Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1908-03-13
WHEN THE CHURN WAS STOPPED.
fThis butter contained 1926 per cent mois-
ture when completedl


ture when completed.1
yet not too much, requires skill and eX-
perience on the part of the buttermak-
er. Butter with too much moisture Is
undoubtedly, as a general thing, made
without intent rather than with, and
the average butter maker or dealer has
little idea what per cent of moisture
the butter contains.
It Is a statement of interest, there
fore, that the department of agricul-
ture has worked out during the past
year a rapid and simple method Qe-
Quiring apparatus costing a few dol
lars) for the free use of manufacturer
and dealer to determine the water in
butter. Full details of the apparatus
and its use can be found in circular
No. 10 Of the bureau of animal indus
try.
Moisture In Butter.
One Of the most thorough fnvestiga-
tions into the moisture content of but
ter and methods of controlling it was
made some years ago at the Iowa eX-
pertinent station. As to causes of too
much moisture it was found by Messrs.
Mckay and Larsen that when cream is
thick and churned at a high tempera-
ture too much moisture is Incorporated
even though it is churned only a nor
NAL amount.
By churning at high temperature
and washing with cold water much
moisture will be incorporated in the
butter. provided 1t is not cooled to
such an extent that the butter will be-
come hard. The sudden chilling of the
butter globules on the outside by wash.
ing with cold water seems to imprison
and prevent the moisture from escap-
ing during working.
BY churning cold ana washing with
warm wash water the butter is also
brought into condition where it will
absorb and hold moisture. Churning
at high temperature and washing cold
and churning at low temperature and
washing warm are two conditions
which must be guarded against.
Effect of overehurning.
In regard to overchurning it is stated
that by excessive churning in water
the butter will absorb and hold as
much as 46 per cent water. If the
temperature is low, the incorporation
of moisture by churniug is retarded a
great deal, while if the temperature is
higher a comparatively small amount
Of churning will cause the butter to
absorb moisture rapidly and to retain
it better. In experiments in which the
butter was churned for more than
half an hour in the wash water the
butter became very soft and began to
stick on the inside of the churn. The
more it is agitated in the presence of
moisture the duller and lighter butter
will be.
A Remedy Advised.
An excessive amount of churning
was strongly condemned by these Iowa
dairy authorities. In short they say:
Quality must receive first considera-
ton. When butter has been overchurn-
ed trife, so it contains about is per
cent moisture, it is difficult to remove
the buttermilk from the quite large
granuleS, and the danger of spelling
the butter on standing is introduced.
In order to avoid this the churn can
ter are still small and then control the
moisture content in the butter by
churning a trifle in the wash water at
the proper temperature.
BY churning a trifle more than Or
dinarily in wash water the butter
milk is efficiently removed and the wa
ter content can be controlled.