Improvements in the Manufacture of Butter.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd July, 1889-Accepted, 3rd Aug., 1889
Improvements in the Manufacture of Butter.
I, JOHN BOYD residing in Elmhurst in the County of Du Page in the State
of Illinois, United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
My invention relates to improvements in the art of making butter.
It has long been known that when the cream from which the butter is to be
churned is in a peculiar acid condition, well understood by some skillful butter
makers, and determined by the peculiar taste and smell, known to the skillful
manipulator, that the cream will churn easier and quicker, more butter will be
produced, having a better flavor and better keeping properties. This exact
condition cannot be described in words, and can only be known to persons who
have acquired the knowledge by actual practice. Various efforts have been made
to artificially produce this peculiar condition in the cream, chief among which and
perhaps the most successful is what I have heard called the Danish method and
consists in mixing with the cream, about twenty four hours before it is used, a
small proportion of what is called a "starter," consisting of skimmed milk which
has first been warmed to about 90 degrees Fhr., and allowed to stand twenty
four hours, when if the conditions have chanced to be right the milk will be found
to have thickened and to have turned slightly acid. About from one to two per cent.
of this starter is mixed with the cream, the latter being at a temperature of about
65 degrees Fbr., and the cream then allowed to stand twenty four hours when it
is churned. I have been able occasionally to produce splendid results by this Danish
process, so called, but have found it extremely uncertain, although I have had an
experienced Danish butter worker in my employ. In the first place, 1 experienced
great difficulty and uncertainty in producing the starter. Sometimes the skimmed
milk will be found in the right condition, and at other times it would be found worth-
less for that purpose. In the next place, even when the starter was all right and
properly applied to the cream, I would find the latter at the end of twenty four hours,
unequally ripened, and the result would be a diminution in the quantity of butter, or
an inferior quality or both.
The present invention is the result of my efforts and experiments with the Danish
process. I apprehended that the great uncertainty both with regard to the preparation
of the starter and the ripening of the cream, might be due to the changes in the
temperature of the milk and cream, and I have found that where the milk is encased
in a non-conducting vessel or substance, that the result is always sure and certain,
and where the cream is enclosed in a non-conducting vat the ripening is effected
in a perfectly uniform manner throughout the mass, and the cream always the same
in condition. By this simple means it is possible therefore to produce the best
results without the skilled labor which has heretofore been necessary, and with entire
uniformity, so that the chief difficulty in butter making is overcome.
In the accompanying drawing, which forms a part of this specification, I have
shown at Fig. 1 a sectional view of a skimmed milk vessel such as I use for
enclosing the milk during the preparation of the starter; at Fig. 2 a similar sectional
view of a non-conducting cream vat, for containing the cream after admixture of
the starter and during the ripening thereof. Figure 3 is a plan view of the device
shown at Fig. 1, with the cover removed, and Fig. 4 is a cross section of the cream
vat on the line 4.4 of Fig. 2.
Of course any suitable non-conducting vessels may be employed in the practice of
my invention, but I have found the following to be excellently adapted to that purpose.
The vessel for containing the skimmed milk and shown at Figs. 1 and 3, consists of a

page_text: tin can A, built into a wooden box B, as shown in the drawing, the space between the
tin and the wood being filled with felt C. A cover, composed of a wooden part B',
the tin part A¹ and felt filling C¹, serves to close the can and box tightly.
The cream vat shown at Figs. 2 and 4, may consist of a metal tank E, built into
a wooden box F and having an interposed felt filling G. I find that it is not
strictly necessary in the case of the cream vat to have the cover metal lined and
filled with felt, but this may be done if preferred. And in the drawing I have shown
a cover for the vat made of wood H and simply lined with tin J, the same being so
contrived that it may slide longitudinally to open and close the vat.
In the practice of my improvement in the art of butter making, I take of skimmed
milk, perfectly sweet and from which all cream has been carefully removed, from
two to four gallons. Less may be used of course, but I find it better to use a
considerable body, say two gallons, I heat this milk in a water bath preferably, and to
a temperature of 90 degrees Fhr. This temperature may be varied to a considerable
degree above and somewhat below that point, but I have found by far the best result
to be produced by a rigid adherence to the exact point of 90 degrees Fhr. While the
milk is heating, I warm the interior of the milk vessel by rinsing it with warm
water, and then place the heated milk in the vessel, shown at Fig. 1, cover the same
and let it stand thus for twenty four hours, more or less. I find by observation that
the temperature of the milk changes in the vessel very slowly and regularly, usually
gradually and slowly falling, but not in such degree as to interfere with the chemical
change which it is necessary shall take place in the milk to produce the desired
condition. I have not yet been able to definitely locate the exact period of time at
which the enclosed milk first assumes the required condition. It may be that it
reaches this stage in a much shorter time than twenty four hours. I expect to conduct
experiments with a view to ascertain the shortest period, but at present and thus far
have deemed this an immaterial fact, because in the manufacture of butter it is
customary to churn not oftener than once a day, and twenty four hours is therefore an
extremely convenient period of time to allow the milk to set as it brings the operations
to the same hour each day.
I place the cream in the vat shown at Figs. 2 and 4 and by some means bring it to
a temperature of about 65 degrees Fhr. The means I prefer to employ for this
purpose is, in the case the cream is too cold, a tin vessel or can full of hot water
lowered into the body of the cream and. waved or moved about therein until the
temperature of the whole body of cream is uniformly raised to the required degree.
In case the cream is too warm, cold water or ice may be used instead of the warm
water.
To every 100 quarts of cream, I add from one pint to one quart of the starter. The
starter when taken from the vessel in which it has been prepared, will be found in a
curdled or clabbered state, and in order to thin it and separate it, it is advisable to
strain or force it through the meshes of a fine hair sieve. The starter may be added
to the cream, either immediately before, during or after the production of the right
temperature in the cream, but I prefer to add it during the stirring operation just
above described, as this helps to incorporate it with the cream. The cream so prepared,
at the temperature indicated with the admixture of the starter, prepared as stated, is
allowed to stand in the non-conducting vat for about twenty four hours, i.e., until
the next day's churning, at which time it is churned with the uniform results of the
best quality and the largest quantity of butter being produced.
While the cream is in the vat, after admixture of the starter, it should be allowed
tö stand still and not be disturbed in any manner. I have found that stirring after
the cream is once ready, retards the operation of ripening, and moreover produced
bad results.. I recommend also in case of the preparation of the starter, that it be
allowed to remain as quiet as possible, as any agitation will hinder and prevent the
chemical change required.
No special attention need be paid to the temperature of the room in which the
vessels stand, either the milk vessel or the cream vat, as the non-conducting character
of the vessels renders this temperature unimportant.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
The improvement in the art of butter making, which consists first, in preparing a
starter from skimmed milk by enclosing the same at a proper temperature in a vessel
with non-conducting walls; secondly, mixing the starter so prepared in small propor-
tion with cream and enclosing the mixture at a proper temperature, as indicated, in a
non-conducting vat, permitting the same to ripen therein, and lastly, churning the
ripened cream into butter, substantially as specified.
741-
T11
"
T
1000
Witness,
JOHN BOYD.
H. M. MUNDAY.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.