The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1911-09-01
Dairy Department

easier than sweet cream and second,
it makes a better favored butter than
can be made from sweet cream, or
from cream that has had no starter,
provided of course that the starter is
good. and third, it makes a more
uniform product. Skimmilk for
starter should be heated to ITO to l8O
degrees f. for about 20 minutes, then
cooled to 70 degrees F. and a small
amount of the mother starter added.
. AS soon as it is thick it is ready for
use. If the right germs are present
it should have mild acid taste, and
leave no dlsagreeable after taste.
PREPARING CREAM FOR
CHURNING.
If is difficult to lay down hard and
fast rules for churning because there
are so many factors that Will enter to
change conditions. The most pri
mary points to be observed will be
cited. AS soon as the cream is ripe,
which can be determined by the
glossy appearance when stirred, or
when the acidity has reached about
3 per cent. it should be cooled to
churning temperature and kept at
least four hours before churning. 1t
is customary to ripen one day and
cool down in the evening to churn
the next morning. The cooling tenn
perature will vary with the conditions
and will be from so degrees in the
summer to 60 degrees in the winter.
Do not over load the churn. The
more agitation there is the sooner the
butter will come. Have the churn
half full or less. Ii color is to be
used it should be added before the
churn starts. The agitation should
be continuous and uniform, and 1t
all conditions as to acidity and tenn
perature are right, the butter should
come in from thirty to forty minutes.
WHEN TO STOP CHURNING.
1t is this one thing that causes the
most defects in ranch butter. There
is an idea prevalent among many
farmers that butter should be churned
into Jumps as large as possible, and
then worked we'll to exclude the
buttermilk. This is a gross error.
The buttermilk carries with it numer
Gus germs that aid in the spelling,
and it is impossible to work these
out entirely, and it the attempt is
made, the texture OF the butter will
be injured, and as a result it becomes
soft and smeary like salve rather than
as wax. The buttermilk should be
washed out with pure cold water, and
in order that the water shall do the
most good, the churning should be
stopped when the butter is in granules
about the size Of wheat. This will
also aid in the even distribution OF
salt, as will be pointed out later. Ii
the granules are round and regular
and the buttermilk has drained off
we'll one washing will suffice, but
ordinarily it will be necessary to
wash twice. The temperature OF the
wash water will vary according to the
consistency of the butter, but good
rule to follow is to wash the first
time about two degrees above churn-
ing and second time four degrees
above churning. Ii, however, the
butter is very soft it may be necessary
to have both washings as cold as the
churning temperature. A little judg-
ment will be necessary in determln-
ing the temperature to use. Too
much washing spoils the flavor in
measure. Only small amount of
agitation is necessary for the washing,
for the butter should be kept in the
granular form as much as possible so
that the salt can be worked in to
better advantage Ii the Jumps are
large it takes more working TO get an
even distribution of the salt. Salt
will take up odors readily, so 1T is
essential to store the salt in a clean
place, especially free from odors.
There are two ways of sailing
butter. By adding dry salt directly
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