CONTROL OF WATER IN BUTTER 155 



butterfat in a soft, plastic condition during churning and 

 working favors the retention of water in butter. The 

 temperature, however, must never be so high as to injure 

 the texture of the butter or to cause an undue loss of 

 fat in the buttermilk. 



Size of Granules. As a rule, the larger the butter 

 granules the more water will be retained in the butter. 

 The size of the granules should be limited to that of 

 a pea, because larger granules will make it difficult to 

 properlv wash the butter and distribute the salt. 



Amount of Working. When butter is worked in the 

 presence of little moisture, the water content decreases 

 with the amount of working. On the other hand, it has 

 been shown that when butter is worked with considerable 

 water present in the churn, the water content may be 

 actually increased by continued working. Overworking 

 must be carefully avoided. 



Time Between Workings. The shorter the time be- 

 tween workings the higher the water content. The high- 

 est water content is secured by working butter only once. 

 Amount of Salt. It has long been known that salt 

 expels moisture from butter. The more salt used, there- 

 fore, the smaller the amount of water retained in the 

 butter. 



Richness of Cream. Rich cream which churns into 

 flaky, irregular granules, tends to increase the water con- 

 tent of butter. 



Amount of Cream in Churn. Large churnings are 

 more conducive to high water content than small. 



Dry and Wet Salt. The moister the salt when ap- 

 plied to the butter the less water it will expel. 



Composition of Butterfat. This may be considered 



