The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1895-05-24
Butter Making.

DuttVI MdhIHSs
with the best butter selling at 25 to
~ Cts. per pound and not enough to
supply the demand, while the market
IL overloaded with rolls, prints and
tubs offered at from 10 to II cents per
pound. Some of it very good, but de-
graded by bad company, some greasy,
bittcr, sour, notified or streaky; it is Il
good time for the butter makers to as
certain i'll which class they belong and
how to improve
In the March Epitomist E. G. Ben
net very ably discusses:
CACS ES AND pREvENTvEs.
Each, seas, III has its advantages and
its disadvant ages. We are speaking
of private dali "ying more particularly
this meYrtEr. Nearly all the butter
made on the fam is poor butter. As
= rule the maken do not know this
fact, or when they are conscious of q
defect they are Ign GRANT of its cause,
or they think it is natural condi-
ton which it is idle TO try to change.
But the many letters received show
that good butter is more and more APP
prcciated and we will try to point out
the most common mistakes for this
time OF year, and also the natural DIFF
ticulties to be overcome
BITTER FLAVOR.
One lady writes that the cream
becomes bitter instead of sour, and
the butter is not fit to eat. She has
but one COW, but cOntemplates having
others if she can learn to make good
butter. At present she has plenty of
trouble with this one cow The feed
Is corn fodder, corn meal and bran.
This feed ought not cause bitter but
ter, so we must fall back on another
condition which will cause bitter but
ter and assume that it is the correct
one until experience shows it is not
This is holding the milk and cream
at too low temperature. Cream or
milk held ut or near freezin tempera-
ture will not sour it but it will
become bitter. The acid producing
bacteria require temperature rang
ing from about 5S to l35 degrees for
propagation. Scalding kills them, so
does freezing, and low temperature
in general is unfavorable to their
growth. But there are other species
OF bacteria which propagate at a.
lower temperature, and the class
which causes bitter ferment is one
Of them: Do not keep the milk and
cream at so low Il temperature
SOUR BUTTER.
This comes from too advanced fer
mentation OF the cream The cream
should he churned sooner. 4 mild
acid, slight thickening Of the cream,
smooth appearance and conss-
tency like pancake batter, with the
whole matter homogeneous, that is,
alike from top to bottom, and the
buttermilk properly removed after
churnng Will insure butter free from
Objectionable acidity. 1t is better to
wash out the buttermilS than to work
it out. To do this stop churning
when the granules are like grains 0,
wheat, draw off the buttermilk, fill
the churn with water, agitate and
draw off the water Repeat the wash
ing if necessary, using less water
In practice it is generally best to add
water before attempting to draw of
the buttermilk, as this will float the
butter and make the granules stand
separate and facilitates the washing
WHITE Jumps.
These are due to clots of curd
They are caused by improper hand
ling of the cream 1t has becom,
too sour and "wheyed off" In othe
words, it has lost its homogeneous
ness; it is partly decomposed. TIL,
scum of the cream has partly separat
ell and settled to the bottom and tn,
solids have gathered in clots. Thes,
cl0ts cohere so strongly that they ar,
not broken up by churning and S,
they are found in the butter unchurn
ed. They are unsightly. They spoi
the price of the butter if sold and tn
the pleasure of eating it if used a
home. As preventative, stir tn
cream we'll when fresh cream is adde,
to that already in the cream can, an,
also stir it when iipening it, so it vii
all ripen alike. Churn at the RICH
stage OF ripening, as stated above, AM
there will be no white Jumps in tn
butter. But it is always best t