302 CHURNING 



der pressure. The filtered oil constitutes the butter color of 

 commerce. It is perfectly clear to the eye, but under magnifi- 

 cation shows to contain a very fine precipitation of suspended 

 matter. 



Good grades of annatto butter color, purchased from reliable 

 manufacturers, are made from high grade annatto seed and oil. 

 Such butter color is free from objectionable flavor and odor 

 and from sediment, and it does not deteriorate readily in flavor. 

 It is not advisable, however, to purchase more than can be used 

 in one season, nor to buy it from supply houses or stores 

 where it may have been on hand for years. It should be pur- 

 chased fresh, from a reliable firm and it should not be carried 

 over summer. Old, stale butter color may deteriorate and lend 

 butter objectionable flavors. 



It is not necessary, nor desirable, to keep butter color in 

 the cold. If made from pure, neutral oil and sound seed, butter 

 color does not deteriorate when kept at warm temperature, if 

 not more than one season old. Annatto, similar to other vege- 

 table colors, is a fugitive color. While the butter color pre- 

 pared from it, is not known to bleach under conditions to which 

 it is exposed in the creamery, it may precipitate and settle 

 out some of its coloring principle, so that different portions of 

 color, drawn from the same package, may not produce the same 

 shade of yellow in butter, causing dissatisfaction when the but- 

 ter reaches the market. Low temperature, abrupt changes of 

 temperature, exposure to air and agitation accelerate the preci- 

 pitation of butter color. 



The drums, cans or other containers of butter color should, 

 therefore, be stored in a place where the temperature is fairly 

 uniform, and preferably at room temperature, and their con- 

 tents should be protected against excessive agitation and expo- 

 sure to air. The practice of pumping the butter color out of 

 the drum when it is needed, tends to incorporate considerable 

 air in it and to produce excessive and repeated agitation, both 

 of which conditions invite precipitation. It is preferable to lay 

 the drum on a sleeper and attach a spigot to one end of the 

 drum from which the butter color can readily be drawn when 

 needed. 



