Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-05-29
Practical Butter Making.

/ Mr.. A. w. Cheever, Agricultural
editor of the New England FTmer,
has written letter descriptive of
his methods of managing his dairy,
from which we take the liberty of
extracting some of his more impor-
tant points. Mr.. Cheever is farm
er and butter maker of great cxper-
ience, and his methods are safe to
follow:
Tin milking pals only are used and the
milk Is strained through both wire gauze
and fine cloth. After straining, the milk is
set in AN average temperature of about
sixty degrees in old-fashioned shallow tin
pans, holding some Ave or six quarts epch.
Tho pans are pressed and seamless, and
much more easily cleaned than those made
from pieces soldcrcd together.
Skimming is done every morning, one
half the milk being tweaty-four and the
other thirty-six hours old. 1t is skinned
in the morning because the cream is then
cool and hrmer than at night and comes off
moro perfectly and with less waste. The
cream is kept in large tin vessels, plenty Of
fine salt being thrown into each pail when
/ commencing TO gather the cream and
glass paddle is kept constantly in each YES
| sci with which to stir thoroughly when
new cream Is added.
| churn twice n week and have tho cream
slightly sour when II enters tho churn. If
sweet cream ia added ut the time, little
delay is made before pushing ihcchurniug,
that the sweet and sour portions may be-.
come thoroughly mixed. Unless the tenn
peraturc IL known 10 bo Just right the
cream Is either cooled in we'll water or
warmed in kettle Of warm water, the ihcr-
momctor being KEEP, in the cream, which il
stirred constantly till the desired degree is
reached, which Is never over ti&ty-thrce
degrees In winter nor below sixty degrees
in summer. The churniug occupies from
iorty-hVc to sixty minutes, and often more
including the getting ready and finishing
up. The churning IS stopped NJ soon "a
the butter l. in fine PARTICLES like turnip or
wheat seed, the hu.tcrfnik being thcn
drawn oil and pail Of cold water thrown
in 10 rinse the milk from the surface of
the little crumbs. 4, is then taken out up.
on an inclined board, and after being prcss.
ed together pretty compactly, which opcr-
alton forces out nearly all the lultermiik,
evenly through the mass while IL u vet
pliAblc. The color IL applied In huc white
sugar, which Is worked IN very slighly BE-
fore adding the salt Applying the color
in this way | always know when the sal,
Is sufficiently worked in, and can know
just when to stop, very important kiHd
of knowledge 90 have when working but.
ter. Depending upon the color for guide
prevents the liability Of oyerworking,
while 1t insurcs perfect freedom from
stripes and 'ircnks caused by uneven salt-
ing. The proportion u salt j. iwo.hiths uf
an ounce 20 pound Of butter measured
by the eye, which in my case Is very nc
curats after so long practice.
No Ice $ used In the dairy ior any other
purpose than shipping the butter over the
-oad in hot weather
In our own case, although we have
frst-class spring, we have, for
greater convenience and the saw
ing of steps by the female portion
Of the household, adopted a plan
of keeping our milk with ice, which
We will describe next week. We
presume Mr.. Cheeycr keeps his milk
without ice because he has a con.
venicnt mik.room Of the proper tenn
pcrature. and not because he ob.
jects to the use of ice at all.
An the work Of tompcring the cream,
churning, working and putting up the
butter il done on the same day and ~ rap
idly as possiblc. On no account would ]
ever re-work or handle butter after IL once
becomes thoroughly cold and stiff Work.
ing butter the day following ohurning
consider bad practice. Good, sound,
well-made butter requires very little ice
for handling or marketing, while that
which Is poorly made either in the churn-
ing or the working will seldom harden
we'll even on ice.