NEW ZEALAND BUTTER.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 4565, 17 January 1902, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND BUTTER.

THE PUREST IX THE WORLD. A GREAT ADVERTISEMENT. New Zealand butter received a great advertisement in London last month by the lecture, of Sir Win. Jago, R.C.S., F.1.C., at the Society of Arts on The Chemistry of Confectioners’ Materials and Processes.” Sneaking of tbo use of butter in confectionery processes, Mr Jago compared the principal butters of the world, with the result that New Zealand butter was shown to be the purest, and consequently the best suited for confectionery purposes. . The lecturer detailed the methods adopted in the manufacture of butter, and submitted samples of colonial and other butters for the inspection of his .audience, amongst them being Now Zealand, Canadian, Australian, Danish, Normandy, Irish, English, salt and fresh butters. Commenting on tho properties of butter, ho stated that for confotioners’ purposes water in butter was use-loss. The presence of largo® quantities of curd indicated inefficient manufacture, and excess of prolcid matter might confer an unfortunate cheesy taste on the butter. Salt was added as a preservative, and also for flavouring purposes. The greater the proportion of fat-the blitter contained, tlio moro valuable it was. He had mentioned that butter differed from every other fat by tbo high Reichert-Meissl* value it possessed. The determination of Reichert Meissl _valuo was, in the case of butters, it most important estimation in the table, which gave tho analysis of. various typical butters he bad made. Ho was not going to attempt to quote the values in anything like detail, but simply gave a rough outline of the values of the butters. The results of the analysis ho had made of various butters were as follows: —Danish butter—l 3 per cent, of water, and 85.6 of fat., Reichert* Moissl value 32. Normandy butters (two samples)—l2 and 10 of water, with 85 ami 83 per cent, of fat, with a ReichertMeissl value of 31 and 33. Irish butter (nine samples)—Lowest percentage of water 14.5, SO per cent, of fat and 4 per cent, of salt; highest percentage_ of water 20, and 72 per cent, of fat, with 7 per cent of salt. Siberian butter— Lowest percentage of water 9.4, and tbo highest 11.3, ■ New Zealand butter (nine samples)—Lowest percentage cf water 7.2, tho highest 8.1, with a fet percentage cf 90. Tho Siberian butter, be pointed' out, bad only a RoichortMoissl value of 26 against 32 in some of tho ether samples. , A very fair average percentage of fat in butter was 87, and be took that figure as representing what he would describe as a good standard butter. Taking that figure, it was comparatively simple to prepare a table from which they would at once bo able to say what percentage of fat any particular buttes, contained. They could also see—and this was a matter of importance to the confectioner—how many pounds of such a, butter were necessary in order to produce a given richness in tbo cake. If they took, for example, a butter which contained 75 per cent of fat, they would find that it was only 86 per cent of the value cf the standard, and that 1161 b of it would be required to do the same ' work as a 1001 b of butter of standard quality. Butters cf the Siberian and Danish types run very close to this standard, ’whilst New Zealand butter, in which there was a percentage of 90 per cent, of fat, represented 103.4 per cent of tho standard, and DGUb of it would do. the same amount of work as 1001 b of tbo butter to which lie referred. The inquiry naturally arose what qualities of butter are required by the confectioner? A glance at the goods produced gave tho answer to tho question. These goods ranged from the cakes of the most expensive character, containing the richest butter that it was possible to buy, to the cake containing tho cheapest form of butter substitute. One could not pick out any special quality of butter and designate it confectioner’s butler. The confectioner was, after all, but the servant of the public; witu an educated demand for articles of the best quality lie was prepared to got raw materials or tho highest quality, in order to meet that demand,- There was one ponifc ui conuGcUou with the use of butter roi the manufacturer of confectionery. Some wero defined as weak, whilst others were described as strong and -waxy. Tho former became oily, and tho latter remained tough.' If paste macto from the weak butter it did not nse and become light, whilst the stiff or butters made a light paste and were retained by tho articles when baking. -it value is descnbccl by tho lecturer as follows: —“Fats wcio compounds of tho group cf bodies known as fattv acids, with glycerine. Of this group of bodies some wore readily volatile at the temperature of boiling water, whilst others at tho same temperature remained fixed or non-volatile. Butter was distinguished by containing a Ij'gh proportion of such volatile acids. -I ho exact determination of the volatile acids in a fat was a work of tediousucss and of some difficulty. The test was made by taking a quantity cf butter or of other fats and rendering it into a soap by the action of caustic potash. When they beard of the Reichert-Meissl value of a fab they would understand that it was a tost of the volatile acids that were derived from butter, and practically from butter only. The test, therefore,formed a measure of the bntteriuoss, it ho might use tho phrase, of particular samples of fat. For the .extracts of this valuable address, published in the “Baker awl Confectioner” ' and tho “Grocer.” two of tiio loading trade journals of London, wo have to thank tho Produce Commissioner of the Government in London.