Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1873-09-11
Practical Butter Making.

and Indifferent butter, and mix it to-
gether, the mass of people in cities
and villages must eat rancid grease, as
unlike the sweet, fragrant product
known as sweet butter, as it can pos
sihly be-
Said grocer to me one day, ''Why
is it that so few farmers make good
butter ?" My answer was this: 'sThe
butter when made and delivered to YOU
is, probably, sweet and good. You
receive it here in your grocery; you
keep tub near by, among the kero-
sene casks, .melasses barrels, fish tubs
and roasted coffee, in which you pack
it for the retail trade; how long do
you think it can remain among such
mixture of tainted scents and be
sweet? One hour is enough to des
troy its delicate taste"
In our milk room, which is a de-
tached building of stone, with a ce-
mented floor two feet below the sur
face, I never allow aloaf of bread or
cake to stand, much less a vegetable,
or anything that can give an Odor, not
drop of milk on the floor or on the
tables, which are of unpainted pine,
| wide enough to set two tiers of largest
sized pans, and low enough to be con-
venient for the skimming and strain
ing of the milk; no foreign substance
is ollowed in this room, where perfect
ly pure butter is made without the aid
of cool deep cellar.
Ours is not large dairy, only from
twelve to fifteen COWS, but we churn
twice a day in the warmest days, once
in the cool of the morning. after the
mornings slsimming, and again at
night after the evenings skimming !;
we use churn made by Ames Plow
Co., very good Churn; brings the
butter speedily; but the churn is of
the least Importance, so that it is thor
oughly clean; though l will take occa-
sion here to remark, that the old dash
churn is only slow torture to femi-
nine backs and shoulders, and ought
to be gathered from the four quarters
of the land and burned.
One very essential thing is to churn
often If the cllurning is put aside for
two or three hours it loses its fresh
ness, becomes q0heyed, and a white
scum gathers, which, seen through a
microscope, looks like white mould.
In very warm weather this will form
in an hour or two, and if one is max
ing butter it is best to attend directly
to it, even if something else has to be
put aside; for if sweet butter is the
desired end, it must not be allowed to
stand.
Much has been written and said
about the quantity of salt required.
One foolish old man, who knew as
much about butter-making as n. g.
about farming, declared that one ounce
of salt to ten pounds of butter was
enough. AS we'll use none at all, as
use so,trifling a modicum as that! l
have found by experiment that one
pound of salt to ten pounds of butter
is sufficient for keeping it, and suits
: the majority of tastesasfor table use.
It has been said, too, that butter will
keep perfectly sweet for years as well
as lard, without any salt at all, if the
buttermilk is all extracted. There can
be no comparison between those two
substances. The moisture in lard is
evapored by heat; that in butter can
l only be removed by pressing with the
; ladle and draining as dry as possible
When want to keep it for months,
I often take small quantity at time
into clean, damp napkin, and press
it in that; the cloth absorbs any drops
> of moisture that are too small to form
a stream to drain off, and the butter
left crisp and not salvy as in the case
! if worked too much with the ladle.
Water, even purest spring water,
has a tendency to spoil the butter,
making it white and tasteless, taking
away that peculiar aroma which is the
thing, above all others, we wish to
preserve; so I never wash my butter.
In the warmest weather if it comes
soft, remove it from the churn to a
C pail of cold water to harden, letting
c it stand, perhaps, half an hour; but
e do not expect it will keep as well, con.
t, sequently do not pack it except foI
y immediate use.
! have found after careful expert
: menting, that oak tubs are the best
: for packing butter. Pine tubs will
: impart the flavor of the wood, making
: the butter taste badly; crooks or stone
s pots are good for home use; but oaf
e tubs we'll cleaned, and soked some
e days in strong brine, will keep butter
/ the incest of anything I have evel
n seen.
a Butter made in June, to be KEEP
Y through the warmest weather for win
+ ter use, is sorely tried, and there is no
o cellar go cool, or butter so good, that
:. it will not acquire an o'd taste, by
standing three or four hours in this
o climate. September butter, or ever
l. that made the first weeks of October
IS is perfectly favored, good and firm
1t and is, therefore, much better to pacE
o for winter consumption.
e use no more salt in packing thar
for immed ate table use, but after thu
;ub is filled, which is done as speedily
% as possible, brine strong enough tc
re float an egg is put on the top, space
ct being left when the tub is packed, o
s course, to allow it to be about two
inches in depth. Some very excellent
dairy women, when packing butter fol
N home use, leave an inch in depth owe
le which layer of melted butter is turn
q ed, after putting piece of fine whit
l' paper or cloth, cut to a t the size ofth
tub or crock, over the butter, whict
etfectually shuts out all the air.
After the tubs are filled it is neces
sary that the tubs should stand in
~ pure atmosphere. / have known but
- ter to absorb the strong earthly seem
of potatoes newly dug and stored Il
!, the cellar where the tubs were stand
u = ing, rendering it unfit for any possibl,
g,