[alt-photo] Re: Newby Caseinate Question and introduction

[Peter Blackburn]

Hi Ron:
I will give my two cents to supplement Christina's response which is also quite good. My approach has always been to treat casein as "perishable dairy." Now, I prepare my casein a bit differently than you, but once I have the curd broken down and "creamy" it goes in the refrigerator NEVER to return to room temperature again (except when I take what I need to make a working suspension)! I use it for 72 hours and then discard. It seems to print with reliable consistency for me helping to guarantee repeatable results. The casein seems to print with noticeably lower contrast for me after six days which is why I toss it out in half the time. My casein always smells clean with only a subtle hint of ammonia.
I hope that helps you. It is just my perspective.

Peter J. Blackburn


> From: christinazanderson at gmail.com
> Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2012 07:56:13 -0700
> To: alt-photo-process-list at lists.altphotolist.org
> Subject: [alt-photo] Re: Newby Caseinate Question and introduction
> 
> Ron,
> Since no one answered I will.
> I preserve my casein with thymol and it has worked for months, until I used it up.
> I forgot to preserve casein I made during a workshop this summer and within 5 days it had spoiled. It wasn't hard to tell-it smelled horrible and when I opened the container it let out a gasp of fetid air. I actually threw away the containers! But my nose is really super sensitive. And this was during 80-90 degree days and in a hot trunk of a car.
> 
> So to answer your question of is it obvious when it spoils, there you have it. This was during the summer.
> 
> Franklin Enos said in one letter that he froze casein in the ice cube tray and it worked fine. I have not tried this but thought it was an interesting idea. With thymol to preserve (and also I am using ammonia so that has some preservative value I suppose) I have not needed to resort to other measures.
> Chris
> 
> Christina Z. Anderson
> christinaZanderson.com
> 
> On Nov 5, 2012, at 2:08 PM, Ronald Barr wrote:
> 
> > Hello all!
> > 
> > I am new to caseinate printing and new to this list! A quick introduction;
> > 
> > My name is Ronald Barr and I live in Santa Barbara CA.  I majored in
> > photography in college (quite some time ago!) and after working as a press
> > photographer for a short period of time decided that I preferred fine-arts
> > photography as a hobby, and make my living in a technical field.
> > 
> > Skipping over a bunch of details: I was a gum printer for a number of
> > years, but had to give it up for the last four years after moving to Santa
> > Barbara, but I now have my lab running and made my first caseinate print
> > (which needs quite a bit of work)
> > 
> > My question:  I made the casein using powerdered milk and ammonium
> > hydroxide in the usual way.  How long do you think it normally keeps before
> > it spoils?  It's at room temperature in my garage, which during the
> > wintertime in Santa Barbara is actually rather warm.  If it does spoil is
> > there an obvious way to tell?
> > 
> > I've looked through a bunch of the posts without finding this question, so
> > I do apologize in advance if someone has already taken the trouble to
> > answer this question.
> > 
> > Ron
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