302 OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



" Another way to keep butter is to melt it. I must 

 tell you, to begin with, that butter, however care- 

 fully prepared it may be, always contains a certain 

 quantity of whey and casein. These are the sub- 

 stances that, changing later by contact with the air, 

 make butter sour and finally rancid. If the fatty 

 matter were all by itself, if it could be completely 

 rid of the casein and whey that go with it, we could 

 keep it much longer. This result is attained by 

 melting. 



"The butter is placed in a kettle over a bright fire 

 that is even and moderate. Melting soon begins. 

 The moisture of the whey is evaporated, this process 

 being hastened by stirring the melted mass. A part 

 of the casein rises to the surface and forms a scum 

 which is removed ; another part collects at the bot- 

 tom of the kettle. When the melted butter looks 

 like oil and when a drop of it thrown on the coals 

 takes fire without crackling, thus proving that it is 

 quite free from moisture, the operation is finished. 

 The kettle is taken off the fire, the liquid is left 

 standing a few minutes to give the casein time to 

 settle at the bottom, and finally the butter is poured 

 by spoonfuls into earthen jars carefully dried in the 

 oven. These jars should be of small capacity and 

 narrow opening, so as to prevent as much as possible 

 the access of air, the cause of change in all our food 

 substances. It is advisable to put on top of the but- 

 ter, as soon as it hardens, a layer of salt, as is done 

 with salted butter. Finally the jars are closed with 

 parchment, which is tied on with string." 



