Butter Stored in Vacuum

Manawatu Times, Volume 60, Issue 100, 1 May 1935, Page 3

Butter Stored in Vacuum

AN EXPERIMENT 45 YEARS AGO Recently the “Times” mado reference to vacuum-packed butter which was sent from Palmerston North to England and back and when opened nine months after manufacture, proved to bo as fresh as the day it was made. Readers may bo surprised to learn that some 45 years ago vacuum-packed butter was sent to England from New Zealand. Chambers’ Journal of Popular Literature, Science and Arts, published tho following on Saturday, March 29, 1S90: A new industry is foreshadowed in an invention which is due to Messrs Stevens of Mountl'ort, of Fcilding, New Zealand, by which butter can bo preserved without the addition of salt or any antiseptic compound. Tho process employed is as follows: Tho butter is placed in tin pans and covered with a lid to which an air pump can be affixed. This lid is soldered into its place, after which the air is exhausted from the pan, an automatic valvo closing tho orifice. This orifice, through which the air was pumped out, is now covered with a cap, which is soldered to tho lid. Samples of butter preserved under these conditions for three months have been pronounced by experts to be as perfect in condition and as fresh as on the day it was churned. As the price of butter in New Zealand averages 5d per pound, and as the preserving process is not expensive, there is a largo margin of profit. We understand that samples of this preserved butter will presently arrive in this country, and the result of the enterprise may be looked forward to with interest.