MANUFACTURE OF COTTAGE CHEESE IN CREAMERIES. 11 
USING BUTTERMILK FOR COTTAGE CHEESE. 
While skim milk, pasteurized and ripened with a commercial 
starter, produces a cottage cheese of excellent quality, a high quality 
of cheese which will pass the most critical inspection can be made 
with a mixture of skim milk and buttermilk, using as high as 50 per 
cent of the latter. The buttermilk must be of good quality, however, 
and not possess the old, metallic flavor so characteristic when it has 
been improperly cared for. Buttermilk of good quality can be used 
also to good advantage for ripening pasteurized skim milk. When so 
used, the buttermilk should be added to the skim milk as soon as 
possible after coming from the churn and before there is any develop- 
ment of the metallic flavor. The proportion of buttermilk which may 
be used advantageously without reducing the quality of the cheese de- 
pends upon its quality. An old, strong flavor develops much more 
readily in cottage cheese containing a high proportion of buttermilk, 
especially if the latter has been allowed to develop the metallic flavor. 
Cheese made from buttermilk or from a mixture containing skim 
milk and buttermilk has a much smoother body than that made 
from all skim milk. The body of cheese made from a mixture of 
the two holds up better in storage, as it does not become so dry 
and coarse upon standing. The smoother-textured cheese obtained 
when buttermilk is used is better adapted to some of the uses to which 
cottage cheese is put than the skim-milk product. 
VARIATION IN METHOD WHEN BUTTERMILK IS USED. 
When buttermilk from cream that was pasteurized sweet and then 
ripened is used by mixing it with skim milk, the method as a whole 
is the same as for straight skim milk except for some variation in 
temperature and in the method of handling, and the directions which 
follow are based upon that kind of material. Buttermilk from 
pasteurized sour cream, however, is unsuitable for this method. 
The pasteurization of sour cream has an injurious effect upon the con- 
dition of the buttermilk curd, depending upon the degree of acidity, 
the temperature used, and the method of pasteurizing, and may make 
it impossible to obtain satisfactory results when using the methods 
outlined; and buttermilk from high-acid pasteurized cream can not 
be handled satisfactorily by the methods given. 
The skim milk and buttermilk should be mixed and set to ripen as 
soon as possible after the buttermilk comes from the churn. If 
possible, definite proportions of skim milk and buttermilk should be 
used for each batch of cheese, so that certain rules, determined by ex- 
perience, may be followed more closely in order to manufacture a 
uniform product from day to day. By using buttermilk from 
properly pasteurized cream in combination with pasteurized skim 
milk the danger from disease-producing bacteria may be guarded 
against. 
