CREAM RIPENING 39 



temperature of 70 or 75 and not allowed to fall 

 below 65 until ripe, i.e. has the desired acid 

 flavor. 



Sweet cream should not be added to that which 

 is to be churned for at least six hours before churn- 

 ing, as it makes churning more difficult and in- 

 creases the loss of fat in the buttermilk. The less 

 ripened cream does not give up its fat as easily as 

 that which is properly ripened, and the butter will 

 be overchurned before it separates completely from 

 the buttermilk or the churning stopped too soon with 

 a corresponding loss of fat. 



The temperature can be more easily controlled 

 during the ripening if the can of cream is placed 

 in a larger vessel and surrounded with water at the 

 right temperature. It may be warmed or cooled by 

 changing the water and stirring the cream. In 

 cold weather it may be desirable to so arrange the 

 vessel of water containing the can of ripening cream 

 that a lamp can be placed under it and thus main- 

 tain the temperature during the ripening. 



Usually the best butter can be made from cream 

 that is ripened and ready to churn within 24 or 

 36 hours from the time it is drawn from the cow. 



Under farm conditions, the use of a starter is only 

 to be recommended where large quantities of the 

 best butter are desired, and the extra labor required 

 to prepare them right is justified, since a poor 

 starter will just as surely make poor butter as a 

 good one will good butter, or where difficulty is 

 experienced in getting the cream sour, or where 

 undesirable bacteria have become distributed on the 



