CHAPTER VI. 



Ripening the Cream 



THE butterfat particles in cream are held in 

 solution by the curd. The object of "ripen- 

 ing," which really means souring is to make 

 the curd so brittle that the butterfat particles will be 

 easily and completely released during the churning 

 process. In that way you waste none of the butter- 

 fat, but turn it all into butter. It's very profitable to 

 properly ripen cream before churning it. 



This process is carried on by heating cream to a 

 temperature where the germ life will grow and de- 

 velop acid between 60 and 80 degrees. The tempera- 

 ture at which to ripen cream depends on the time of 

 year; temperature of weather, richness of cream. 

 Cream containing a small percentage of butterfat will 

 ripen much faster and at a lower temperature than 

 rich, high-testing cream. 



Cream containing 18 to 25% butterfat will ripen at 

 8 to 10 degrees lower temperature in the same length 

 of time than richer cream and great care should be 

 taken not to over-ripen it. 



The heavy-testing cream, from 28 to 35%, ripens 

 slowly as it does not contain the percentage of milk 

 serum (skim milk), therefore can be ripened at a 

 higher temperature, but great care should be taken 

 not to ripen over 8 to 10 hours. Over-ripening causes 

 bitter flavors. 



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