CHAPTER II. 

 THE MANUFACTURE AND HANDLING OF BUTTER. 



THE cream having been properly ripened, the churn- 

 ing may take place. Also during this process it is neces- 

 sary to observe all kinds of precautions to protect the 

 cream from infection. The churn should as far as possible 

 be sterile and should be aired and steamed before being 

 used. A very common mistake in creameries is to leave 

 the churn standing without cover in an upright position 

 when not in use, as it were, to catch all the dust and the 

 bacteria slowly settling from the air. Some water will 

 usually gather at the bottom of the churn; and with high 

 temperatures as a rule reigning in our creameries, we have 

 conditions very favorable to bacterial growth, and that in 

 the very vessel in which the butter is to be manufactured. 

 It will not improve the matter if the cover is always kept 

 on the churn, as this will then not properly dry out. The 

 churn should be kept upside down when not in use, or if 

 movable should be kept out of the way. The temperature 

 of the churn should be properly adjusted before the churn- 

 ing by rinsing it with recently-melted iced water or boiled 

 and subsequently cooled water. If the churn is kept in a 

 proper manner, no special sterilization will be necessary 

 directly before the churning. 



In order to get through early with the creamery-work, 

 the cream is in many places churned and even the butter 



337 



