484 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



cream differs greatly under different 

 conditions. In winter, especially if the 

 cows are not receiving much succulence 

 in the ration, it may be a difficult mat- 

 ter to make the butter gather in the 

 churn. 



The effect of churning is to bring 

 the fat globules in the cream together 

 into masses of greater or less size, so 

 they may be readily separated from the 

 buttermilk. The agitation necessary to 

 produce this result may be accomplished 

 by various forms of churns, but a re- 

 volving churn is best for ordinary use. 

 It should preferably be filled one-third 

 to one-half full with cream, and should 

 be revolved at the rate of 50 to 60 times 

 a minute. The greatest agitation of the 

 cream is obtained when the churn is 

 about one-third full. It should be re- 

 membered that if the quantity of the 

 cream is too small, some difficulty will 

 be experienced in collecting the butter. 

 In general, the more completely ripe the 

 cream is, the easier it churns. Sweet 

 cream is sticky and the fat globules do 

 not break so readily and separate from 

 the buttermilk. With regard to the 

 rate of turning the churn the directions 

 furnished by the manufacturers of the 

 churn should be followed, since this mat- 

 ter varies with the style of churn and 

 the diameter. 



After a little experience one may 

 readily recognize by the sound when the 

 cream begins to break and churning 

 should cease as soon as the butter gran- 

 ules are about the size of wheat kernels. 

 It may be safer to continue churning 

 a little past this stage in order to make 

 it easier to collect the butter. If the 

 granules are too small, some of the but- 

 ter may be lost in straining out the but- 

 termilk. Over-churning, however, should 

 be avoided, for the reason that much of 

 the buttermilk will be retained in the 

 butter and is difficult to remove. The 

 amount of moisture content in butter 

 is somewhat increased by long churning, 

 but more than 16 per cent of water in 

 butter is not allowed according to mar- 

 ket standards. 



As soon as the butter granules are 

 of the right size, the buttermilk is drawn 

 off and the butter washed at least twice 

 with cold, pure water, the churn being 

 revolved a few times at each washing. 

 The butter should not be washed too 

 long since its flavor and aroma are easily 

 removed in the water. The tempera- 

 ture of the washing water should be 



the same as that of the butter or slightly 

 colder or warmer, depending on the con- 

 sistency of the butter. The chief pur- 

 pose of washing butter is to remove the 

 buttermilk and, as soon as this is ac- 

 complished, the washing should bo 

 stopped. 



Salting butter_As stated by McKay 

 and Larsen, the chief objects of salting- 

 are to improve the flavor of butter, 

 increase its keeping quality and help in 

 removing the buttermilk. The amount 

 of salt to be added to the butter depends 

 upon the market. There is some demand 

 for sweet butter, and certain purchasers 

 prefer highly salted butter. The amount 

 of salt varies, therefore, from nothing 

 to 4 per cent. The quantity of salt to 

 be added also depends to some extent 

 upon the amount of moisture in the 

 butter. If a large percentage of mois- 

 ture is present, more salt may be added, 

 since a part of it will pass into solution 

 in the water and be removed in working 

 the butter. 



The overrun is a term used to denote 

 the difference between the amount of 

 butter fat and the quantity of butter 

 manufacured from the butter fat. The 

 percentage of overrun is obtained by 

 dividing the difference between the but- 

 ter fat and butter by the amount of fat 

 and multiplying it by 100. The over- 

 run is commonly estimated at from 16.6 

 per cent to 18.7 per cent. 



Salt is well known as an antiseptic, 

 and is used for this purpose in the pres- 

 ervation of meats and various other arti- 

 cles of food. It has been found by 

 experiments that most bacteria, even 

 spore-bearing species, are destroyed in a 

 short time in butter which contains 4 

 per cent of salt. This explains the 

 observed fact that in properly salted 

 butter, which has been kept for a rea- 

 sonable length of time, the number of 

 bacteria capable of growth is very small. 

 The quality of the salt used in butter 

 making is an important matter. It 

 should be perfectly pure and free from 

 all harmful ingredients. It should also 

 be in a finely granulated condition, so 

 that it readily dissolves and becomes 

 uniformly mixed through the butter; 

 otherwise a gritty condition may de- 

 velop. 



Working butter_The chief objects of 

 working butter are to distribute the salt 

 through it uniformly, to bring it into a 

 compact condition and to work out any 



