Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1910-07-02
VALUE OF WATER
IN BUTTER

I There must be o certain amount oe
8 water IN butter 70 make It a perfect
article-not that the per cent of winter
must come within certain liked or mar
row limits. but the amount that IN
present 10 butter made under normal
conditions where quality is the main
object.
To the average consumer the water
content Is not greatly noticeable un-
less there is small quantity OF free
water left in the package in which the
butter was originally packed Hdes-
ever. this free water bears no direct
relation to the amount present in tIyit-
ter. but It Is an indication Of the plan
followed In its manufacture.
Butter mechanically perfect may CON
tain between 10 and 10 per cent o.
water. As a rule. this extreme differ
ence cannot be detected except by naes
who have made the subject a study,
The value Of butter Is based on fts
quality and general makeup and faE
It's natural composition, except in cases
where It has been carried to an ex-
IRENE
The factors Ia composition that will
AFFECT its quality are the extremes IN
salt contents or whether the salt ia an
dissolved.
The limit which was placed upon
the water to be incorporated into bqe-
ter was In part to do away with the
growing tendency on the part Of some
to makeSan article that should contain
the lowest possible amount Of butter
fat aud yet bear the name Of buttec.
IL this had not been checked there
would have been danger Of placing fhe
ability Of the buttermaker upon tIe
question, Can you get US the over
rum? in place Of, Can you make good
butter| II seems as IL that idea e
still encouraged in certain localities,
The overrun bears a certain relatan
to the composition OF the butter, but fs
not a sure indication that a high per
cent OF water means a cOrrespondingfY
high overrun
A buttermaker should have an over
run that checks fairly well with the
rat in his butter, provided the loss af
fat Ia the process OF manufacture has
been kept at it's minimum. II cannot
always be said that an overrun Of OBIy
10 per cent Is an indlca ton OF butter
having high fat content any more
than a high overrun indicates low fat
content butter.
The greatest factor To overrun con-
troll is the accurate determine don OF
the total butter fat delivered to tlFg
creamery. IL more butter fat was de
livered than was actually paid for It
cannot help but increase the overruu.
and vice versa.
Naturally the question arises. Gan
butter be made to always contain less
than the legal 16 per cent limit foE-wa-
terT The answer is positively ''Yas,"
with fair margin for safety. In fact.
butter can be made to not exceed even
a 10 per cent limit A good CONNER
cial product can contain II to Is per
cent OF water. This. added to the S2.5
per cent standard for fat. makes to.
tai Of 96.5 to 97.5 per cent. leaving
balance OF 2.5 to 35 per cent for salt.
casein and ash.
Since the average c1seln and ash
need not exceed per cent,
this leaves is to rs per cent for salt.
This amount OF salt Is not sufficient
for all grades OF butter. nor will It
meet the demand OF all consumers. Ia
order to Increase the salt content there/
must be a decrease In the water. A
commercial product will pass to GER
ain consumers containing So per cent
salt. but need not exceed per cent.
II Is not safe to work too close to
my standard because of variation 10
due to sampling. Ono
ample or butter taken to represent
burning may or may uot be au accu-
ate representation OF the butter in
question An average ysria ton OF az
east one-haIr per cent must be allow.
d with an extreme Of at least l per
ent.