312 WASHING THE: BUTTER 



batch of water. Under normal conditions this second washing 

 should be practically clear. If it shows milkiness the butter 

 should be washed a third time. The butter should be washed 

 until the wash water runs off clear. Usually two washings are 

 sufficient. 



If the butter comes from cream of good quality the least 

 amount of washing consistent, with the complete removal of 

 the free buttermilk, is preferable. Excessive exposure of the 

 butter to the cold wash water tends to rob the butter of its 

 fine, delicate flavor and to cause such butter to assume a more 

 or less flat taste. The loss of the fine flavor is due to the power 

 of the cold water to absorb some of the aromatic, volatile and 

 soluble substances characteristic of good butter. Sweet cream 

 and cream only slightly soured requires comparatively little wash- 

 ing for the removal of the buttermilk, because the solids in such 

 buttermilk are largely in solution or in very fine suspension 

 similar as the solids in milk. In this fluid condition the solids 

 of the buttermilk are removed readily. 



In the case of cream of poor quality, and of highly acid 

 cream, it is advisable to wash the butter very thoroughly, to 

 increase the number of washings and, if the butter shows very 

 pronounced off-flavors, to hold the wash water in the churn for 

 a while (10 to 20 minutes). This gives the volatile substances 

 and free acids of old and overripe cream an opportunity to pass 

 off into the wash water, liberating the butter made from such 

 cream from some of its undesirable flavors and odors. An ad- 

 ditional washing with sweet skim milk may greatly help to 

 improve the flavor of such butter. 



Butter in the form of very small granules, washes more 

 readily and more quickly than butter in the form of large granules 

 and lumps, less water and less manipulation of the butter is 

 required. The finer the granules the more surface is exposed 

 to the wash water and the more facile the removal of the but- 

 termilk. The removal of the buttermilk requires more washing 

 in the case of large granules of butter. Other things being the 

 same, excessive washing of very fine granules of butter is objec- 

 tionable because of excessive loss of the delicate flavoring prin- 

 ciples which are partly soluble in the cold water, making the 



