ABSTRACT The effects of gelation temperature (GT), pH, milk solids nonfat (MSNF) content and aging time on the small and large deformation rheological properties of rennet‐induced skim milk gels were studied. Small amplitude oscillatory rheometry (SAOR) was used to study gel formation. A constant shear rate was applied to gels of various ages to try to simulate the cutting process used in cheese vats. Second‐order polynomial models successfully predicted (R2 ≥ 0.83) the relationship between processing parameters and rheological properties of gels. The processing parameters – gelation pH, GT and MSNF – had a significant effect on the rheological properties of rennet‐induced gels. The type and the nature of bonds in these networks and the time scale of applied deformation affected the rheological properties of rennet gels. As time after rennet addition increased, storage modulus, loss modulus and yield stress values increased. This resulted from an increase in the number and strength of bonds with time. The yield strain decreased with time probably because of rearrangements in the network making the gel shorter/brittle in texture. When the impact of the time scale of the applied deformation was compared between the small (storage modulus as a function of frequency) and large (yield stress as a function of constant shear rate) deformation properties of rennet‐induced gels, similar power law exponents were obtained. This similarity presumably reflects the type and relaxation behavior of bonds in this casein network. These results identify the impact of several important processing variables on both the small and the large deformation rheological properties of rennet‐induced gels, which could be useful in identifying gelation properties that improve cheese yield.