CARE OF MILK AND CREAM ON FARM 65 



Again, by setting the cream can or crock in the cellar, the cooling 

 will be slow and not rapid enough to insure good flavor. The 

 animal heat in it, unless removed by prompt cooling, gives it a 

 peculiar smothered flavor which often follows the cream into the 

 butter. 



The warm cream is in ideal condition for bacterial decompo- 

 sition and spoiling. If promptly and properly cooled the activity 

 of the bacteria and other ferments is retarded, if not entirely 

 checked, and the cream will keep sweet and in good condition 

 for a reasonable length of time. The lower the temperature to 

 which it is cooled, the longer will it keep in normal condition. 

 Cooling to the temperature of the water available on the average 

 farm alone greatly retards bacterial action. The cream should 

 be cooled at once after it leaves the separator. The beneficial 

 effect then is greatest. If the cooling is delayed until fermenta- 

 tions have commenced, the life of the cream is greatly shortened ; 

 for once started, fermentations are checked with difficulty. 



When promptly cooled and frequently stirred, the cream re- 

 mains in proper mechanical condition so that it can be readily 

 transferred without excessive loss due to sticking to the can. 

 This also makes possible the taking of representative samples 

 therefrom, which in turn is the foundation for accurate tests. One 

 of the fundamental causes of irregular and incorrect cream tests 

 lies in the poor mechanical condition of the cream when sampled. 

 It is difficult to take a correct sample from cream that has not 

 been cooled promptly and properly, nor stirred frequently, or 

 that is otherwise in poor condition. 



How to Cool Cream. The only practical way to cool cream 

 promptly and to successfully control the temperature under aver- 

 age farm conditions is to set the cream cans in a properly in- 

 sulated tank filled with cold water. The heat conductivity of 

 water is twenty one times as great as that of air. This means 

 that by setting the cans in water the cream will be cooled twenty 

 one times as fast as by letting them stand in the air at the 

 same temperature. The tank used for cooling the cream should 

 be deep enough to allow the water to cover the cans at least 

 as far up as the cream will reach when the can is full. It should 



