The Cream of the Crop

Churning Butter

Most of us are aware that our ancestors usually made their own butter, especially if they were farmers; but the process involved more than just churning.  Knowing when to skim the cream, what portions to use, and the proper temperature; were all vital to the success of the operation.  Egerton Ryerson's description of the procedure follows.

First Lessons in Agriculture Egerton Ryerson - 1870 Making Butter

"The largest butter particles, or globules, are comparatively the lightest and therefore begin to rise first after the milk comes to rest in the pan, and form the first layer of cream which is the best, as it is less filled with cheesy particles. The next largest butter particles rise a little more slowly, are more entangled with other substances, and bring more of them to the surface. The smallest butter particles rise the most slowly of all, are loaded with caseous or cheesy matter, and produce inferior cream and butter. The most delicate cream and the sweetest and most fragrant butter, are therefore obtained by skimming only a few hours after the milk is set; but from eighteen to twenty-four hours after the milk is set, is the usual time for skimming the cream.

Butter Paddle

"It is always best to churn as often as possible  - in large dairies everyday, in smaller ones less frequently. After the milk has stood from eighteen to twenty-four hours in a favourable place, and in suitable pans (tin pans are said to be the best upon the whole), the cream may be removed and placed in stone jars, to be kept til the churning. When the churning cannot be as frequently as every other day, the cream on being put into a stone jar, should be sprinkled over with a little pure, fine salt. When more cream is added, stir up the whole together and sprinkle over it a little more salt, and so on until there is enough cream to churn. "Though butter may be got from cream at a temperature ranging from forty-five to seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit, it is a matter of the utmost necessity to regulate the temperature so as get the best guality of butter from it. Careful experiments seem to show, that when the cream is at about fifty-one degrees at the beginning of the churning, the best quality of butter may be obtained from it.  The temperature rises four or five degrees during the operation, much depending on the time it takes.

"But if the object is to obtain the greatest quantity of butter from cream, irrespective of quality, the churning may be commcnced with the cream at fifty-six degrees, and the temperatnre will gradually rise to sixty. The greatest quantity of butter of the best quality is said to be got from cream standing at about fifty-three degrees, at the commencement of churning, and rising in the operation to fifty-seven or fifty-eight degrees.

"The operation of churning should not be hurried. The butter from cream churned from half to three-quarters of an hour, is of far better quality and consistency, than butter churned in five or ten minutes, which it is possible to do by the application of warm water and violent chnrning, but producing butter inferior in quality and quantity. "I cannot here speak of the different kinds of churns which have been invented to make butter; nor of the different instruments which have been devised for working butter after it has been churned.

"The common churn-dasher has been hardly improved in the principle of its operation. In one work that I have read, it is said, 'A simple square box, turning on an axle, is one of the best forms of the churn'. It is the concussion, rather than motion, which brings the butter, and this form of churn gives it as well as the dasher. The cream takes a compound motion and the concussion against the sides and right-angled corners is very great. " I must add a few words on the working of butter, after the process of churning has been completed. After the butter has come, it must be thoroughly worked, till all the buttermilk is removed. This is done by a roller or 'butter­ worker.'  A large sponge, covered with a clean cloth, is a very useful article for removing milk from the surface of the butter, where it will be found to stand in little round globules after the butter has been pressed or worked. With a sponge, nearly every particle of milk may be taken off.  Butter made in this careful way will keep better than any other, as the buttermilk, often imperfectly worked out, does more to destroy the sweetness and solidity of the butter than anything else.

"The hands should never come in direct contact with the butter. After completely removing the buttermilk, the butter may be formed into lumps of one or more pounds each, and put down into fiirkins made of white oak, which should first be weIl cleansed. When thus made, butter will keep a long time with little salting. Over-salted butter is not only 1ess agreeable to the taste, but less healthy, than that which is fresh and sweet. In general, much salt is needed only when butter is badly worked over, and to prevent the ill effects of neglect.  NOTE. The importance of having a thermometer is obvious in order to ascertain the temperature of the milk and cream, in the process of making butter.)

Butter Worker

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