Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1893-10-24
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"l should like 20 know why my but
ter ls 90 long In coming" said neigh
Dor to me the other day ~ she came In
while was churnlng. Tho cows are
not farrow; they arc salted regularly,
the cream Il soured Just right, aud still
the butter will not come"
"Do you use . athermometery l asked.
No: she hadn't one. I advised her to
get one the first time she went to town,
and she told me this morning that she
had had no more trouble since using it.
As for me, I do not think should try 10
make butter II obliged to do 90 without
Thermometer. The cost 10 only twen-
ty.flve cents, and Il may save great
deal Of unnecessary labor In churning,
and q great deal Of vexation over soft
butter also. II cream is too cold, II IL
longer In coming. That is why II some
times swells In the churn, rising to twice
Its original bulk. Il Is only after long,
tedious churning that the butter will
come. A Thermometer would have told
at the outset that the cream needed
warming, and there would have been no
guess work about Il either.
Then In hot weather the Thermometer
shows how much Ice or other cooling
material Is needed TO make the butter
come Just right. How provoking to hear
the uncement-"buiter's comet"
aud on looking Into the churn find soft,
white mass that ought to have been hard
and yellow. All this can be avoided by
the use Of thermometer.
The temperature at which the cream
should be churned varies With different
cows, and no set rule can be given. IL
the cows are Jerseys or Gucrnseys. q
degrees or even CO can be safely tried In
cool weather, but the former figure IL
high enough In warm weather. Care
must always be used to stop the churn-
Ing before the butter grains adhere, or II
cannot be perfectly washed.
Cream from milk Of common or native
cows requires a lower temperature, as
the butter melts at point that would
hardly affect the Jerseys or Guernsey's
butter. A thermometer In the dairy
room will pay for itself many times over,
and any woman who is doing without
one will find II indispensable when she
uses Il awhile. have seen women who
tried the cream with the finger to tell
whether Il Was too warm or too cold
This IL not q sure way, and is not very
neat either.
A person asked me once II lever work
ed the butter with my hands. i replied
"No," very emphsticslly. II Is all very
well TO put the hands into bread and
other cookery when necessary, but never,
never put them into butter. Not only
on account Of the uncleanllness, but the
hands being warm will spoil the grain
of the butter quicker than anything else.
"But," says one, when the butter IL so
very hard as it Is In winter II cannot be
broken up and worked with ladle."
IL will not need to be broken up IL II
Is worked, as II should be, when 1t first
comes from the churn. Ii is then In the
best possible condition for working.
One working Is sufficient; more Is only
an injury to Its grain. Work IL just
enough, so that II Is not streaky, and
then stop. Make into rolls, or pack in
crooks, and your butter IL Of better quail
ity than II will be with any subsequent
working.
This Is one Of the old ruts and one
which is hard for some butter-makers to
get out Of. Their mothers worked their
butter twice, and they think they must
do the same. That may have been nee
essary when they had no Ice and the
butter was too soft to work nicely. The
butter.mskers of olden times did not
wash their butter, consequently II mad
to be worked more to get the buttermilk
out. Nowadays every one washes but
ter thoroughly, and once working Is
better than more.-Country Gentleman.