The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1905-03-03
MOISTURE IN BUTTER.
ALeaky" Butter-The Overrun-The
Maximum Commercial Standard.

By G. L. MKAY and c. LARSEN, Iowa
Experiment Station.
Much American butter has in the
past been criticised by commercial
judges on account of containing too
much moisture Qeaky butter. as butter
judges term it,, when in reality it
showed by chemical analysis only
low percentage of water This is I'M
doubleday due to improper incorpora.
ton of moisture. as much butter appar-
emily dry contains a high moisture con.
tent.
/ 1t is also well known fact that the
( amount of butter which is being made
/ from given amount of fat varies q
great deal Mt the different creameries.
Some makers are able to produce only
/ 10 pounds of butter from 100 pounds
of fat, while some other makers are
able to produce 100 pounds of butter
of equal commercial quality from the
same amount of fat-thSt is. some are
! able to get an overrun of only about
an overrun of about 20 per cent.
The amount of overrun is the differ.
+ ence between the amount of pure but
ter fat and the amount of butter man.
/ ufactured from that given amount of
fat. This difference divided by the
amount of fat and multiplied by 100
will give the percentage of ovewun.
From the Consumers Point of View.
When viewed from the consumers
standpoint it may seem at the first i'm
pulse that the less moisture which can
be Incorporated in butter the better it
is for the consumer, for the simple rea-
son that it will contain more fat and
consequently more nourishment This,
however, is true only to certain eX-
tent. Butter is not eaten so much for
the nutriment it contains as it is for
the relish it offers, and butter contain.
ing between II and 16 per cent of
moisture is just as relishing and pala-
table as the butter containing only
about 8 or 10 per cent, provided the
moisture has been properly Incorporate
ed and the qualities are the same.
Water is an integral part of the essen
tial food constituents of butter, the
same as it is of all other foods, and
the percentage of moisture in butter is
very low.
Foreign Commercial Standards.
1t has been proved from different
sources that butter can contain about
16 per cent moisture without injury to
its commercial quality and with jus.
tee to consumers. Germany has con.
sidered 16 per cent of fat as the maxi.
mum standard of moisture. England
as the greatest butter consuming coun-
try has also recommended Is per cent
of water in butter as the maximum
standard, and the United States as 4
great butter producing country ought
not to lower this worlds butter market
standard for moisture. If butter con
tanning a low percentage of moisture
G to s per cent were demanded by thu
consumers to a greater extent thar
butter containing from IA to 16 pc
cent moisture, then there would b,
some object in keeping the amount o
standard, as it is in American butter
today.
The Danish Butter.
The Danish butter, which is recog
nized as being the best butter in til,
worlds market, contains on an aver
age nearly 10 per cent moisture. New
Zealand and American butter is com
paratively dry, and all other brands
except the Irish picked butter contain
less moisture than do the Danish. Ii
the face of this the English people pre-
fer the Danish butter at Il higher price
The Danish butter is not sold at tn
top market price on account of con
tanning an excess of moisture. Ther
are other qualities that make Danisl
butter desirable, but it proves that
high moisture content (abQkt 10 pc
cent? in itself does not necessarily in
jure the quality Of butter.
From the Producers Point of View
When studied from the producer
standpoint it is easy to see that i
through skillful means the averag,
moisture content of American butte
could be raised from Il per cent to /;
per cent without injury to the com
mercial quality of butter Il great addi
tional profit would be added to the dai
ry industry. 1t would mean abou
three pounds of butter more per hun
dred pounds of fat.
1t should be distinctly understood
that the writers do not favor an excess
i've amount of moisture in butter. bu
since the worlds best commercial anC
scientific butter judges have fixed tn,
maximum standard of moisture il
good butter to be 16 per cent it is {
matter of business for the producers Il
come as near to this standard as posi-
BILE.