DAIRYING 21 



feed. The "J une " flavor, which is so much desired by consumers 

 of butter, has not been propagated during the entire year by 

 using a "June" starter ; nor have the germs been isolated that 

 are responsible for the onion, the garlic, and the weedy flavors 

 that sometimes are noticed in butter. These flavors come directly 

 from the cow's feed. Luxuriant pasture feed in the spring and 

 summer, and weeds eaten at any time of the year, impart charac- 

 teristic flavors to both milk and butter. The effects of these 

 feeds on butter flavor are familiar to many buttermakers, and 

 are known to be entirely independent of the starters used in 

 ripening the cream. 



554. Overcoming Food Taints with Starters. The objecc- 

 tionable food flavors, such as the onion and weedy flavors, may, 

 however, be somewhat surpressed, if not entirely overcome, by 

 skimming a very rich cream, containing 50 per cent fat and 

 diluting this with 15 to 30 per cent of a starter which does not 

 contain these flavors. Milk for this purpose may sometimes be 

 difficult to obtain, but it is useless to try to overcome the weedy 

 and onion flavors by using starters tainted with these flavors. 

 The heating which skim milk receives in starter-making cannot 

 be depended on to remove such taints. The starter must always 

 be made from milk entirely free from taints of any kind. It has 

 been suggested that the cream from weedy milk may be mixed 

 with hot water or with skim milk and run through the separator 

 a second time as a means of purifying it from onion and garlic 

 flavors. Goodrich has recommended adding one teaspoonful of 

 saltpetre to each gallon of the hot water used. The purpose of 

 this dilution is to remove the objectionable flavors by washing 

 them out with hot water or with a weak solution of saltpetre. 



Sterilizing Utensils, Care of Starters, Etc. 



555. On account of the wide distribution of bacteria in the 

 air, water, and flying dust, it is extremely important that all the 

 utensils used in starter-making should be completely sterilized. 

 The time and attention given to starter-making may be entirely 



