AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
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AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHFUL, THE MOST USEFUL, AND THE MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF JUAN.—Washington. 
CONDUCTING EDITOR, PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 
- ORANGE JUDD, A. M. ALLEN & CO., 189 Water-st., New-York 
VOL. XIY.—NO. 16.] NEW-YORK, THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 1855. [NEW SERIES.-NO. 94 
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HINTS ON BUTTER AND CHEESE MAKING. 
[Continued from page 225 ] 
15. Temperature of Cream at Churning .— 
The butter being contained in little sacs (9), 
the object of churning is to break open these 
sacs and collect the butter in a solid mass. 
If the temperature is too low, the sacs will 
not break open readily, and a great amount 
of friction, or churning, will be required ; 
while that portion first released will, by the 
long-continued agitation, become mingled 
with the buttermilk, and it will also be rub¬ 
bed over or smear the still unbroken sacs, 
and retard their breaking. On the contrary, 
if the temperature of the cream is too high, 
the sacs, or a portion of them, will yield too 
soon, and the butter being in a soft state 
will not collect in a lump, but will run, 
and form a slushy mass. It will, as in the 
case of long-continued churning, coat over 
the still unbroken sacs, keeping out the air 
and preventing their perfect rupture. A 
temperature but a little above the proper one 
will materially diminish the amount of but¬ 
ter secured. 
16. For sweet cream, the temperature at 
the commencement of churning should be 
between 50 and 55 degrees, Fahrenheit. For 
sour cream it may be a trifle lower. Where 
the whole milk is churned, the commencing 
temperature should be between 60 and 65 
degrees. To determine the proper temper¬ 
ature, many experienced butter makers rely 
upon the hand, but it can be done more con¬ 
veniently, and with much more certainty and 
accuracy, by the use of a thermometer, 
which can be obtained cheaply. One cost¬ 
ing five or six shillings will answer every 
purpose. The most reliable thermometers 
which we have examined are made by the 
Kendall’s. Generally, the poorest thermom¬ 
eters have a foreign mark. Not long since 
we saw a glass blower putting up hundreds 
of poor thermometers and marking them 
“ London.” He stated that this mark made 
them “ go down.” In using the thermome¬ 
ter, draw out the graduated slide holding the 
glass, and thrust the bulb three or four inches 
into the cream and move it around for some 
time. If the hight of the mercury indicates 
a temperature between 50° and 55°, the 
churning may be proceeded with. If below 
50°, hot water should be slowly added, 
with rapid stirring to prevent scalding or 
over-heating the portion of cream at the 
point where the water is added. If above 
55°, cold water (ice water if at hand) should 
be used. To avoid using water, however, it 
is preferable to let the cream holder stand 
for some time in a room of the proper tem¬ 
perature, or to immerse it in a vessel of 
water, warm or cold as may be needed. 
There are some churns which are con¬ 
structed with a thermometer inserted in the 
side of the churn itself. These are very 
convenient, and we advise their use in pre¬ 
ference to those not so furnished. 
17. Time Occupied in Chuning.< —It maybe 
laid down as a rule, that the best butter can 
not be churned in less thau 25 to 30 minutes. 
Many venders of “ patent churns ” warrant 
them to bring the butter in 5 to 10 minutes. 
This is far from being a recommendation. 
Rapid agitation breaks up some of the parti¬ 
cles quickly and mingles them with others 
unbroken, and the yield of butter is less in 
quantity, while it is inferior in taste and 
keeping qualities, by reason of its contain¬ 
ing a larger quantity of casein. Time is re¬ 
quired for the action of air upon the cream, 
tor a uniform raising of the temperature, 
and for the aggregation of the particles of 
butter. The churning should proceed quite 
slowly for the first 10 or 15 minutes, and the 
speed be gradually increased afterward. In 
cold weather, or with the temperature of the 
cream low, a more rapid motion may be 
given, but with the cream pretty warm at 
first, or in warm weather, it is better to com¬ 
plete the entire churning by a moderately 
slow motion. What is lost in time will be 
far more than made up in the quantity of the 
butter. We said that the best butter can 
not be made in less than 25 or 30 minutes. 
We are well satisfied, both from our own 
experience and observation and from the 
united testimony of the most successful but¬ 
ter makers, that it is not desirable to attempt 
to bring the butter in less than from 1 to H 
hours. The following two sets of carefully 
conducted experiments throw some light on 
this subject. The first series was made in 
August and September, each churning hav¬ 
ing 15 gallons of cream, weighing 81 lbs. to 
the wine gallon. The second, between June 
and August with 8 gallons of cream, weigh¬ 
ing 8 lbs. to the gallon, except in the fourth 
experiment, where the cream weighed but 
lbs. to the gallon. 
Quantity of 
TEMPERATURE, Time in Butter to the 
No. 
Begin’g. 
End. 
churning. 
Hours. 
gallon, 
lbs. ozs. 
Quality of Butter. 
1.. 
2.. 
.50° 
60° 
4 
1 151.. 
Very best, rich, firm 
and well tasted. 
.55 
65 
31 
1 151.. 
.Much like No. 1. 
3.. 
.58 
67 
3 
1 14 .. 
. .Good, but softer. 
1 .. 
.60 
68 
3 
1 121.. 
.. Soft and spongy. 
5. . 
.66 
75 
21 
1 101.. 
. Inferior in every re¬ 
spect. 
1.. 
2.. 
.56 
60 
11 
1 1 .. 
. Infetior, white, soft¬ 
er than No.2 below. 
.52 
56 
2 
2 0.. 
. Unsurpassable in fla¬ 
vor and quality. 
3.. 
.52 
56 
2 
2 0.. 
■ Do. do. do. do. 
4. . 
.65 
67 
1 
I 15 .. 
.Soft, white,milky. 
5.. 
.50 
534- 
3 
1 151.. 
..Good, but evidently 
injured by churning. 
6.. 
.53^ 
H 
2 1.. 
.Most exce lie t suite! 
as wax; high flavor 
and color. 
These experiments show that the best but¬ 
ter was produced when the cream at the 
commencement was not above 55°. When 
above this, the butter was soft, white, spon¬ 
gy, &c. In this single circumstance, too 
great warmth of cream, we think, is to be 
found the chief source of poor, soft butter, 
so common throughout the country. The 
larger quantity of the poorer cream (15 gal¬ 
lons), in the first experiments above, re¬ 
quired more time in churning. With the 
smaller quantity (8 gallons), in the second 
table, long churning injured the butter. In 
churning sweet cream, almost every family 
practices “ adding something,” if the butter 
is long in coming. A little vinegar, or alco¬ 
hol, (spirits of wine or whisky,) may some¬ 
times be beneficial. We would recommend 
no other substances, and these are seldom 
necessary if the proper temperature is pro¬ 
vided for. If the churning is done in a 
warm place, as by the side of a fire, or in a 
very cold room, the temperature of the 
cream will soon be increased or diminished, 
and by so much will the result be less satis¬ 
factory. In a cold day let the churning be 
done in a room moderately warm, but at a 
distance from the fire, and in a hot day seek 
a cool place, where the thermometer stands 
not above 60° ; or, if this can not be done, 
let the churn stand in a tub or barrel partly 
filled with cold water. 
18. Treatment of the Butter. —As soon as 
the butter is gathered in the churn, remove 
it to a cool place and commence washing it 
immediately. This should be done thoroughly , 
for upon the rapidity and completeness of the 
separation of all traces of the buttermilk, will 
depend the quality—especially the keeping 
