CHURNING 305 



gathered in granules of the size of wheat or corn kernels. 

 While the size of the granules is only one of the many indica- 

 tions of the completion of the churning process, and while it is 

 not necessarily an infallibly sure sign, it furnishes the most 

 practical index for the buttermaker to tell when to stop the 

 churning process. 



When the butter first breaks, the butter granules formed 

 are very small and the buttermilk still has a rich, creamy, 

 opaque appearance. From this point on, under normal con- 

 ditions, the formation of additional butter granules, the coales- 

 cence of the small granules into larger ones and the completion 

 of the churning take place rapidly. When the churning is com- 

 pleted the buttermilk should have lost its creamy consistency and 

 opaqueness and should have a thin, bluish, watery appearance 

 and should be free from butter. If the churning comes from 

 different lots of cream of different degrees of ripeness, or of 

 different ages, the completion of the churning requires more 

 time and it is necessary to churn to larger granules. The but- 

 ter from the sour and older cream breaks first. If the churn 

 is stopped when the butter granules are no larger than small 

 corn kernels, the chances are that the fat of the sweeter or 

 fresher cream is not completely churned out yet and there is 

 much loss of fat in the buttermilk. 



The underchurning or stopping of the churn when the but- 

 ter granules are very small, always tends to cause excessive 

 loss of fat. The smaller fat globules churn out more slowly 

 than the larger ones, and at this stage a large number of the 

 smaller globules need further agitation to coalesce into butter 

 granules of sufficient size to stay in the churn or strainer when 

 the buttermilk is drawn off. If these small granules are very 

 hard, either on account of the natural firmness of the fat or 

 churning at a low temperature, the formation of larger granules 

 and the completion of the churning will occupy considerable 

 time. If the butter granules are soft, the granules increase in 

 size very rapidly. These phenomena are further intensified by 

 the richness of the cream. Thin cream delays, while rich cream 

 hastens, the coalescence of the granules. If the churning process 



