226 Milk and Its Products 



amount of water adhering to them, will vary consid- 

 erably, so that the weight of washed and drained but- 

 ter will not bear any definite relation to the amount 

 of finished butter, and if the attempt is made to gauge 

 the salt by the weight of drained butter, it will be 

 found that the degree of saltness will vary considera- 

 bly, because when more water is contained in the 

 butter much more of the salt will pass out with 

 the brine. When a separator is used in creaming, 

 the weight of cream will be found to bear a closer 

 proportion to the weight of finished butter than 

 either the original weight of the whole milk or the 

 weight of the washed and drained butter, and the 

 more uniform salting will be obtained if the salt 

 is added in the ratio of a certain percentage of 

 the weight of the cream. The salt should be added 

 so that it can be readily and uniformly incorporated 

 with the whole amount of butter. This is con- 

 veniently done while the water is being expressed 

 from the butter in the worker, and the working 

 should continue until the salt has completely dis- 

 solved, because the salt has a deepening effect upon 

 the color of the butter, and if some undissolved 

 portions remain, these, afterwards dissolving in the 

 water contained in the butter, will make a strong 

 brine at that particular point, and consequently a 

 deeper color, and mottled or streaked butter is the 

 result. 



The salt should be dry, of uniform grain, and 

 should readily and completely dissolve to a clear 

 solution. Those brands of salt which are made from 



