296 THE BOOK OF CHEESE 



albumin by acid and heat. The main difference is in 

 the firmness of the cheese. This is regulated by drying. 



282. Whey butter. 1 The loss of a percentage of fat, 

 rarely less than 0.3 per cent and in some cheeses very 

 much greater, has led to the making of whey butter. 

 For this purpose a separator is introduced and all whey 

 is separated daily. The fat recovered in the form of 

 cream is then ripened and churned. Whey butter is not 

 rated as equal to butter made from whole milk but a fair 

 market can usually be found for the product. The recov- 

 ery of 0.25 per cent fat means two and one-half pounds 

 of fat to 1000 pounds of whey. This will make about 

 three pounds of butter. 



Whether whey butter shall be made depends on the 

 volume of business, the extra equipment required, the 

 extra help necessary and the market for the product. 

 As a rule, whey butter is economically recoverable 

 only in large factories. It is not considered advisable 

 to attempt to make it unless one has the whey from 

 10,000 pounds of milk. In some instances, the com- 

 bination of small cheese factories with one churning 

 plant has proved to be economical. The objection to 

 the making of whey butter is, that it stimulates careless- 

 ness on the part of the cheese-maker because he thinks that 

 the fat will be recovered by skimming. He does not realize 

 that the other milk solids are being reduced in the same 

 proportion as the fat, to the great loss in yield of cheese. 



1 Doane, C. F., Whey butter, U. S. Dept. Agr. Bur. An. Ind. 

 Circ. 161, pages 1-7, 1910. 



Sammis, J. L., Making whey butter at Cheddar cheese fac- 

 tories, Wis. Exp. Sta. Bui. 246, 1915. 



Ellenberrger, H. B., and M. R. Tolstrup, Skimming whey at 

 Vermont cheese factories, Vt. Dept. Agr. Bui. 26, 1916. 



