DAIRY BUTTER-MAKING 153 



easily be spoiled in churning. Unless the churn is kept in good condition 

 it is impossible to make good butter with it. The churn should always 

 be well scalded out and well cooled down before using. There are two 

 reasons for this: first, the hot water will scald out and kill all moulds that 

 may be growing in the wood and will close the pores of the wood so that 

 the cream or butter will not adhere to it; second, the churn should be 

 cooled so that the temperature of the cream will not be raised while churn- 

 ing and yield soft, greasy butter. 



Length of Time to Churn. The length of time best for churning 

 varies with the condition of the cream, but ranges from 15 to 30 minutes. 



FARM BUTTER-MAKING APPARATUS. 1 



If the cream churns in less than 15 minutes, the butter is very likely to be 

 too soft to work well and will have a poor body when finished. Cream 

 that requires much longer than 30 minutes may be improperly ripened 

 or abnormal in some way. Taking the cream from the churn and raising 

 the temperature in the manner suggested above will in most cases over- 

 come the trouble. 



The churning should stop when the butter begins to collect in the 

 buttermilk in granules from the size of a pea to that of a grain of corn. 

 Granules of this size do not contain so much buttermilk as do larger ones. 

 The butter is easier to wash, salt and work. 



Washing Butter. It is a common practice on the farm to wash butter 

 through several wash waters. This is unnecessary if the churning has 

 been stopped at the right time. If the granules are about the size of peas 



1 Courtesy of Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station. 



