PURPOSES OF CREAM RIPENING. l8l 



To understand this we will notice first the purposes of cream 

 ripening. 



PURPOSES OF CREAM RIPENING. 



1. Ripening has been found to increase the yield of butter, 

 for numerous experiments have shown that the yield of 

 butter from a given quantity of cream is greater if the cream 

 is properly ripened than from the same quantity of unripened 

 cream. This is certainly true for cream separated by the 

 old-fashioned gravity method, though less significant if the 

 cream is separated by the modern separator. A greater ease 

 of churning is associated with this greater yield, for gravity 

 cream, while sweet, is found to be difficult to churn, whereas 

 it will churn readily after proper ripening. This again does 

 not hold so true of separator cream. It is a matter of con- 

 siderable significance in a large creamery that the yield of 

 butter from a given lot of cream should be as large as possible, 

 and for this reason alone the ripening would be a matter of 

 importance, for it might mean a saving of hundreds of 

 pounds of butter in the course of a single year. 



2. It is claimed that butter made from properly ripened 

 cream has better keeping properties than butter made from 

 unripened cream. Whether this is true, however, is not 

 definitely settled, for experiments upon this matter have been 

 and still are in conflict. Moreover, whether or not it be true 

 it is a matter of comparatively little importance, for a large 

 creamery usually disposes of its butter when it is tolerably 

 fresh. 



3. By far the most important reason for cream ripening 

 is to develop in the butter the desirable flavor and aroma. 

 By flavor is meant the taste of the butter, and by aroma the 

 odor. It has been demonstrated over and over again that 

 butter made from unripened cream lacks the peculiar flavor 

 and aroma which are characteristic of high grade butter. 

 These flavors appear during the ripening. Sweet cream 

 butter tastes almost like fresh cream, and the peculiar butter 



