4S5 



BUTTER. 



BUTTER. 



the two first form the largest portion, and the last the most valuable. 

 The comparative value of the milk of different cows, or of the same 

 cows fed on different pastures, is estimated chiefly by the quantity of 

 batter contained in it ; and in this respect, some breeds of cows are 

 far superior to others. The union of the component parts of milk is 

 chiefly mechanical, as they separate by subsidence according to their 

 specific gravities, the cream being the lightest, and the curd the heaviest ; 

 the curd, however, requires a slight chemical change for its separation 

 from the whey, which at the same time produces a peculiar acid, called 

 the lactic acid. From the moment that milk is drawn from the cow 

 it begins to be affected by the air and changes of temperature, and 

 circumstances almost imperceptible to our senses will materially affect 

 its quality. [MiLK.] Hence the importance of extreme care and 

 attention in every step of the process of the dairy, especially in making 

 butter. 



The cows should be milked in the cool of the morning and evening ; 

 they should not be much driven or heated immediately before milking ; 

 and it is best to bring them-to the place of milking tome time before 

 the operation begins. In some situations it is better to milk them in 

 the pastures, and carry the milk home ; in others, to drive the cows 

 gently to the cow-stalL In mountainous countries the first mode is 

 generally adopted, because the cows are apt to leap down steep places, 

 and .shake the milk in their udders more than is done by carrying it in 

 the paiL The same practice holds good in Holland ; on account of the 

 great distance of the pastures from the home-stall, and on account also 

 of the facility of transporting the milk in small boats, all the best 

 pastures being surrounded by small canals communicating with the 

 greater ; so that the milk may be carried several miles without the 

 least agitation. In England, where the pastures frequently surround 

 the habitation of the dairyman, the cows are generally driven home 

 twice a day to be milked. As the slightest acidity or putrescence 

 immediately causes an internal chemical action in milk, it is of the 

 greatest importance that the place where the cows are milked, and the 

 persons employed, should be of the greatest purity and cleanliness. 

 The milking house should be paved with stone or brick, and no litter 

 or dung be permitted to remain in it. It should be washed out twice 

 a day, immediately before each milking; which, besides ensuring 

 cleanliness, produces a refreshing coolness highly useful to the milk. 

 The teats of the cows should be washed clean with water and a sponge. 

 The vessels in which the milk is drawn from the cow should also be 

 kept scrupulously clean. 



The milk, as soon as it is brought into the dairy, is strained through 

 a fine sieve or cloth, in order to remove any extraneous matter ; and it 

 is then poured into shallow pans, or troughs lined with lead. The 

 best pans ore of metal ; either of iron carefully tinned, or of brass. 

 Such pans are cool in summer, and in winter allow of the application 

 of heat, which is often very useful to make the cream rise. When 

 leaden troughs are used, they are generally fixed to the wall, and have 

 a slight inclination towards one end, where there is a hole with a plug 

 in it ; by drawing this plug, the thin milk is allowed to run off slowly, 

 leaving the cream behind, which runs last through the hole into the 

 pan placed under to receive it. Glass pans and pans made of earthen- 

 ware are now largely used, and have the advantage of being more 

 easily kept clean than any others. The milk in the pans or troughs is 

 generally four or five inches in depth, a quantity found most conducive 

 to the separation of the cream. The place where the milk is set should 

 have a thorough draught of air by means of opposite wire windows. 

 The sun should be carefully excluded by high buildings or trees; .and 

 the floor, which should always be of brick or stone, should be con- 

 tinually kept moist in summer, that the evaporation may produce an 

 equal cool temperature. A small stove in winter is a great advantage, 

 provided smoke or smell be most carefully avoided, and the tempe- 

 rature be carefully regulated by a thermometer. All these minutiae 

 may appear superfluous to those who have no practical knowledge of 

 the dairy ; but good butter cannot be ensured without them. It is well 

 known that even the complexion and temperament of a dairy-woman 

 are not a matter of indifference ; and that however clean she may be, 

 there are times when the insensible perspiration of her body will have 

 a powerful effect on the milk. In Switzerland men are chiefly employed 

 to milk the cows, and in all the processes of the preparation of butter 

 and cheese. The women only clean the utensils, and carry green food 

 to the cows when they are kept in the stable. When the milk has stood 

 twelve hours, the finest parts of the cream have risen to the surface ; 

 and if they are then taken off by a skimming dish, and immediately 

 churned, a very delicate butter is obtained ; but in general the milk is 

 left twenty-four hours, when the cream is collected by skimming, or 

 the hin milk is let off by taking out the plug in the troughs. All the 

 cream is put into a deep earthen jar, which should be glazed, but not 

 with lead ; stone ware i the best. More cream is added every day till 

 there in a sufficient quantity to churn, which in moderate dairies is 

 every two days. It is usual to stir the cream often, to encourage a 

 slight acidity, by which the process of churning is accelerated. This 

 acidity is sometimes produced by the addition of vinegar or lemon- 

 juice ; but however this may facilitate the conversion of the cream 

 utter, we would not recommend it, as the quality is decidedly 

 injured by it, especially of butter which is to be salted. The change by 

 which the butter is separated in a solid form is accompanied by the 

 ;>ment of heat in churning. That the state of the atmosphere 



AHTS AND SCI. MV. VOL. II. 



with respect to electricity as well as the temperature has a powerful 

 influence on the making of butter, no one can doubt who has paid 

 any attention to the effect of a thunderstorm in a dairy, especially 

 when it occurs at the time of churning. The day may arrive when an 

 electrometer will be found as useful in a dairy as a thermometer is 

 already. 



The common method employed to separate the butter from the 

 thinner portion of the cream is by strong agitation. In small quan- 

 tities this may be done in a bottle, but the common instrument is the 

 churn, the chief varieties of which are noticed in a separate article. 

 In the course of an hour's churning, more or less, according to circum- 

 stances, small kernels of butter appear ; these are soon united by the 

 pressure of the board against the bottom of the churn, and form a mass 

 of solid butter. In these chums the cream is made to revolve with 

 the cask which holds it, and so to fall from side to side and be 

 shaken and broken by this treatment, as it is shaken by revolving 

 beaters in the fixed cask or box in which it is placed. The 

 butter, when separated, is collected with the hand, and placed in a 

 shallow tub for the next operation. The butter-milk is set aside as 

 a drink for pigs, or for domestic use. The butter is still mixed with 

 some portion of butter-milk, but much of its quality for keeping 

 depends on their perfect separation. The most usual way is to spread 

 it thin in a shallow tub, beating it with the hand or a flat wooden 

 spoon, and washing it repeatedly with clear spring water, until all milki- 

 ness disappears in the water which is poured off. Some experienced 

 dairymen assert that the butter is deteriorated by much washing, and 

 therefore express the butter-milk by simply beating the butter with 

 the hand, kept cool by frequently dipping it in cold water, or with a 

 moist cloth wrapped in the form of a ball, which soaks up all the 

 butter-milk, and leaves the butter quite dry. This operation requires 

 the greatest attention, especially in warm weather, and no person 

 should work the butter who has not a very cool hand ; the less it is 

 handled the better, and therefore a wooden spoon or spatula is much to 

 be preferred. 



When it is entirely freed from the butter-milk and of a proper con- 

 sistency, the butter is divided into portions of the weight required, if 

 it is intended to be sold fresh. The mode of preparing fresh butter for 

 the market is either by making it into rolls of two pounds, or into flat 

 round cakes of one pound or half a pound each, which are impressed 

 with some figure cut in a round piece of wood like a large seal, hence 

 called prints. The rolls are made oblong with four sides slightly 

 flattened by throwing the lump on a stone or board successively on 

 each of the four sides, and then on the two ends ; this requires some 

 dexterity, which is soon acquired, and it is done to avoid unnecessary 

 handling. 



To make prints, the butter is first made into balls, and then applied 

 by pressure to the wood, which gives the impressions ; the sides are 

 trimmed up along the edge of the wood, and the whole is presscrl 

 against a marble or wooden slab, so as to have the impression upper- 

 most, and form a flat cake. The wooden print is readily detached by 

 holding it in the left hand, and giving a smart blow with the right. 

 A hole bored through the centre prevents the adhesion of the 

 butter from the exclusion of the air. In Cambridgeshire butter is 

 made up into rolls a yard long, and passed through a ring of a certain 

 diameter, for the convenience of dividing it into small portions without 

 the trouble of weighing : hence the butter is said to be sold by the 

 yard. 



The greatest portion of the butter that is made, especially at a 

 distance from large towns, is immediately salted and put into casks or 

 firkins, which usually contain fifty-six pounds. The quality of the salt 

 used is of great importance ; if it be pure, the bxitter will keep its 

 flavour for a long time, but when it is impure and contains bitter and 

 deliquescent salts, the butter soon becomes rancid. The Dutch are 

 very particular on this point. They use a kind of salt which is made 

 by slow evaporation, and perfectly crystallised ; the salt is intimately 

 mixed with the butter. From three to five pounds are sufficient for a 

 firkin of fifty-six pounds. Some dairymen recommend the use of a sub- 

 stitute for plain salt, consisting (for every pound of butter) of half an 

 ounce of dry pounded salt, two drachms of sugar, and two drachms of 

 saltpetre. The casks are made of clean white wood ; they are care- 

 fully washed inside with strong brine made hot, and rubbed over with 

 salt. The butter being quite dry is pressed close into the cask, a small 

 layer of salt having been first put on the bottom. Every addition is 

 carefully incorporated with the preceding portion. If there is not a 

 sufficient quantity to fill the cask at once, the surface is made smooth, 

 some salt is put over it, and a cloth is pressed close upon it to exclude 

 the air. When the remainder is added, at the next churning, the cloth 

 is taken off, and the salt which had been put on the surface carefully 

 removed with a spoon. The surface is dug into with a small wooden 

 spade, and laid rough, and the newly salted butter is added and incor- 

 porated completely. This prevents a streak which would otherwise 

 appear at the place where the two portions join. When the cask is full 

 some salt is put over it, and the head is put in. If the butter has been 

 well freed from all the butter-milk, and the salt mixed with it quite 

 dry, it will not shrink in the cask, and it will keep its flavour for a long 

 time. Should there be an appearance of shrinking, the cask must be 

 opened, and melted butter poured round it so as to fill up the inter- 

 stices between the butter and the cask ; in this way it will not suffer in 



