And how does it mysteriously appear?
I’m sure we’ve all been super excited to snack on our favorite yogurt, only to open the package and be greeted by this unappealing liquid.
Even worse, is when the yellowish fluid shoots out at you staining your shirt for the rest of the day.
So, where the heck does this liquid even come from?!
To understand this, you have to do a deep dive into the microstructure of yogurt (and yes, foods have super interesting structures)!
Yogurt is a food gel
Yogurt has a specialized structure called a gel, which means it contains an extensive network capable of capturing and entrapping liquid. Many different types of foods, from gummy bears to jams and jellies, are also gels.
In yogurt, proteins named caseins are responsible for setting up a network. These proteins come together to form clusters and become so entangled with one another that they create a 3-dimensional matrix with void spaces. And within these pores the casein entraps any liquid and fat nearby.
As the casein network continues to grow in size, it eventually becomes so strong that the food begins to act like a solid. This is what we call yogurt.
