20 DAIRYING 



when the cows are on grass, is from five to ten pounds of starter 

 per 100 pounds of cream. This amount is usually added to cream 

 testing about 30 per cent. fat. In the winter, when cows are 

 milked in the stable and receive dry feed, good results have been* 

 obtained by skimming a cream testing 50 to 60 per cent fat and 

 using at least 25 per cent of starter. The flavor of the butter 

 may also be benefited by the addition of clean and sweet morn- 

 ing's milk to the cream. 



551. The starter is sometimes added to cream immediately 

 after the first cream is obtained. It is often placed in the cream 

 vat the first thing in the morning and the cream from the 

 separator run directly into it. When this is done the butter- 

 maker should know beforehand approximately how much milk 

 will be skimmed and the quantity of cream that will be obtained. 

 This will give the necessary information for calculating the 

 pounds of starter needed. No great exactness in this particular 

 is necessary, however, as a few pounds more or less of starter 

 will not seriously change the ripening process. 



552. Stirring the Starter. In the early stages of the starter 

 it is often necessary to stir the skim milk in order to aid in uni- 

 formly heating it and also to mix the pure culture thoroughly 

 with it. No harm -will come from this early stirring before the 

 starter has soured, but when all the necessary mixing and heat- 

 ing has been done, the starter should not be disturbed. It should 

 be allowed to coagulate quietly, and the soft, sour curd added to 

 the cream. This curd is often run through a hair sieve to remove 

 any hard lumps that may be present. Curd lumps in a starter 

 are often caused by stirring it after souring, and on this account 

 directions are usually given to omit stirring after the first neces- 

 sary mixing of the pure culture with the skim milk. 



553. Starters and Food Flavors. The principal use of a 

 starter is to improve the butter flavor. Some starters undoubt- 

 edly are injurious to the flavor because of the undesirable fer- 

 ments they introduce into the cream, but the fundamental idea 

 of a starter is either to increase or to improve the butter flavor. 

 The starter is not, however, responsible for all butter flavors; 

 some of them, both good and bad, are produced by the cow's 



