophobic thus losing much of the potential mass of the cheese. And also allowing some of the water from the whey solution to be absorbed into the curds making them wet and soggy. It also may have altered the potential for the curd to form a bond by having hydrophilic and hydrophobic curds shifting the extra hydrogen molecules between themselves. In conclusion the lack of acid seems to have had a much greater effect in the cheese than the addition of more acid than recommended by the recipe, implying that acid is in fact the limiting element not the milk within the context of this experiment.