270 K. H. AGR. EXPERIMENT STATION. [Bulletin 141 



rated, as the wash water will come in coutact with a much greater 

 surface of the butter. "When the churning temperature is too 

 high, the butter gathers very quickly into lumps and it is very 

 difficult to prevent the incorporation of large amounts of butter- 

 milk. It was also noticed that in the old types of dasher churns 

 the butter is very easily churned too much unless great care is 

 exercised. 



Some people use the appearance of the buttermilk, a thin, 

 whitish color being an index, as the time to stop churning. To 

 go by this alone is not safe, for if a high churning temperature 

 is employed the buttermilk will not take on this appearance. 



The objection to stopping churning when the butter granules 

 are too small is that the minute butter granules may pass through 

 the strainer and be lost in the buttermilk. 



Washing the Butter. — Only pure well or spring water 

 should be used for washing the butter. If the buttermilk is well 

 drained from the butter, one washing, filling the churns at least 

 as full of water as it was of. cream when churning was begun, is 

 sufficient. If for any reason the first wash water looks milky, a 

 second washing may be necessary. In one case observed the 

 butter was churned in the buttermilk until it was gathered into 

 a few large lumps. It was washed in three sets of water. One 

 washing Avould have been equally as beneficial, as it removed all 

 the buttermilk clinging to the outside of the large lumps of 

 butter and any amount of washing could not remove the butter- 

 milk which had been incorporated. 



One very important factor to be considered in washing the 

 butter is the temperature of the water. If the churning tem- 

 perature has been right and the butter has come in good con- 

 dition, the temperature of the wash water should be the same 

 as that of the buttermilk. If the butter comes soft, it may be 

 necessary to use a lower temperature and if too hard a higher 

 temperature. Extremes should be avoided in all eases, as too 

 warm water will cause a soft and greasy butter, while too cold 

 water will make the butter appear brittle and tallowy and cause 

 difficulty in getting the salt well dissolved. 



Salting and Working. — As a rule one ounce of salt to each 

 pound of butter is sufficient. The use of cheap, coarse salt 

 should be avoided, as it often contains chemical impurities and 



