ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 173 



mixed with a larger amount of ripened cream without serious 

 result, while on the other hand the sour cream would act as a 

 starter — giving undesirable results. 



The larger centralizing plants and smaller hand separator 

 creameries generally have a system of their own. Good methods 

 of doing work vary, but for those without any definite system to 

 govern their work, I would suggest the following plan, regarding 

 the handling of the cream in the creamery. 



Insist on having the patrons deliver the cream often, and 

 that it is sweet and clean, containing over 30 per cent butter fat. 



Reject all poor, off-flavored cream, for you owe this to the 

 patrons who are producing the good cream. 



Grade the cream so as to get the cleanest in the cream vat 

 first and to this acid your liberal amount of starter. After ripen- 

 ing this cream for several hours, or until you have control of the 

 flavor, mix in the balance of the cream and continue ripening until 

 45 per cent of acid has been developed. The cream should then 

 be cooled. During the summer season it should be cooled 48 de- 

 grees F. and held for several hours at that temperature before it 

 is churned. 



The importance of using starters in ripening and improving 

 hand separator cream should not be overlooked. Do not think 

 that because the cream is sour it does not need the starter. It has 

 been found that starter will improve the flavor of the butter made 

 from sour separator cream whether the cream is pasteurized or 

 unpasteurized. Let us consider for a few minutes the handling 

 of the cream when pasteurizers are used. Better and more effi- 

 cient work can be done when handling cream containing 32 per 

 cent or more of butter fat. In that case more starter could be 

 used and the curdling of the cream which takes place in pasteur- 

 izing sour cream, could be reduced. The man in charge of the 

 pasturizer should understand why cream is pasteurized and how 

 each particular machine should be handled. Different makes vary 

 as to the general effect upon the cream. Points to be considered 

 in an efficient pasteurizzer for handling cream containing a high 

 per cent of acid and other objectionable flavors are : 



