Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1897-06-17
Bad Butter Color.

There is a common misrepresentation
as to the nature of this natural butter
color. 1t is supposed that it is a fixed
quality of the butter and is not subject
to change by any process of the butter
making. Ny experience differs from
this common belief, for have found it
to be very far from a fast color, as
might be said, and very easily changed
by exposure to light, as well as by the
action of the salt, due doubtless to the
effect of the chlorine Of the salt, this
chlorine being a we'll known, most eff
fective bleaching agent and destructive
to almost all colors. Thus when the but
ter is made, if it be exposed to the light,
the outer surface of it may be changed
somewhat and III the working it will
become notified or streaky unless great
care is taken to mix it well. Even then
the light streaks will be apparent if the
butter is examined by microscope, and
the mass will have streaked or marbled
or patchy appearance. This defect of
course arouses suspicion of the charac-
ter of the butter, for if it is not wholly
and completely perfect i'll every way it
is open to this questionable character all
through. And thus it is that the color
of butter is rightly one Of its chief
points of excellence.
Sometimes impurity in the salt will
make the butter spotty. this disfguring
being the effect Of lime in the salt, and
this is common impurity i'll the cheap
kinds of salt. The lime in salt, of
course, will exist mostly as chloride,
and this will have the very worst effect
on the butter, bleaching it in patches or
streaks and giving soapy texture or
flavor to it. Sometimes there is gypsum
in the salt, and this has, as have found,
the effect of making round spots i'll the
mass of butter wherever there is speck
of this sulphate of lime. There cannot
be too great care taken to procure the
purest kind of salt for dairy use, and it
should be ground as fine as flour, SO that
if any impurity does exist in it it may
be evenly spread through the butter and
thus the color escape injury. Hard wa
ter, too, is not fit for washing the butter
ON account of the impurities in it being
mostly lime or gypsum, both of which,
as said, are injurious to the butter color.
AS the butter is mixture of oils
and lime has a bad effect on all oily
substances. making an insoluble soap
of the combination between them, not
only the salt, but the water, should be
perfectly free from this impurity. and
hard water is to be avoided i'll the dairy
work. Doubtless some of the patchiness
of butter is due to the water used in
washing it.
1t is not difficult to get rid of the
patchy appearance of the butter by
working, if it is cautiously done. No
amount of direct pressure will injure
the texture of the butter 1t is the draw
ing of the ladle over the butter so as to
spoil the granular texture by which
the injury is done. The more butter Is
pressed by the ladle or the roller of the
butter worker the finer will be the
grain, the d1ier the butter will be and
the more even the color. 1t is good
plan to press out the butter at the first
working and leave it i'll thin leaves as
it were, then sprinkle the finely ground
salt, as fine as flour, evenly over the
whole surface ard leave it SO for the
salt to work through the mass by solu-
ton and absorption, and in IL hours to
turn these leaves together and then work
out the excess of moisture, or any
patchy, marbled color by frequent fold
ing and pressing, avoiding the least
drawing of the ladle or the worker
across any surface. OF course as the
butter is drained it is continually freed
from the liquid (Which should be clear
brine, without a cloud or trace of milk
by pouring it off Thus the finished
butter will be even in color, the salt
will be all dissolved and evenly mixed
through the mass, and the color will be
the same shade all through. H. Stew
art in Country Gentleman.