DAIRYING 41 



that kills the lactic acid bacteria, and on this account are very 

 troublesome, especially at the seasons of the year when they are 

 likely to get into the milk in large numbers. 



470. In making raw cream butter the buttermaker can best 

 deal with these undesirable bacteria by ripening a very rich cream 

 with a starter which contains a sufficiently large number of the 

 acid-producing bacteria to suppress the growth of the purefactive 

 organisms. The safest way, however, is to so care for the milk 

 and cream at the farm that it is kept free from these undesirable 

 bacteria. 



1, Effect of Ripening on Butter Flavor. It is a well known 

 fact that pure butter fat is nearly tasteless. This shows that most 

 of the butter flavor is the result of a more or less complex mixture 

 of butter fat, cream-serum, curd and salt. The fat is not the single 

 source of taste in butter, but by the ripening of the cream, products 

 are formed from the fat, the casein, and the cream serum which 

 are partially absorbed by the butter fat, and give the butter its 

 characteristic flavor. 



When the ripening process goes too far the fat itself is changed 

 somewhat and objectionable flavors are produced. If the butter 

 is not properly cared for after being made, the ripening process 

 may continue to go on to such an extent that the butter fat be- 

 comes rancid and gives the peculiar flavor of "strong" butter. 



The characteristic difference in taste between sweet cream 

 butter and that made from sour or ripened cream shows the effect 

 which the ripening process has on butter. Sweet cream butter 

 has a flat, sweetish taste with very little aroma, while butter from 

 ripened cream has the characteristic "butter" taste and aroma 

 which is more or- less pronounced, depending on the extent to 

 which the cream is ripened before churning. 



The opinions of scientists differ somewhat as to the kind of 

 bacteria or ferments that are best fitted to ripen cream and produce 

 a desirable flavor in the butter. All agree however that lactic acid 

 ferments are always beneficial, but some claim that -a mixture of 

 certain other ferments with the lactic acid bacteria produces equally 

 as good and sometimes a better flavor and aroma in the butter 

 than lactic acid alone. 



