It is a matter of impossibility to make a superior article of butter
from the milk of a cow in a diseased state; for if either of the organs
of secretion, absorption, digestion, or circulation, be deranged, we
cannot expect good blood. The milk being a secretion from the blood, it
follows that, in order to have good milk, we must have pure blood. A
great deal depends also on the food; certain pastures are more favorable
to the production of good milk than others. We know that many
vegetables, such as turnips, garlic, dandelions, will impart a
disagreeable flavor to the milk. On the other hand, sweet-scented
grasses and boiled food improve the quality, and, generally, increase
the quantity of the milk, provided, however, the digestive organs are in
a physiological state.
The processes of making butter are various in different parts of the
United States. We are not prepared, from experience, to discuss the
relative merits of the different operations of churning; suffice it
to say, that the important improvements that have recently been made in
the construction of churns promise to be of great advantage to the
dairyman.
The method of churning in England is considered to be favorable to the
production of good butter. From twelve to twenty hours in summer, and
about twice as long in winter, are permitted to elapse before the milk
is skimmed, after it has been put into the milk-pans. If, on applying
the tip of the finger to the surface, nothing adheres to it, the cream
may be properly taken off; and during the hot summer months, this should
always be done in the morning, before the dairy becomes warm. The cream
should then be deposited in a deep pan, placed in the coolest part of
the dairy, or in a cool cellar, where free air is admitted. In hot
weather, churning should be performed, if possible, every other day; but
if this is not convenient, the cream should be daily shifted into a
clean pan, and the churning should never be less frequent than twice a
week. This work should be performed in the coolest time of the day, and
in the coolest part of the house. Cold water should be applied to the
churn, first by filling it with this some time before the cream is
poured in, or it may be kept cool by the application of a wet cloth.
Such means are generally necessary, to prevent the too rapid
acidification of the cream, and formation of the butter. We are indebted
for much of the poor butter, (_cart-grease_ would be a more suitable
name,) in which our large cities abound, to want of due care in
churning: it should never be done too hastily, but--like "Billy Gray's"
drumming--well done. In winter the churn may be previously heated by
first filling it with hot water, the operation to be performed in a
moderately warm room.
In churning, a moderate and uninterrupted motion should be kept up
during the whole process; for if the motion be too rapid, heat is
generated, which will give the butter a rank flavor; and if the motion
is relaxed, the butter will go back, as it is termed.