SALTING THE BUTTER 327 



to secure a brine of maximum saturation and to hasten the 

 solution of the salt, the salt may be dissolved in hot water and 

 the brine is then cooled to the proper temperature suitable for 

 addition to the butter. This is the ideal way of salting from 

 the point of view of completeness of solution, uniform distribu- 

 tion of salt, and absence of a coarse, briny flavor and grittiness. 

 However this method is practical only where a very light salt in 

 butter is desired. It is impossible to incorporate a high salt 

 content with this method. Brine-salted butter contains only from 

 one to two per cent salt. And even in order to incorporate 

 the maximum of two per cent salt by this method it is neces- 

 sary to use two separate batches of brine. One batch may be 

 used in the place of the second washing and the butter has to 

 be churned considerably in this. The brine left in the butter 

 after this brine washing is naturally very dilute. After the 

 first batch of brine has been drawn off the second batch is added. 

 This is left with the butter for five to fifteen minutes. Care 

 should be taken not to work the butter in the brine excessively 

 in the case of soft butter, in order not to incorporate excessive 

 moisture. After the second batch of brine is drawn off the 

 working is completed. The butter should be worked only en- 

 ough to properly distribute the brine and to bring the butter 

 together in a compact mass for easy handling. 



Butter with so low a salt content does not meet the require- 

 ments of the majority of American markets for salted butter, 

 hence this method is not commonly used in our creameries. The 

 brine-salting method has the further disadvantages of being ex- 

 cessively laborious and wasteful of salt and the low salt content 

 of the finished product obviously results in a relatively low 

 overrun. In the spring of the year there is always more or 

 less danger of excessive moisture where the brine-salting method 

 is practiced. 



Type of Salt Crystals. The ease with which salt dissolves 

 and is incorporated in butter is also influenced by the type of 

 crystals of the salt. Cube crystals which have the smallest 

 relative surface in proportion to their cubic content absorb water 

 and dissolve, more slowly than flake crystals, unless the size of 

 the cube crystals is reduced to the point where their relation of 



