Chemical Analysis of Milk and Its Products. 235 



the samples of butter are ready to be weighed, and the 

 loss gives the amount of water present therein. The 

 average results obtained by this method with nine sam- 

 ples of butter came within .13 per cent, of those found 

 by chemical analyses. 



The same method is recommended by the author for 

 determining the per cent, of water in curd or cheese. 



277. The Wisconsin high-pressure oven method 

 (see fig. 61). Either 10 or 50 grams of butter are 

 weighed in a flat-bottomed tin or aluminum dish. This 

 is placed in an oven heated 

 by high-pressure steam to a 

 temperature of 240 to 280 

 F. The length of time re- 

 quired to expel all the water 

 from the butter will depend on 

 the temperature of the oven 

 and the diameter of the dish 

 in w T hich the butter is heated. 

 If the dish is large enough to 

 permit the butter to spread 

 out into a verv thin layer and 



FIG. 61. The Wisconsin high- - 



the temperature of the oven pressure oven, 



reaches 260 F., the water will be completely expelled 

 in half an hour. Ovens of this construction have now 

 been placed on the market by one of the manufacturers 

 of dairy supplies. A steam pressure of 60 Ibs. and a 

 temperature of 280 F. may be obtained in such an 

 oven; by employing the boiler pressure ordinarily used 

 in a creamery, temperatures of 240 to 260 may be 

 easily obtained. The temperature thus reached is suf- 



