The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-06-20
BUTTER TAKE
METAL FLAVOR

conditions make it neces-
sary at present to hold butter in stor-
age Tor the summer season when IT
Is PLENTIFUL, to the winter season when
~ Is scarce. IL the butter is properIy
mace this can be done without ma
terlally inJuring its quality. 1t often
ocSuurs, we've that butter which
mas peen. held IN storage for some
months develops d~isagreeabIe 1ayors
Lnat greatly lessen Its value. These
PAD sfiayors that will often pass un
notlced when the butter is, fresh may
become So serious al defect after three
or Tour months in storage as to render
IIe butter almost unstable. THE
changes whichcausethese bad
MAYORS are often too small to be- de-
tected by the ordinary analytical
methods OF The laboratory, but the
senses OF smell and taste are far more
uellcate, ana as oon as bad f1aVors
are detected by them the value Of the
product is lessened.
some metals either cause or greatly
accelerate certain bad favors in but
Yer, although most of the experiments
along this line have not included
storage buffers. Recently the ~scientf-
nc staff OF the dairy division of the
bureau OF animal Industry In the Unit
ca States department of agriculture
mas reported that the presence of very
small amounts of iron In cream
causes certain undesirable favors to
increase In intensity during storage.
These fiavors are often designated by
butter experts as metallic Jolly" or
nshy. The injurious effect of iron
was found by adding iron in known
quantities, varying from 1 to 500 parts,
70 l,U0o, 900 parts of cream. The but
Ter made from such cream was com
pared with that made from cream
where all precautions were taken to
avoid any undue contact with iron
curing the whole process of butter
making. The butter was stored at
o to 10 Fahrenheit, and the quality
OF the butter was scored by experts at
inherent times. In every instance
when the butter was scored a few
days after making, the samples to
which iron had been added scored
lower than the butter made from
cream which contained no iron. This
held true in most cases on the second
and third scoring, which occurred at
intervals varying from twenty to 1877
DAYS. The most noticeable feature
was the rapid development of bad
f1aYor In the butter containing the
iron. When both the control and the
experimental butter became fish 1t was
noticed that the control butter was the
last to become SO. There was a. mark
ed oily flavor present in most samples
that subsequently became fishy. Only
a small portion Of the iron added to
the cream was found in the butter,
the remainder having been taken up
by the buttermilk and wash water.
Butter was also made from cream
which a stood in rusty cans, and
In every case this butter had a
peculiar taste and was easily picked
out from all other samples. The but
termilk also had a decided metallic
taste.
The influence Of copper on the flavor
Of butter was studied in a similar
manner, In it was found that copper,
even in small quantities, seemed to
cause more marked changes Of flavor
In butter than did the iron, with a
decided tendency toward a fishy flavor
In storage. Two experiments showed
very plainly the harmful effect of
using poorly timed pasteurizers, even
though the cream came in contact
with the copper curface for only a
few seconds, for, aside from this, all
other conditions were exactly alike
during the complete process of butter
manufacture.
This work shows that if cream is
kept in rusty cans or comes in contact
with iron or copper at any time dur
Ing the process Of butter making it
may take up iron or copper from rusty
cans, exposed bolt heads, or other.
metal parts of pa~steurizers or churns,
In sufficient quantities to affect the
flavor of strong butter. Though there
is nothing to show that the nature of
the flavor is appreciably changed. it
does demonstrate very clearly that the
rate of development of the undesirable
flavor is greatly accelerated during
storage by very small quantities of
either iron or copper.