CREAM RIPENING 117 



perature need not be above 180° F. for twenty or thirty 

 minutes. Care should be exercised not to give the milk 

 a pronounced cooked flavor ; otherwise this larger quan- 

 tity of starter should be handled in the same way as is 

 the mother starter. 



86. Inoculation of the cream. — It is necessary to use 

 a larger inoculation from starter to cream than from starter 

 to starter, because the seed-bed is not so well prepared. 

 The inoculation of the cream may vary from 8 to 50 per 

 cent. This will depend on the following factors : the 

 percentage of fat in the cream, the capacities of the cream- 

 vat and the churn, the capacity of the starter utensils, 

 and the available milk for starter propagation. 



Percentage of fat in cream. — The cream should be 

 sufficiently rich in milk-fat to permit at least a 15 to 20 

 per cent inoculation of starter. Many times it is advis- 

 able to use a heavier inoculation ; however, this may not 

 always be possible. Ordinarily the cream should test 

 at least 30 per cent milk-fat to churn properly. Most 

 butter-makers like to have the cream test approximately 

 40 per cent milk-fat when it is placed in the ripener. 

 Such cream would be reduced to a test of 331 per cent 

 milk-fat when a 20 per cent inoculation of skimmed-milk 

 starter is put into it. If whole-milk starter were used, 

 the reduction would not be so great. 



Size of utensils. — The capacities of the cream-vat and 

 of the churn very often determine whether or not a large 

 or a small amount of starter should be used. If the vat 

 is completely filled, when only a small amount of starter 

 is added, and if there is no other container for the cream, 

 it is evident that a large quantity of starter should not 

 be put into the cream even though the flavor would be 

 improved. In most creameries this condition is likely 



