Aug. 2, 1920.] Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. 591 



Faults found in Butter^ 



Their Definitions, Causes, and Some Suggested 

 Remedies for Same. 



[Concluded from page 494.] 



A. M, BROWN, Dairy Instructor and Grader. 



" Over-neutralised.*' 



The term " over-neutralised " means that too much neutralising agent has 

 been used to reduce the acidity of the cream before heating in the process of 

 pasteurisation ; this renders the butter lacking in the characteristic butter 

 flavour and of quite a tallowy inclination. 



When. an unusually large amount of soda or lime above the required 

 amount has been used, practically no other flavour can be detected than that 

 of either of these neutralising agents, and the result is anything but pleasing 

 to the palate, especially as regards the lime. The trouble is in most cases 

 due to oversight or carelessness on the part of the person who does the work 

 of neutralising at the factories. Many of these persons do not take the 

 acidity of each batch of cream before adding the soda or lime, but simply 

 guess the quantity required to reduce the acidity to a certain percentage. 

 Day in and day out they use the same quantity of neutralising agent for the 

 same quantity of cream without endeavouring to ascertain^whether the per- 

 centage of acid in the cream to be pasteurised is the same on each occasion. 



In relation to this effect of over-neutralisation of the cream on the quality of 

 butter, one wonders if it has ever occurred to the persons responsible for this 

 trouble to consider what a mistake of, say, •! per cent, of^acid in a large batch 

 of cream means in the quantity of soda necessary to neutralise same 1 Let 

 me quote a supposititious case for their perusal. 



A factory receives, say, 600 gallons of cream on a Monday, which x'epre- 

 sents four separations. The acidity is taken and is found to be -5 per cent. 

 It should, therefore, require 18 lb. of soda to reduce the acidity to the 

 required pei'centage of "2. On the same day of the following week a similar 

 quantity of cream is received, but on account of the coolness of the weather 

 on this and the previous day the acidity of this cream is actually only •! per 

 cent., and the person who does the work of neutralising does not bother to 

 take the acidity but uses the same amount of soda as on the previous 

 Monday. The actual amount necessary to reduce the acidity to the required 

 percentage of -2 in the latter instance is only 12 lb., and thus 50 per cent, 

 more than is necessary is used. This example is in no way an extreme one, 

 for with varying temperatures of weather and difiering periods of time 

 elapsing between deliveries of cream, the acidity of the bulk will vary 

 very considerably, so that, when one considers the effect of 50 per cent, of 

 extra soda on the quality of the butter, it should convince even the most 

 thoughtless person that careless methods such as these must lead to 

 disastrous results. 



