WASHING THE BUTTER 315 



they will help to minimize the .defect, but an ideal body of 

 butter under these conditions should not be expected,, and exces- 

 sively soft butter so exposed to very cold water will be prone 

 to be flat and possibly tallowy in flavor. It also will not stand 



up well on the market. 







Effect of Wash Water Temperature on Moisture Content 

 of "Butter. High temperatures of wash water tend toward a 

 slight increase in moisture content of the butter. However, 

 this effect on the per cent water in butter is not as marked as 

 is generally believed. The butter fat is a poor conductor of heat 

 and the short time during which the butter is ordinarily exposed 

 to the wash water is not sufficient to materially affect its mech- 

 anical firmness, provided, of course, that the butter is in fairly 

 normal condition. It should be borne in mind, however, that 

 the washing of the butter in warm wash water does tend to- 

 wards a softening of the butter. Though this influence seerns 

 to be very slight, it may be sufficient to modify the effect of 

 the subsequent working. If this butter is worked "with the 

 churn doors closed and consequently in the presence of water 

 it may take up slighly more water. When worked with the 

 churn doors ajar this butter cannot take up appreciably more 

 moisture. Butter washed with cold water tends to be some- 

 what firmer and in this condition it may lose somewhat more 

 moisture when worked with the churn doors ajar. If the tem- 

 perature of the wash water does influence the moisture content 

 of butter at all, the effect is indirect rather than direct and de- 

 pends largely on the extent to which the butter is drained and 

 worked subsequently. These facts are clearly demonstrated in 

 Table 49. 



Overchurning Butter in Wash Water. Buttermakers fre- 

 quently churn their butter in the wash water for the purpose of 

 moisture incorporation. 



When butter is churned in the wash water at normal tem- 

 perature the butter granules gather into larger granules and 

 finally into masses. If the original granules are round, smooth 

 and firm, they do not readily lose their identity but remain 

 largely intact. Under these conditions the churning in the wash 

 water has no marked effect on the moisture content of the 



