STARTERS 93 



STARTER CANS. 



The most difficult thing in connection with starters is 

 to get them just ripe when ready to use. A starter has 

 its best flavor right after it has thickened. When it 

 begins to show whey it indicates that the ripening has 

 gone too far and should not then be used in the cream. 

 The strong and curdy flavors found in butter are often 

 directly attributable to overripened starters. 



It is evident that to secure the proper acidity in the 

 starter from day to day, cans or vats must be used in 

 which it is possible to obtain perfect control of tempera- 

 ture. The improved modern starter cans answer the 

 requirements. They are provided with a double jacket 

 between which steam, hot water, cold water, or ice water 

 may be circulated. They are also provided with power 

 agitators. 



MOTHER STARTERS. 



About two per cent of the bacteria in milk are present 

 in the form of spores in which condition they cannot 

 be destroyed by the ordinary pasteurizing process. To 

 destroy the spores, or to render milk sterile, requires pas- 

 teurization on three successive days. It is for this rea- 

 son that mother starters should be carried independently 

 of the regular starter, the milk for which it is imprac- 

 ticable to sterilize. 



A good method of handling the mother starter is as 

 follows : 



Have a tinner make four narrow cylindrical tin cans, 

 each large enough to hold the mother starter for one day. 

 Number the cans i, 2, 3, 4. The first day pasteurize can 

 No. I ; the second day pasteurize cans Nos. i and 2 ; the 



