SALTING AND WORKING OF BUTTER. 257 
varies, therefore, according to the conditions mentioned below, 
and also according to local conditions. Usually from half 
an ounce to one and a half ounces of salt per pound of butter- 
fat is most suitable. In whole-milk creameries the salt is 
often estimated per hundredweight or per thousand pounds of 
milk. 
To get the butter salted uniformly from day to day is very 
important, as a small variation in the salt-content has a greater 
effect upon the quality of butter than has a small variation 
in any of the other butter constituents. A variation of 1% 
to 2% in the salt-content can very easily be detected by the 
consumer, while that much variation in any one of the other 
constituents could not be readily noticed. 
The conditions upon which the proper amount of salt 
depend are: First, the amount and condition of moisture in 
the butter at the time the salt is added. If there is a great 
deal of loose moisture in the butter, more salt is necessary. 
This is due to the fact that the salt will go into solution in the 
water and be expressed during working. Secondly, it depends 
upon the amount of working the butter receives, and at what 
time the bulk of working is done, after the salt has been added. 
If the butter is medium firm, moisture in the form of brine 
is being expressed during the working. Consequently, the more 
butter is worked, up to a certain limit, the more brine is being 
expressed, and the more salt should be added to the butter. 
Thirdly, the amount of salt to add depends also upon the size 
of the butter granules at the time the salt is being added, and 
the hardness and softness of the butter. If the granules are 
very small and quite hard, they take salt with difficulty. The 
salt attracts also more moisture from these small granules than 
from larger ones, which will escape in the form of brine. 
If the butter is present in a rather soft, lumpy condition at 
the time the salt is added, and there is no water in the churn, 
very little salt is wasted in the form of brine, consequently 
less salt is necessary in the first place. 
It is undoubtedly due to these facts that the salt-content 
