The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1875-09-23
To Restore Rancid Butter.

Rancid butter can be purified i'll several
WAYS, but it can never be made to taste
like new, sweet butter. 1t will be purified
grease, and may take the place of other
Cheaper forms of shortening for cooking
purposes. Good butter owes its pleasant
flavor and aroma to the presence of sew
eral light oils, or butyrine, caproine and
capryline, which, however, never must ex-
coed per cent of the entire constituents
of ordinary butter. Butter, as it comes to
the table, also contains more or less caseine
or curd, which cannot be entirely separat
ed from the fatty portions of the butter
by the usual methods of working.
Exposure to the air is the cause of some
of the changes which take place, even in
good butter. The oils alluded to above
are volatile and are easily absorbed by the
atmosphere, at the same time that gases
floating in the air are taken up to con-
siderable extent by the butter, so that the
best butter that can be made cannot be
kept perfectly sweet for very long time
in the open air of our dwellings. When
considerable quantities of buttermilk are
left in butter, in warm weather, it soon
commences to ferment and, as fermenta-
ton goes on, these aromatic oils are first
acted upon, and change from oils to acids.
These acids are called butyric, caproic,
capric and caprylic acids, after the oils
from which they are formed. All except
the last have very disagreeable odor and
are also unwholesome as food.
1t will be seen, therefore, that even if
these disagreeable substances can be re-
moved from rancid butter, the fatty sub
stances remaining will have lost all their
fine aromatic fiavors by which butter is
distinguished from lard, suet, oil, or other
animal fats.
Several methods are recommended by
writer's upon dairy matters for removing
rancidity in butter, and rendering it pass
able as food-we can hardly say palatable
for it will never be anything but grease
if it. has become very rancid. Simply
working it over and adding more salt, as
many housekeepers have often done, is
worse than letting it alone, as by this
means the middle and bottom of the pack
age, which is probably still eatable, is
rendered in short time as bad as the top
and sides.
If the whole is past use we should
recommend to try washing small quar-
tity in one of the following methods, as
recommended by x. A. Willard and 9th
ers. Cut the butter into small Jumps, and
then gradually wash it in blood-warm
water, stirring all the time to bring every
particle Of butter into direct contact with
the water, which will. dissolve the rancid
oil acids. When thoroughly melted, cold
water should be gradually applied to cool
! and collect the mass SO that it may be
again handled and taken from the water,
after which it must be sailed and worked
| as if fresh butter.
Another method is to pour in sour milk
or buttermilk instead Of the cold water,
and stir or churn the butter in it for some
time, that the acid of the milk may seize
the rancid flavor and remove or change il
by q chemical or other process, in the
same way that turnip or other flavors are
believed to be removed from milk by the
souring process.
Lime water is also recommended for
washing rancid butter, as is also new
milk, but whichever method is tried il
will be seen that the butter must be SC
nearly melted that every particle may
come in close contact with the liquid in
which it is agitated. Il. Farmer.