CHAPTER XVI. 



CONTROL OF WATER IX BUTTER. 



Importance of Water Control. First of all it is 

 necessary to know how to control the water in butter in 

 order to keep within the limits of the law which classes 

 butter as adulterated when it contains i6% or more of 

 water. That there is danger of exceeding this limit is 

 evinced by the number of penalties which buttermakers 

 have been obliged to pay in recent years. 



There is also a great deal of butter on the market which 

 is unnecessarily low in water content. This means a 

 reduced yield in butter, and consequently places the manu- 

 facturers of such butter at a disadvantage with com- 

 petitors who are obtaining normal yields. 



Finally it is necessary to understand the means of con- 

 trolling water in order that uniformity may be secured 

 with respect to this constituent of butter. 



The Buttermaker's Limit. While i6% water is 

 legally approachable, the buttermaker, to be on the safe 

 side, should make 15% his limit. To allow one per cent, 

 latitude for possible inaccuracies in making water deter- 

 minations is manifestly the least that can possibly be 

 allowed. Buttermakers who are striving to run the water 

 content up to within one-half or one-quarter per cent, of 

 the legal limit are constantly in danger of falling into 

 the clutches of the law. 



FACTORS THAT CONTROL THE WATER CONTENT OF BUTTER. 



Temperature. This is the main factor in the control 

 of moisture in butter. A temperature which keeps the 



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