DRIED BUTTER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24896, 21 April 1942, Page 4

DRIED BUTTER

A DEVELOPING INDUSTRY PRODUCTION IN JULY (Special) AUCKLAND, Apl. 20. In the processing of dehydrated butter, which will become an important adjunct to the dairy industry in a few months' time, stainless steel is used to'avoid the possibility of any metallic contamination. Owing to the fact that the British Government was not prepared to purchase whey butter and also as it appeared there would be a surplus of creamery butter in New Zealand, with a resultant shortage of cool storage, the advantages of the new process, which was already assured of a large market, were very apparent, stated Mr A. H. Honeyfield, manager of the Internal Marketing Division in Auckland. It was anticipated that by the end of next year, from 10,000 to 20,000 tons would have been processed, but the situation was governed by the shipping position and stocks available. Australia is understood to be moving in the same direction to secure a subsidiary market, but New Zealand will be in a position to operate on a large scale from a plant to be set up in Auckland by the beginning of July. In the meantime, a small Manawatu plant is turning out 10 or 12 tons a day. The product can be used in its dry state by pastrycooks and ice-cream manufacturers, and the conversion of the fat into butter is achieved simply by adding water and salt. The butter to be processed is first melted, a fat layer is decanted from the serum and the remaining fat passed through a series of centrifugal separators. These remove a large portion of the remaining moisture, and also traces of curd. The very small moisture content that cannot be removed by the centrifugal process is evaporated from the melted fat under high vacuum. The then dry fat is subjected to a special technique of cooling, filled into sterile canisters and sealed. It can be stored and shipped as general cargo.