CHAPTER XVII. 



SALTING AND WORKING OF BUTTER. 



Objects of Salting. — The chief objects of salting are: (1) 

 to impart a desirable flavor; (2) to increase the keeping quality 

 of butter; and (3) to facilitate 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, hke butter 

 which contains very little salt. The Enghsh market demands 

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

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

 demand comparatively high-salted butter, as much as will 

 properly dissolve in the butter. Parisian markets and some 

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

 salt-content of butter may vary between nothing and 4%. 

 Butter containing as much as 4% salt is, as a rule, too highly 

 salted. When it contains this much salt, part of the salt is 

 usually present in an undissolved condition. Those who hke 

 good butter prefer butter that contains 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. Wliile 

 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 



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