[alt-photo] Re: casein image

[Christina Anderson]

Alberto,
I made my homemade one by whipping up ammonium caseinate powder in the blender with water. It foamed up hugely at first like egg whites; it grew 2.5x its original size, and then after a couple hours the foam subsided and it was ready. But it mixed right away in any case.
I was following Franklin Enos' formula,as much as I can deduce from his notes. I have seen his prints in that archive and the layers are minisculely thin. And I have it on good record, since Sam was in close correspondence with Enos for years. Mind you, this is not to say that Enos' method is THE method to do, just that his was what I was researching. Lukas Werth uses an 8%, even thinner. It is difficult to deduce percent solutions from the old recipes because they would pour ammonia into milk or whatnot and then extract the whey, so who knows how much the whey weighed. 
Both casein solutions from Kremer are way thicker, and I mean WAY thicker. The one in the picture is like gravy when you add too much flour and the gravy is light but too too thick and it piles up coagulantly (not a word) on your plate. The thinner one is like a thick corn syrup and just as sticky. Mine is like half and half cream, or a tad thicker than whole milk.
No borax, no ammonia as it is ammonium caseinate/water soluble (or is it miscible since it is really a suspension or whatever?). Thymol to preserve.
Thanks Jacques for that clarification. It seems in what little literature I can find on casein that either ammonia or borax was used to make the casein mix/suspend (?) in water (it starts out pretty plastic lumpy, like it gloms together in a big wad).
The interesting thing is there is a difference in pH between sodium and ammonium caseinate: sodium is 6.6-7.2, ammonium 5.7-6.7. And now it seems as you say, Jacques, the Schmincke is higher at 8-9. I don't know if that means anything except usually dichromates slow down the higher the alkalinity.
In any case, casein is quite fast. As in, if my gum exposures are 6 minutes, casein is 1.5 - 3. So what little pH difference there is, I don't know if it really means anything except that one might have to test times when switching casein powders.
Alberto, if you would like me to bring you some ammonium caseinate when I come to Italy, I can. I traveled with some casein powder already and no questions were asked, but my friend's husband's casein/whey protein powder for drinking was confiscated so you never know. I thought since it was in a baggie they might think it was cocaine.
Chris
Christina Z. Anderson
christinaZanderson.com

On Apr 2, 2011, at 10:34 PM, Alberto Novo wrote:

> Chris, 
>> I purchased two kinds of casein and then made my own. Here is an image of the three caseins together on my dinner plate, elucidating the problem trying to compare apples to apples.
> 
> how did you made your one? 
> Alberto
> www.grupponamias.com
> www.alternativephotography.com/wp/photographers/rodolfo-namias-group
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