HOW I MADE THE PRIZE BUTTER

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1511, 14 February 1901, Page 53

HOW I MADE THE PRIZE BUTTER

AN AMERICAN'S METHOD

A Pennsylvania buttermaker describes in an American contemporary bow he made the butter which was awarded a silver medal at the late Paris Exposition. He says:—"The butter I sent to the Paris exposition at the solicitation of tlie United States department of Agriculture that was awarded a silver medal, was made from cream raised in large pans, about oft long, 30 in wide and 6m deep, each pan holding ope milking. The pans have double bottoms and water running through in warm weather.. to cool the milk. It- was skimmed at 36 , hours and churned twice a 4veek. The • cows are Guernseys, Jerseys and their

grades. Almost no colouring was used and the butter was salted loz to the pound. All the butter is made in .the face around a wheat sheaf., What went to Paris was part cf the regular churning. It was sent tnree times, in June, August and September, to keeji up the show.

The churning is done by a horse sweep power. A revolving barrel chum is used. Care is taken to have the butter come hard, and that can always ba done by having the cream cold enough. In summer it is kept in cold spring water, taken out and put- in the churn immediately. In warm weather a 4gal. pail of cold water is put iu the churn when the butter is just ready to break. This is of great help to make the butter firm, then churn on till the buttermilk can be drawn off without much butter coming. The crumbs that do come are skimmed off and put back in the churn, also enough clear cold water to float the butter. Turn the churn a few times and draw off the water, turn again to gather it, then take out, salt and work. Pile it up on the table for half an hour, then work again and go over it with a sponge wrapped in a piece of linen. Weigh, print and set the tin cooler in the water to narden. Next morning wrap in parchment paper or new muslin and send to market. This in brief is my way. The butter made in this way suite my customers and they pay a orice much in excess of the ordinary market. I. have tried the separator and have a first-class dairy turbine and used it awhile, but the butter did not- give as good satisfaction as when made in the old way. Then it was twice as much trouble for me to get up steam, separate and ripen the cream right. I could make a little more butter with the separator, but not enough to pay for the extra work. I could not get as good a price for the butter and bad some complaints, so I went back to the old way and have bad no complaints since. The separator skim-milk tested .01 per cent tat, that from tire pans .02. 80-I lost only one pound of butter in 1000 pounds of milk, otill the separator is much the best for a person wiio lias not a cold spring of water on a little higher' ground than his dairy building, which very few have.