[alt-photo] Re: casein

[Christina Anderson]

Hi Alberto,
I have all of the formulas and their different percentages of casein because you are right, it is all over the place I have charted it out but not computed absolute thickest to absolute thinnest, though Schramm comes the closest to thickest. 

I can't believe I did this but, I came across your notes referencing 23% casein, so to test this I took the casein from 1 cup of powdered milk (3T dry) and just finished drying the casein curd from skim milk to weigh it. Dried it is about 9 grams so I am going to assume that when looking at the nutrition label on milk or cheese, the protein content (the casein part of milk or cheese) is an accurate measure of the casein resulting in the wet mix. Does this make sense? 

I am currently seeing how little ammonia I can use to liquify 113g feta cheese and I bet you will find that in Italy.

I am currently working with cottage cheese in red, yellow, blue, to determine amounts. Some of Enos' formulas are too liquidy for my tastes. I am finding that the cottage cheese diluted 120ml to 8 oz feels almost like a 14 baume gum, and mixed equally with pot di 10% and 1/4 teaspoon dry pigment, has a nice coating feel, not too thin, not too thick and grabby.

You will find that the ammonium caseinate is water soluble, very easy to use. Unfortunately you have to buy it by the 55lb bag minimum! Sodium caseinate, the more commonly available form, needs a little alkali to mix as easily.

More later when I have more to share.

Chris




christinaZanderson.com

On Jun 13, 2012, at 12:03 PM, Alberto Novo wrote:

> Hi Chris, 
> about making homemade casein, I tried this some years ago when I began experimenting casein printing.
> My first approach had been preparing casein from powdered milk, finding a dry casein yield of 23% by weight. I don't know if changing powdered milk the yield may be different.
> From the yield, I calculated that Franklin Enos/Ernest Theisen recipe is equivalento to about 5% solution of casein, while Bob Schramm (www.usask.ca/lists/alt-photo-process/alt95/0831.html if still there...) cited by Laura Blacklow in Alternativephotography.com is 4%, and that in "Spirit of Salts" is 10%.
> In Italy we have not cottage cheese and use ricotta instead. But ricotta is not casein, being made warming the whey up to 90°C, and lightly acidifying it (ricotta means "cooked two times") so that albumin and globulin denaturate and become insoluble. So, I did not investigate about a potential "ricotta printing" :-)
> For me, powdered milk was not easy to buy, and fresh low-fat industrial cheese (a possible substitute of cottage cheese) are often treated with lactic or citric acid, alginate and cream. Finally I ended using dry casein in order to avoid all my problems of supplying and purity. 
> BTW, I am still without my darkroom, so that I have not yet had the opportunity to give a try to your ammonium caseinate. 
> Alberto
> www.grupponamias.com
> www.alternativephotography.com/wp/photographers/rodolfo-namias-group 
> 
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