CHAPTER VI. 

 RELATION OF BACTERIA TO BUTTER. 



If fresh sweet milk is separated and the cream churned 

 at once, a butter will be obtained which has but little 

 flavor or taste. This "sweet-cream" butter is used ex- 

 clusively in France, Southern Germany, and Italy. The 

 flavor comes from the milk itself, and is known as the 

 primary flavor of butter. If, however, the same cream 

 is allowed to ferment, due to the growth of the bacteria 

 which it contains, the butter will have a much higher de- 

 gree of flavor. Ripened or "sour-cream" butter, is the 

 type of butter usually made in northern European coun- 

 tries, England, and America. 



The manufacture of sour-cream butter undoubtedly 

 arose because of its greater convenience. In making 

 sweet-cream butter, the milk has to be kept cool during 

 the time required for creaming and the cream churned 

 daily. Under modern conditions, by the use of the cen- 

 trifugal separator, sweet-cream butter can be easily 

 made, but heretofore, sour-cream butter was easier to 

 make because the cream could be accumulated in quan- 

 tities and churned when convenient. 



Flavor of sour-cream butter. In the acid fermenta- 

 tion of milk and cream, not only lactic acid but other 

 acids are produced, as well as many other products, of 

 which little or nothing is known. The butter fat has 

 properties similar to other fats, one of which is to absorb 



