332 THE HANDBOOK FOE PEACTICAL FARMEKS 



run through two or three quarts of hot water, or, if this is not 

 available, use skim milk. Running through either the water or 

 skim milk clears the bowl of all remaining cream. The use of 

 water has the additional advantage of rinsing the bowl and other 

 parts which come in contact with the milk, thereby making the 

 subsequent washing easier. 



Cleaning and sterilizing. — As soon as the separation is com- 

 pleted the separator should be taken apart and the bowl, together 

 Avith all other tinware, rinsed with warm water. This should be 

 followed by a thorough scrubbing with a stiff brush in hot water, 

 to which has been added a washing powder, such as sal soda or 

 one of the dairy cleaning powders. Following the washing 

 process the utensils should be sterilized if a milk of low bacterial 

 count is to be produced. Sterilizing may be done with the steam 

 sterilizer described on page 323, or by boiling the utensils for 

 five minutes. 



The separator should be cleaned and sterilized after each time 

 it is used. 



MAKING BUTTER ON THE FARM 



Good butter is not difficult to make provided the operator fol- 

 lows directions carefully. To produce good butter it is neces- 

 sary to begin with a clean-flavored milk. It is customary in some 

 sections of the country to churn the whole milk in making butter, 

 but this requires high temperature in churning, which injures 

 the quality of the butter and causes a loss of butter fat in the 

 buttermilk. 



The cream may be separated either by means of a centrifugal, 

 separator or by gravity. The former method is preferable, as 

 less butter fat is lost in the skim milk and the separation is 

 accomplished in a few minutes. 



After the cream is separated it should be cooled in cold water 

 to a temperature of fifty degrees F., if possible, and held there. 

 Cream from later skimmings should be cooled before it is added 

 to the cream which is already cold, as the addition of warm 

 cream is liable to sour it. 



Ripening the cream. — About twelve or eighteen hours before 

 churning the cream should be slowly warmed to a temperature 

 of sixty-five to seventy degrees F. (use thermometer) to obtain 

 a uniform ripening. The cream should then stand at this tem- 

 perature in a place free from odors. When it has acquired a 

 clean, mildly sour taste and a glossy appearance it is ready for 

 churning and should be cooled quickly and held at the churning 



