FARM BUTTER-MAKING 461 



Old cream makes poor-flavored butler. 



Probably the most common cause of poor-flavored butter is cream that 

 has grown stale before being churned. Fine, fresh-tasting butter, with 

 dehcate flavors and aroma, cannot be made from old cream. Three 

 days should be the limit of age, if the best quality is to be produced. 



White specks in the butter. 



These are caused by dried cream, and by lumps of coagulated casein. 

 The cream should be stirred frequently while ripening and always 

 strained through a fine-mesh wire strainer, when put in the churn. 



Mottled butter. 



"Mottles" are caused by an uneven distribution of the salt. The 

 action of the salt on the casein causes light streaks and spots to show 

 all through the butter. The remedy is to wash weU until the water is 

 clear, and to work a little longer until the salt is evenly mixed with the 

 butter. The proper point at which to stop working can be learned only 

 by experience. 



Effect of feed on butter-fat. 



We have not much definite knowledge about the effect of feeds upon 

 texture and flavor of butter. Strong-flavored feeds, such as turnips, 

 garlic, cabbage, silage, etc., may be fed immediately after milking and 

 they will then have little or no effect upon the flavor of the milk. 



Gluten feed, oil meal and soy beans are known to produce softer 

 butter than corn meal and cotton-seed-meal, the latter being especially 

 noted for the production of a hard, tallowy fat. 



Butter from Whey 



The quantity of butter that can be made from the whey from 100 

 pounds of milk is somewhat variable, depending on the amount of fat 

 that is lost in the whey during the process of cheese-making. This 

 loss depends on a great many conditions, but on the average about 

 5 ounces of butter can be made from the whey from 100 pounds of 

 milk. 



