DAIRYING 43 



and very Trifle butter fat will be left in the buttermilk if the churn- 

 ing temperature is an appropriate one. The effect of ripening on* 

 the churniiTig of cream may be demonstrated by dividing a lot of 

 cream imtto two parts, one of which is held at a temperature cold 

 enough tto prevent ripening and the other ripened at temperatures 

 fitted to give the best results. When both lots are churned at the 

 proper temperature for churning ripe cream and in churns of the 

 same size, it will be found that the ripened cream churns first and 

 gives more butter than is obtained from the sweet or unripened 

 cream. The ripening has had some effect on the curd of the cream 

 and aids the separation of butter fat from the serum. There are 

 other things, such as the temperature and the richness of the 

 cream that have an influence on churning, but these are discussed 

 in another place, par. 399, and are only outlined here to call atten- 

 tion to the fact that cream ripening is one of the important factors 

 in churning. 



3. Effect of Ripening on Keeping Quality. One of the strik- 

 ing differences between sweet cream butter and ripened cream 

 butter is the way in which they hold their fresh flavor. When but- 

 ter is kept at the ordinary temperature of butter cellars and house 

 or store refrigerators near 50 F. the fermentations character- 

 istic of cream and butter are not materially checked ; they continue 

 to develop in the curd of the butter and may often have a marked 

 effect on its flavor in a short time. Sweet cream butter usually 

 contains more curd than, that made from ripened cream, because 

 the curd does not wash out so thoroughly during the butter making 

 process. The sweet cream butter therefore goes "off" flavor much 

 more quickly than the other butter, because of the accumulation 

 of these fermentation products. The continued ripening of the 

 curd in butter, after it is made, may improve the sweet cream 

 butter flavor for awhile, but when the fermentations are not stop- 

 ped by cooling the butter, the butter fat absorbs the fermentation 

 products formed, and their accumulation, as well as the changes 

 which take place in the fat itself, produce the old and rancid flavor 

 which is so objectionable in butter. 



472. The ripened cream butter will, as a rule, keep in a fresh 

 and acceptable condition under the same conditions of temperature 



