FLAVORS OF BUTTER 163 



50° F. They flourish in milk or cream that is sweet. 

 When acid is formed, it inhibits the growth of the bac- 

 teria. The bitter flavor is found more often in dairy than 

 in creamery butter. When present in the latter, the source 

 is in the old cream which has been held for three or four 

 days at low temperatures in an almost sweet condition if 

 not absolutely sweet to the taste. In other words, the 

 bacteria producing the bitter flavor will not grow in an 

 acid solution, but will grow in a medium not acidic or only 

 slightly sour; and they grow best at low temperatures. 

 This is not an important consideration with a creamery. 

 The remaining flavors of the above list are treated sepa- 

 rately in paragraphs 125, 126, 127. It must be remem- 

 bered that all the developed flavors have their origin in 

 the activity of micro-organisms or in their enzymes. 



123. Salted versus unsalted butter. — Most of the 

 butter consumed in the United States is salted. Many 

 persons like the flavor of a lightly salted product, but 

 a large percentage require a highly salted butter. The 

 variation in the amount of salt may be from .5 to 5.0 per 

 cent. Usually in America the consumers in the large 

 cities prefer a lightly salted product, while in the smaller 

 towns and in the country the demand is for as high as 

 3 to 5 per cent salt. The demand for unsalted or so-called 

 " sweet butter " is much less than for the salted goods. 

 It is said that about one-sixth of that consumed in New 

 York City is unsalted. In many of the European coun- 

 tries, the demand for an unsalted or for a lightly salted 

 product is greater than in America. The effect of the 

 amount of salt in butter in relation to its keeping proper- 

 ties is discussed in par. 130. 



124. Acidity. — The amount of acid that should be in 

 butter depends largely on the market and whether it is 



