CHAPTER XVIII 

 SALTING AND WORKING OF BUTTER 



Objects of Salting. (i) The chief object in salting butter 

 is to impart a desirable salty flavor. (2) Within limits, salt 

 improves the keeping quality of butter. (3) Salt facilitates the 

 removal of buttermilk. 



Amount of Salt to Use to Produce Proper Flavor. The proper 

 amount of salt to use in order to impart a desirable flavor depends 

 chiefly upon the market. Some consumers prefer a medium 

 high salt-content in butter; others, again, like butter which 

 contains very little salt. The English market demands rather 

 light-salted butter. In fact, this is the case with prac- 

 tically all European markets. American markets, as a rule, 

 demand a comparatively large amount of salt, as much as will 

 properly dissolve in the butter. Parisian markets and some 

 markets in southern Germany require no salt at all. The salt- 

 content of butter may vary between nothing and 4 per cent. 

 Butter containing as much as 4 per cent salt is, as a rule, too 

 highly salted, and part of the salt is usually present in an undis- 

 solved condition. Those who like good butter prefer the salt 

 thoroughly dissolved and well distributed. 



The amount of salt to be added should be based upon the 

 least variable factor. Some creamerymen measure the amount 

 of salt according to the amount of cream in the churn. While 

 the box-churn and Mason butter- worker were being used, many 

 makers preferred to weigh the butter as it was transferred from 

 the churn to the worker. The method mostly in use now and to 

 be recommended is to base the amount of salt upon the number 

 of pounds of fat. The amount of salt to use per pound of fat 

 varies, therefore, according to the conditions mentioned below, 

 and also according to local conditions. Usually from half an 

 ounce to one and a half ounces of salt per pound of butter-fat 



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