Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-06-20

Willet NJ. Hays of Minnesota experiment
station writes as follows to Hoard's Dairy
man on this subject. His article contains
many useful suggestions
There is not so much discussion of brine
sailing butter as formerly. This method
has been tried in a practical way by many
dairymen, but as a rule it is soon abandoned
and this is strong evidence against it, though
not necessarily final evidence. Those who
have taken up the plan have usually not
worked in the way best suited to this kind
of sailing. In other words they have left
out some of the necessary conditions to the
highest success. Practical dairymen, some
of them prominent, have admitted when
discussing this matter that they did not
really know when trying this process that
they had a saturated solution of salt. None
of them had clear idea of how large a bulk
or weight of salt it requires to really saturate
a given quantity of water The writer
learned how easy it is to think one has sat
urated brine when in fact it is comparative
" weak, by having this fact bumped into
him through practical experience checked
off by the chemists results Some of the
butter sailed in this way contained less than
one fifth of an ounce of salt to the pound of
butter. 1t was only after boiling water
containing an abundance of salt, until
flakes of salt crystals appeared upon the
surface of the boiling water, showing that
a saturated solution was obtained and then
getting results from the chemist of butter
sailed in this brine, that ! realized how
easily one might think his brine saturated
because it contained undissolved salt, Salt
does not dissolve rapidly in cold brine and
unless it stands for some hours it may be
only a weak brine One hundred pounds
e. Il,
of salt. With this saturated brine was
able to incorporate 67-l00 or two thirds of
an ounce of salt to the pound of butter.
Ordinarily only about one-half an ounce
can be gotten into one pound of butter, even
when saturated brine is used. To get in
87.l00 of an ounce to the pound, l stopped
the churn when the granules were very
small as this allowed it to more thoroughly
penetrate all parts. The granular butter
was allowed to remain in the brine for half
an hour, so that the brine had time TO
penetrate among the granules. This but
ter was worked rather dry, containing only
1872 per cent. of moisture. Butter gath
cred in very small granues requires more
working TO get the excess of water out of
it than that allowed to gather until in gran
ules the size of wheat grains. Had 10 per
cent of moisture been left in this butter it
would have contained over three fourths of
an ounce of salt 10 the pound of butter,
there being "a per cent. as much salt as
water in the butter.
This fully demonstrated to me that nearly
as much salt can be incorporated into but
ter by brine sailing as the water can hold
in solution, If more than this be put in the
butter by the ordinary method of dry salt
ing" il must remain there in solid crys-
taline form. Prof. Arnold is authority for
the statement that good salt will crumble
in saturated brine into crystals so small that
we cannot feel them, even by means of the
tongue. He thought we could in this way
get more salt into butter than enough to sat
urate the water in it. Observations on
several brands of salt have failed 10 con
firm Prof. Arnolds statements, aud am
led 10 believe that finely ground or broken
salt crystals may be in the butter and i'm
perceptible TO the touch or taste Of the or
binary observer The highly sailed flavor
demanded by our markets requires thai
more salt be incorporated into the butter
than merely enough 70 saturate the watei
In the butter. Besides not getting enough
salt into the butter 20 suit the average taste