VOL. LIII. No. 2308. NEW YORK, APRIL 21, 1894. 
POUND OF BUTTER/' 
Its History from Cow to Consumer. 
THK BIO THKKK ; 811.0, SKrABATOK AND “STARTER” 
Part IV. 
Getting Out of the Churn. 
The butter was dow in fine yellow lumps or gran¬ 
ules, smaller than radish seeds. The chum was 
opened, and a pail of cold brine was poured into it. 
This brine was carefully strained. The water used 
was 62 degrees, as was all the water used in washing 
the butter. Then the churn was turned over 12 times 
and opened again. The grains of butter were now 
larger and harder. The salt seems to do this, as cold 
water alone does not give the same result. 
The next step 
was to draw off 
the buttermilk 
at the bottom of 
the churn. We 
took a sample 
of this for test¬ 
ing. The butter 
always fioats at 
the top of the 
churn, so that 
the first of the 
buttermilk ran 
off clear. To¬ 
wards the last 
of it a strainer 
was held be¬ 
neath the hole 
to catch any but¬ 
ter that might 
run through. 
When all the 
buttermilk ran 
off, more water 
at 62 degrees 
was added, and 
the churn turned 
12 times, after 
which the water 
was drawn off 
like the butter¬ 
milk. This was 
repeated four 
times until all 
the buttermilk 
had been washed 
out of the but¬ 
ter, and the wa¬ 
ter ran off per¬ 
fectly clear. The 
butter then lay 
at the bottom of 
the churn in a 
lump of coarse 
grains. Care 
was taken to have the water used for washing as close 
to 62 degrees as possible. As Mr. Carll said, a single 
pail of water at 40 degrees or at 80 degrees would 
have mined the churning. After the last washing we 
tested the temperature of the butter in the churn, 
and found it 64 degrees. 
The next step was to work the butter. A lever 
butter-worker was used. The old plan was to scald 
the worker, and then rub it with salt. The salt is no 
longer used. Boiling water was poured over all the 
wood, and then cold water dashed over it. This is 
the way all wooden tools are treated—they must end 
by being colder than the butter. 
One third of the butter was worked at one time. It 
was taken from the chum with a wooden paddle, and 
made into a big lump on the center of the worker. 
After flattening it out once, salt ^t the rate of one- 
half ounce to the pound was sifted over it. The salt 
was cmshed with a roller before being sifted over the 
butter. The principle of the “working” was to bring 
the butter to the center of the worker in the form of 
a big lump. This was done by putting the paddle 
under the edges, and bringing them up towards the 
center from all sides. Then with a few strokes from 
the lever, the lump was flattened out to be again 
brought into a lump at the center. This was carried 
on for about five minutes. The object of “working” 
is to squeeze or force out the surplus water and 
buttermilk. It is a drying process, and if it could be 
done in any other way there would be no use for this 
squeezing. The secret of successful operating with 
the lever worker, is to raise the lever and push it 
directly down through the butter, turning it slightly 
around at each push. Don’t push sidewise on the 
lever ; that will only cmsh and salve the butter. 
Making Heady for the Customer. 
We have followed our “ pound of butter” from the 
cow. It is now “ made ” so far as it can be ; all that 
remains now is to give it shape and form for the cus¬ 
tomer—in other words print and pack it. As it came 
from the worker, it was piled, in large chunks, on a 
clean platter. It was handled, not only with care, 
but with wood. It was seldom touched with the hand, 
and no metal came in contact with it. 
After trying various kinds of printers, Mr. Carll 
has adopted the fiat two-pound print which leaves 
the butter in pound cakes, 53^ x 4 inches and lli inch 
thick. There are divisions on the qake so that it may 
be divided into quarter pounds—a size about right for 
the table. There is a fancy letter “ C ” on each 
quarter. 
There is quite a “knack” about printing butter 
perfectly. The printer was first scalded, and then 
cooled in water. The butter was then packed into it 
with a small paddle, and firmly pressed into every 
wrinkle and corner—the mold, of course, lying on its 
face so that the pressure was all applied to what was 
to be the bottom of the cake. The butter was so 
cold and had been so well squeezed of its buttermilk, 
that it was firm and hard, and packed just where it 
was put with the pad^e. There was no sticking to 
the wood because it haw first absorbed all the water 
it could take and was now colder than the butter. 
Mr. Carll did 
the printing 
himself and 
while he was 
doing it, Mrs. 
Carll prepared 
several long, 
clean boards. 
These were cov¬ 
ered with cloth 
that had been 
dipped into cold 
spring water. 
As fast as the 
prints were 
made they were 
placed on these 
cold cloths, and 
Mrs. C., with a 
piece of thin, 
flat wood, sliced 
the prints in 
t w o so as to 
make two pound 
cakes from each. 
Printing was 
begun at 10:30, 
and at 11 o’clock 
all was done, 
and we counted 
70 pounds and 2 
ounces of butter 
from the churn¬ 
ing. It thus re¬ 
quired 2 pounds 
and one-half 
ounce of cream 
or 15 pounds and 
12 ounces of 
milk to make 1 
pound of mar¬ 
ketable butter. 
When all was 
done, the boards 
with their loads 
of butter were lifted and carried to the dairy housfr 
and placed on the shelves close by the running cold 
water, where, in former times, the pans of milk used 
to stand. In a few hours the butter was as firm and 
solid as a board—all ready for shipping. 
A picture of the tools used in this butter-making is 
shown at Fig. 69. At the left are the table and scales. 
Back by the door is the cream vat with the smaller 
vat for making the “ starter ” resting on it. In front 
of this little vat are the glass tubes of the Cochran 
test and the copper box for heating it. In front of 
this is a butter carrier. The barrel churn is easily 
recognized. The lever butter-worker stands in front 
with the wooden printer resting on it. 
Did you ever eat a Concord grape ? Why then can’t 
you give a mite for the originator ? 
