Living · 6 pages · 12 min
How milk curdles in coffee
Acid and heat let milk proteins stop repelling each other and clump.
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From the opening
Milk curdles in coffee when casein, the main milk protein, loses the charge that keeps its tiny clusters apart. Acid from the coffee narrows that gap, and heat makes the sticking happen faster and more visibly. The opening covers casein micelles and surface charge, what acid does to that charge, and why older milk breaks sooner.
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Inside
- Casein micelles and surface charge
- What acid does to that charge
- Why older milk breaks sooner
- How this differs from rennet
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Casein micelle stability and acid coagulation
- Heat as a faster path to the same protein clump