370 PACKING BUTTER 



moisture to be pounded out. Evaporation at the higher tem- 

 perature is also most rapid. It is advisable, therefore, to use 

 extra heavy liners in summer. 



The liners should be of ample size so they will abundantly 

 lap on the side, fold under at the bottom and lap over at the 

 top. The circles should be large enough to cover the entire 

 bottom of the tub. There is a tendency on the part of supply 

 houses to furnish liners and circles that are of inadequate dimen- 

 sions, unless the desired dimensions are specifically demanded. 



The stock of parchment liners and circles should be kept 

 in a clean, dry room, protected against dust, dirt and dampness. 

 They should not be stored in the creamery cold room which is 

 almost always damp. 



Immediately before use they should be thoroughly soaked in 

 hot saturated brine. The brine should be of such strength that 

 a deposit of undissolved salt forms in the receptacle, it should 

 be supersaturated, and its temperature should be raised to the 

 boiling point. The circles and liners should be soaked in this 

 hot brine for at least 5 minutes. Such treatment is a three-fold 

 protection against mold development. The heat destroys mold 

 spores that may adhere to the parchment, the soaking frees 

 the parchment from much of .its glucose content and glucose 

 is an ideal food for bacteria, and the brine adhering to the parch- 

 ment helps to inhibit the growth of mold germs that may be 

 in or on the butter. 



This treatment should be given parchment liners and cir- 

 cles used for packing unsalted butter as well as salted butter. 

 The unsalted butter, because of the readiness with which it be- 

 comes moldy, needs these precautions more urgently than the 

 salted butter. The fact that the brine-treated liner conveys 

 some salt to the surface of the butter needs no serious consider- 

 ation. The very small amount of salt thus imparted to butter 

 is not noticeable and does not remove such butter from the 

 class of unsalted butter. 



The lining of the tubs should be done with care. The bot- 

 tom circle should be so placed as to cover the entire bottom of 

 the tub, and the line should be strung around the periphery of 

 the tub uniformly and neatly, and iri such a manner as to cause 

 one inch of the liner to project above the top of the tub. 



