PRINCIPLES APPLICABLE IN DAIRYING. 69 



One of the most difficult things to determine is when the 

 cream has the proper ripeness to be churned, so that uniform 

 results may be obtained and one churning be like another. As an 

 aid in this matter, acid tests have been invented for testing the 

 acidity of cream during ripening, " to trace the progress of its 

 souring and show whether the fermentation should be hastened 

 or checked in order to have the cream in a certain acid condi- 

 tion and ready for churning at a given time". These acid tests 

 require experience and skill for their successful use. A skillful 

 and experienced butter maker is able to judge closely as to the 

 right condition of cream for churning by its appearance. But 

 this is a matter which it is impossible to exactly describe in 

 words. 



THE CHURN. 



The best churns are those with no inside fixtures and which 

 revolve, like the barrel churn, square box c*hurn, rectangular 

 churn, &c. These "bring" the butter by the concussion of 

 the cream in falling from one side to the other as the churn is 

 revolved. A quite common mistake is to get too small a churn. 

 It should never be filled more than half full of cream. One- 

 third full is better, because the cream has a better chance to 

 fall. Before putting in the cream the churn should be scalded 

 with hot water and then rinsed with cold water. 



CHURNING. 



The cream should be brought to the right temperature for 

 churning before being put into the churn by having it surround- 

 ed by cold water if the temperature needs to be lowered. The 

 churning should be done at as low a temperature as possible and 

 have the "butter come" in areasonable time, say in from thirty 

 to sixty minutes. The colder it is churned the less butter-fat 

 will be left in the buttermilk and the more perfect will be the 

 granules of butter. It is impossible to lay down any exact rule 

 as to the right temperature ; that will have to be determined by 

 trial, each butter-maker for himself. Ordinarily from 54 to 6o° 

 F. is right, but sometimes it needs to be much lower and some- 

 times, possibly, a little higher. At the dairy tests at the World's 

 Fair in 1893, where expert buttermakers made every effort pos- 

 sible to do exhaustive work, the Guernsey cream was churned 

 at times as low as 43 , while the cream from the other herds 

 was churned 8° to io° F. higher. The temperature at which 

 cream should be churned depends in some degree on the breed 

 of cows, the individuality of certain cows or certain families of 

 cows, the period of lactation, the feed of the cows, and, more 

 than anything else, on the thickness or richness of the cream. 



