SAI/FING THE BUTTER 323 



Amount of Salt. The amount of salt that should be added 

 to butter should depend primarily on the market for which the 

 butter is intended. The salt requirements of different markets 

 vary somewhat. American markets demand a relatively highly 

 salted butter, with the exception of the Jewish trade which re- 

 quires unsalted butter. The English markets call for a butter 

 that is lightly salted, while continental Europe, especially 

 France, Southern Germany, Switzerland, etc., demand unsalted 

 butter. Thus the salt content of butter, as regulated by different 

 markets, may vary from no salt to about four per cent of salt. 



In reality, however, the salt requirements of different 

 markets where salted butter is wanted, are salt tolerances rather 

 than requirements; i. e. there is not really a very marked dif- 

 ference in the amount of salt which the salted butter trade 

 demands, but it is rather a question of how much salt the trade 

 will stand for or tolerate. The manufacturer of butter natural- 

 ly aims to salt his butter heavily, because salt is cheaper than 

 butterfat. He will furnish the trade just as highly salted but- 

 ter, within the limitations regulated by effect on quality, as the 

 trade will accept and tolerate. Some markets are more critical 

 and quicker to resent the imposition than others, but none really 

 demand a very highly salted butter. 



The salt content of butter intended for one and the same 

 market should be uniform. Variations in the salt content of 

 butter are detected by the consumer more easily than similar 

 variations of any other ingredient of butter. Uniformity of 

 salt content is, therefore, important in order to satisfy the trade. 

 In order to accomplish this, the amount of salt to be added 

 to any given churning should be based on the most constant 

 factor. On farm dairies and in whole milk creameries the 

 amount of salt is frequently calculated per hundred weight of 

 milk. In this case from three to four ounces of salt per 100 

 pounds of milk would produce a moderately salted butter. This 

 method gives fairly uniform results. Others are determining 

 the amount of salt needed on the basis of the amount of cream 

 in the churn. With the greater variability of the richness of the 

 cream, this method obviously may frequently lack in uniformity 

 of results. In the case of cream testing about 30 per cent fat, 

 for instance, from one and three-quarter to two and one-half 



