526 BUTTER 



perfect mechanical condition, by avoiding the overloading of the 

 workers, by the proper use and even distribution in the churn of 

 readily soluble salt, and by adjusting the working process according 

 to the mechanical firmness of the butter in such a manner, as to 

 insure complete solution of the salt, even distribution and complete 

 fusion of brine and water and producing a butter in which the free 

 brine and water have been sufficiently emulsified, to give the butter a 

 close, tough, waxy texture, free from visible water pockets. 



White Specks in Butter. Butter occasionally is permeated 

 with a multitude of small white specks. This condition is due to 

 the incorporation of small pieces of coagulated casein. The defect 

 is easily preventable and should not occur when proper attention 

 is given to the handling of the starter and the cream. Its most 

 common cause is overripe starter, overripe cream and cream that 

 has been allowed to dry on the surface due to lack of stirring dur- 

 ing the ripening process. If the starter is added before it is over- 

 ripe and has formed a firm curd, or if the coagulum is thoroughly 

 broken up by stirring or pouring and the starter is strained into the 

 cream, if the cream is properly stirred during the ripening process 

 so as to prevent its drying on the surface, if it is not overripened, 

 and is strained into the churn, there is usually no danger of white 

 specks in butter. Cream and starter should never be allowed to 

 enter the churn unless they are run through a fine strainer. 



The occasional appearance of white specks in butter may be due 

 to the cream strainer in the churn becoming clogged and flowing 

 over, or to emptying the accumulated material caught in the 

 strainer, into the churn, either through accident or through 

 ignorance. 



Yellow Specks in Butter. This is a very rare defect and 

 yet occasionally it occurs and causes trouble. When these specks 

 are of an orange shade, they are usually due to sediment in the but- 

 ter color used. If the butter color contains such sediment it should 

 be allowed to settle and only the clear oil on top should be used. 

 These yellow specks occur most generally only when the supply of 

 butter color in the drum or other receptacle is nearly exhausted, so 

 that the very bottom strata of the color in the drum are drawn on. 

 In this case it is advisable to discard the remnant of butter color 

 and draw from a new drum. 



