392 MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS 



is kept at a temperature between 60 and 75 F. for about 

 12 hours for the proper bacteria to multiply. At the end 

 of this time, being now slightly sour, thick, smooth, and 

 glossy, it is ready for churning, which condenses the butter 

 fat and parts of the other components into granules or 

 lumps the size of wheat grains. The butter is now re- 

 moved from the churn, washed in cold water, salted, 

 worked, and placed in tubs or made up into pound pack- 

 ages for the market. Many of the best creameries have 

 begun recently to make butter from sweet cream. 



Skimmed milk, whole milk, or cream may be used in 

 making cheese. To make American cheese, rennet is used 

 to curdle the casein. The milk or cream is then heated 

 in a vat until hardened. After the whey has been strained 

 off, the curd is salted, pressed, and cured. Cottage cheese 

 is merely the curd of milk that has been curdled without 

 the use of rennet. This kind of cheese is eaten fresh. 



292. Ice Cream. One of the valuable products of milk, 

 highly relished by nearly all people, is ice cream. Ice 

 cream, to be sure, is not frozen cream, as its name would 

 indicate, although a considerable part of it should be 

 cream. Ice cream is usually a mixture of milk, cream, 

 sugar, and a flavoring material. To this mixture are often 

 added some eggs, corn starch, or gelatin. The latter 

 substances give better body to the product. Some people 

 prefer one flavor ; others, another. Some wish the ice 

 cream " rich " in cream ; others do not. Some desire it 

 very sweet ; others prefer only a little sugar. 



People who make their own ice cream have one advan- 

 tage. They know its composition and the degree of clean- 

 liness practiced in making it. Sickness occasionally fol- 

 lows the eating of ice cream. The common cause of this 

 sickness is unclean or rusty utensils. Since ice cream is 

 now consumed in immense quantities in both city and 



