animals, or those which have been kept in filthy, unventilated stables.
The milk absorbs and carries the odors, which are often plainly
perceptible. Such milk may not be poisonous, but it is repulsive.
There is no doubt that milk often serves as the vehicle for the
distribution of the germs of various contagious diseases, like scarlet
fever, diphtheria, and typhoid fever, from becoming contaminated in some
way, either from the hands of milkers or from water used as an
adulterant or in cleansing the milk vessels. Recent investigations have
also shown that cows are to some extent subject to scarlet fever, the
same as human beings, and that milk from infected cows will produce the
same disease in the consumer.
Milk should not be kept in brass or copper vessels or in earthen-ware
lined with lead glazing; for if the milk becomes acid, it is likely to
unite with the metal and form a poisonous compound. Glass and granite
ware are better materials in which to keep milk.
Milk should never be allowed to stand uncovered in an occupied room,
especially a sitting-room or bedroom, as its dust is likely to contain
disease-germs, which falling into the milk, may become a source of
serious illness to the consumer. Indeed it is safest to keep milk
covered whenever set away, to exclude the germs which are at all times
present in the air. A good way is to protect the dishes containing milk
with several layers of cheese-cloth, which will permit the air but not
the germs to circulate in and out of the pans. Neither should it be
allowed to stand where there are strong odors, as it readily takes up by
absorption any odors to which it is exposed.
A few years ago Dr. Dougall, of Glasgow, made some very interesting
experiments on the absorbent properties of milk. He inclosed in jars a
portion of substances giving off emanations, with a uniform quantity of
milk, in separate vessels, for a period of eight hours, at the end of
which time samples of the milk were drawn off and tested. The result was
that milk exposed to the following substances retained odors as
described:--
Coal gas, distinct; paraffine oil, strong; turpentine, very strong;
onions, very strong; tobacco smoke, very strong; ammonia, moderate;
musk, faint; asafetida, distinct; creosote, strong; cheese (stale),
distinct; chloroform, moderate; putrid fish, very bad; camphor,
moderate; decayed cabbage, distinct.
These facts clearly indicate that if the emanations to which milk is
exposed are of a diseased and dangerous quality, it is all but
impossible that the milk can remain free from dangerous properties.
Too much pains cannot be taken in the care of milk and vessels
containing it. Contact with the smallest quantity of milk which has
undergone fermentation will sour the whole; hence the necessity for
scrupulous cleanliness of all vessels which have contained milk before
they are used again for that purpose.
In washing milk dishes, many persons put them first into scalding water,
by which means the albumen in the milk is coagulated; and if there are
any crevices or seams in the pans or pails, this coagulated portion is
likely to adhere to them like glue, and becoming sour, will form the
nucleus for spoiling the next milk put into them. A better way is first
to rinse each separately in cold water, not pouring the water from one
pan to another, until there is not the slightest milky appearance in the
water, then wash in warm suds, or water containing sal-soda, and
afterward scald thoroughly; wipe perfectly dry, and place if possible
where the sun will have free access to them until they are needed for
further use. If sunshine is out of the question, invert the pans or cans
over the stove, or place for a few moments in a hot oven.
The treatment of milk varies with its intended use, whether whole or
separated from the cream.
Cream rises best when the milk is quite warm or when near the
freezing-point. In fact, cream separates more easily from milk at the
freezing-point than any other, but it is not thick and never becomes so.
An intermediate state seems to be unfavorable to a full rising of the
cream.
A temperature of 56° to 60°F. is a good one. Milk to be used whole
should be kept at about 45° and stirred frequently.
All milk obtained from city milkmen or any source not certainly known to
be free from disease-germs, should be sterilized before using. Indeed,
it is safest always to sterilize milk before using, since during the
milking or in subsequent handling and transportation it is liable to
become infected with germs.
TO STERILIZE MILK FOR IMMEDIATE USE.--Put the milk as soon as
received into the inner dish of a double boiler, the outer vessel of
which should be filled with boiling water. Cover and heat the milk
rapidly to as near the boiling point as possible. Allow it to remain
with the water in the outer boiler actively boiling for half an hour,
then remove from the stove and cool very quickly. This may be
accomplished by pouring into shallow dishes, and placing these in cold
water, changing the water as frequently as it becomes warm, or by using
pieces of ice in the water. It is especially important to remember that
the temperature of the milk should be raised as rapidly as possible, and
when the milk is sufficiently cooked, cooled very quickly. Either very
slow heating or slow cooling may prove disastrous, even when every other
precaution is taken.
Or, well-cleaned glass fruit cans may be nearly filled with milk, the
covers screwed on loosely, then placed in a kettle of cold water,
gradually heated to boiling and kept at that temperature for a half hour
or longer, then gradually cooled. Or, perfectly clean bottles may be
filled with milk to within two inches of the top, the neck tightly
closed with a wad of cotton, and the bottles placed in a steam cooker,
the water in which should be cold at the start, and steamed for half an
hour.
This cooking of milk, while it destroys many of the germs contained in
milk, particularly the active disease-germs which are liable to be found
in it, thus rendering it more wholesome, and improving its keeping
qualities somewhat, does not so completely sterilize the milk that it
will not undergo fermentative changes. Under varying conditions some
thirty or forty different species of germs are to be found in milk, some
of which require to be subjected to a temperature above that of boiling
water, in order to destroy them. The keeping quality of the milk may be
increased by reboiling it on three successive days for a half hour or
longer, and carefully sealing after each boiling.
TO STERILIZE MILK TO KEEP.--This is a somewhat more difficult
operation, but it may be done by boiling milk sealed in very strong
bottles in a saturated solution of salt. The milk used should be
perfectly fresh. It is best, when possible, to draw the milk from the
cow directly into the bottles. Fill the bottles to within two inches of
the top, cork them immediately and wire the corks down firmly and place
them in the cold salt solution. Boil fifteen minutes or half an hour.
Allow the solution to cool before removing them. If the bottles are
removed from the solution while hot, they will almost instantly break.
When cold, remove the bottles, and cover the tops with sealing wax.
Store in a cool place, shake thoroughly once or twice a week. Milk
sterilized in this manner will keep indefinitely.
CONDENSED MILK.--Condensed milk is made by evaporating milk in a
vacuum to one fifth its original volume; it is then canned like any
other food by sealing at boiling temperature in air-tight cans. When
used, it should be diluted with five times its bulk of warm water.
Condensed milk, when not thoroughly boiled in the process of
condensation, is liable to harbor disease-germs the same as any other
milk.
CREAM.
Cream varies in composition according to the circumstances under which
it rises.
The composition of an average specimen as given by Letherby is:--
Nitrogenous matter............................................ 2.7
Fat.......................................................... 26.7
Sugar of milk................................................. 2.8
Mineral matter................................................ 1.8
Water........................................................ 66.0
In the process of churning; the membranes of casein which surround each
of the little globules constituting the cream are broken, and the fat of
which they are composed becomes a compact mass known as butter. The
watery looking residue containing casein, sugar of milk, mineral matter,
and a small proportion of fat, comprises the buttermilk.
Skim-milk, or milk from which the cream has been removed, and buttermilk
are analogous in chemical composition.
The composition of each, according to Dr. Edward Smith, is:--
SKIM-MILK
Nitrogenous matter......................................... 4.0
Sugar...................................................... 3.8
Fat........................................................ 1.8
Mineral matter............................................. 0.8
Water......................................................88.0
BUTTERMILK
Nitrogenous matter..........................................4.1
Sugar.......................................................3.6
Fat.........................................................0.7
Mineral matter..............................................0.8
Water......................................................88.0
Skim-milk and buttermilk, when the butter is made from sweet cream and
taken fresh, are both excellent foods, although lacking the fat of new
milk.
Cream is more easily digested than butter, and since it contains other
elements besides fat, is likewise more nutritious. In cream the fat is
held in the form of an emulsion which allows it to mingle freely with
water. As previously stated, each atom of fat is surrounded with a film
of casein. The gastric juice has no more power to digest casein than it
has free fat, and the little particles of fat thus protected are carried
to the small intestines, where the pancreatic juice digests them, and on
their way they do not interfere with the stomach digestion of other
foods, as the presence of butter and other free fats may do.
It is because of its greater wholesomeness that in the directions for
the preparation of foods given in this work we have given preference to
the use of cream over that of butter and other free fats. The usual
objection to its use is its expense, and the difficulty of obtaining it
from city dealers. The law of supply and cost generally corresponds with
that of demand, and doubtless cream would prove no exception if its use
were more general.
[Illustration: Creamery.]
Cream may be sterilized and preserved in a pure state for some time, the
same as milk.
Milk requires especial care to secure a good quality and quantity of
cream. Scrupulous cleanliness, good ventilation, and an unvarying
temperature are absolute essentials. The common custom of setting milk
in pans is objectionable, not only because of the dust and germs always
liable to fall into the milk, but also from the difficulty of keeping
milk thus set at the proper temperature for cream-rising. Every family
using milk in any quantity ought to have a set of creameries of large or
small capacity according to circumstances, in which the milk supply can
be kept in a pure, wholesome condition, and so arranged as to facilitate
the full rising of the cream if desired. A very simple and satisfactory
creamery, with space for ice around the milk, similar to that
represented in the accompanying cut, may be constructed by any tinman.
The plan of scalding milk to facilitate the rising of the cream is
excellent, as it not only secures a more speedy rising, but serves to
destroy the germs found in the milk, thus lessening its tendency to
sour. The best way to do this is to heat the milk in a double boiler, or
a dish set inside another containing hot water, to a temperature of 150°
to 165°F. as indicated by wrinkles upon its surface. The milk must not,
however, be allowed to come to a boil. When scalded, it should be cooled
at once to a temperature of about 60° F. and kept thus during the rising
of the cream.
BUTTER.
Of all foods wholly composed of fat, good fresh butter is the most
wholesome. It should, however, be used unmelted and taken in a finely
divided state, and only in very moderate quantities. If exposed to great
heat, as on hot buttered toast, meats, rich pastry, etc., it is quite
indigestible. We do not recommend its use either for the table or for
cooking purposes when cream can be obtained, since butter is rarely
found in so pure a state that it is not undergoing more or less
decomposition, depending upon its age and the amount of casein retained
in the butter through the carelessness of the manufacturer.
Casein, on exposure to air in a moist state, rapidly changes into a
ferment, which, acting upon the fatty matter of the butter, produces
rancidity, rendering the butter more or less unwholesome. Poor, tainted,
or rancid butter should not be used as food in any form.
Good butter is pale yellow, uniform throughout the whole mass, and free
from rancid taste or odor. White lumps in it are due to the
incorporation of sour milk with the cream from which it was produced. A
watery, milk-like fluid exuding from the freshly cut surface of butter,
is evidence that insufficient care was taken to wash out all the
buttermilk, thus increasing its liability to spoil.
The flavor and color of butter vary considerably, according to the breed
and food of the animal from which the milk was obtained. An artificial
color is often given to butter by the use of a preparation of annatto.
Both salt and saltpeter are employed as preservatives for butter; a
large quantity of the former is often used to increase the weight of the
butter.
ARTIFICIAL BUTTER.--Various fraudulent preparations are sold as
butter. Oleomargarine, one of the commonest, is made from tallow or
beef-fat, cleaned and ground like sausage, and heated, to separate the
oil from the membranes. It is then known as "butter-oil," is salted,
cooled, pressed, and churned in milk, colored with annatto, and treated
the same as butter. Butterine, another artificial product, is prepared
by mixing butter-oil and a similar oil obtained from lard, then churning
them with milk.
An eminent analyst gives the following excellent way of distinguishing
genuine butter from oleomargarine:--"When true butter is heated over a
clear flame, it 'browns' and gives out a pleasant odor,--that of browned
butter. In heating there is more or less sputtering, caused by minute
particles of water retained in washing the butter. On the bottom of the
pan or vessel in which true butter is heated, a yellowish-brown crust is
formed, consisting of roasted or toasted casein. When oleomargarine is
heated under similar circumstances, it does not 'brown,' but becomes
darker by overheating, and when heated to dryness, gives off a grayish
steam, smelling of tallow. There is no 'sputtering' when it is being
heated, but it boils easily. If a pledget of cotton or a wick saturated
with oleomargarine be set on fire and allowed to burn a few moments
before being extinguished, it will give out fumes which are very
characteristic, smelling strongly of tallow, while true butter behaves
very differently."
BUTTER IN ANCIENT TIMES.--Two kinds of butter seem to have been
known to the ancient Jews, one quite like that of the present day,
except that it was boiled after churning, so that it became in that warm
climate practically an oil; the other, a sort of curdled milk. The juice
of the Jerusalem artichoke was mixed with the milk, when it was churned
until a sort of curd was separated. The Oriental method of churning was
by putting the milk into a goat-skin and swinging and shaking the bag
until the butter came, as illustrated in the accompanying cut.
[Illustration: Oriental Butter-Making.]
An article still sold as butter in Athens is made by boiling the milk of
goats, allowing it to sour, and then churning in a goat-skin. The result
is a thick, white, foamy substance appearing more like cream than
butter.
BUTTER-MAKING.--The manufacture of good butter is dependent upon
good cows and the care given them, as well as most careful treatment of
the milk and cream. The milk to be used for butter making, as indeed for
all purposes, should be most carefully strained through a wire strainer
covered with three or four thicknesses of perfectly clean cheese cloth.
The following points given by an experienced dairyman will be found
worthy of consideration by all who have to do with the manufacture of
this article:--
"Milk is almost as sensitive to atmospheric changes as mercury itself.
It is a question among many as to what depth milk should be set to get
the most cream. It does not make so much difference as to the depth as
it does the protection of the milk from acid or souring. As soon as the
milk begins to sour, the cream ceases to rise.
"With a clear, dry atmosphere the cream will rise clean in the milk; but
in that condition of the atmosphere which readily sours the milk, the
cream will not rise clean, but seems to hang in the milk, and this even
when the milk is protected by being set in water.
"The benefit of setting milk in cold water is that the water protects
the milk from becoming acid until the cream has time to rise. For cream
to rise readily on milk set in cold water, the atmosphere in the room
should be warmer than the water. As much cream will rise on milk set in
cold water in one hour as on milk not set in water in twenty-four hours.
The milk should be skimmed while sweet, and the cream thoroughly stirred
at each skimming.
"Cream skimmed from different milkings, if churned at the same time in
one churn, should be mixed eight to ten hours before churning; then the
cream will all come alike.
"The keeping qualities of butter depend principally upon two things:
First, the buttermilk must be all gotten out; and secondly, the grain of
the butter should be kept as perfect as possible. Butter should not be
allowed to be churned after it has fairly come, and should not be
gathered compactly in the churn in taking out, but the buttermilk should
be drained from the butter in the churn, through a hair sieve, letting
the butter remain in the churn. Then take water and turn it upon the
butter with sufficient force to pass through the butter, and in
sufficient quantity to rinse the buttermilk all out of the butter. With
this process of washing the butter the grain is not injured or mashed,
and is thus far kept perfect. And in working in the salt the ladle or
roll or worker, whatever it is, should never be allowed to slip on the
butter,--if it does, it will destroy the grain,--but it should go upon
the butter in a pressing or rolling motion."
Test the temperature of the cream with a thermometer, and churn it at
60° in summer and 62° in winter. If the butter is soft, it may be
hardened by pouring onto it while working a brine made by dissolving a
pint of salt in ten quarts of water. The salt used in the butter should
be carefully measured, three fourths of an ounce of salt to the pound
being the usual allowance.
Butter, like milk, absorbs odors readily, and should never be allowed to
remain in occupied rooms or any place exposed to strong or foul odors,
but be kept covered in a cold place.
CHEESE.
Cheese is a product of milk prepared by separating the casein, with more
or less of the cream, according to the manner in which it has been
prepared, from the other ingredients of the milk. It is an article,
which, although possessing a large proportion, of nutritive material, is
very difficult of digestion, and the use of which is very questionable,
not only for this reason, but because it is very liable to contain a
poison called tyrotoxicon, capable of producing most violent and indeed
fatal results, according to the remarkable researches of Prof. Vaughan
of Michigan University. This poison is sometimes found in ice cream and
custards, cream-puffs, etc., made from stale milk or cream.
It is much better to use milk in its fresh, natural state than in any of
its products. Made into either butter or cheese, we lose some of its
essential elements, so that what is left is not a perfect food.
_RECIPES_
HOT MILK.--Milk is more easily digested when used hot. This is not
due to any marked chemical change in the milk, but to the stimulating
effect of heat upon the palate and stomach.
To prepare hot milk, heat it in a double boiler until a wrinkled skin
appears upon the surface. In the double boiler it may be kept at the
proper temperature for a long time without difficulty, and thus
prepared, it forms one of the most healthful of foods.
Milk, either cold or hot, should be taken a few sips only at a time, and
not be drank in copious draughts when used in connection with other
foods at mealtime. It will then coagulate in the stomach in small flakes
much more easily digested than the large mass resulting when a large
quantity is swallowed at a time.
DEVONSHIRE OR CLOTTED CREAM.--This is prepared as follows: Strain
the milk as it comes fresh from the cow into a deep pan which will fit
tightly over a kettle in which water can be boiled, and set away in a
cool well-ventilated place, where it should be allowed to remain
undisturbed from eight to twelve hours or longer. Then take the pan up
very carefully so as not to disturb the cream, place over a kettle of
water, heat to near the boiling point, or until a rim of bubbles half an
inch wide forms all around the dish of milk. It must not, however, be
allowed to boil, or the cream will be injured. Now lift the pan again
with equal care back to a cool place and allow it to stand from twelve
to twenty-four hours longer. The cream should be a compact mass of
considerable thickness, and may be divided with a knife into squares of
convenient size before skimming. It is delicious for use on fruit and
grains.
COTTAGE CHEESE.--This dish is usually prepared from milk which has
curdled from lack of proper care, or from long standing exposed to the
air, and which is thus in some degree decomposing. But the fact that the
casein of the milk is coagulated by the use of acids makes it possible
to prepare this dish in a more wholesome manner without waiting for
decomposition of the milk. Add to each four quarts of milk one cupful of
lemon juice; let it stand until coagulated, then heat slowly, but do not
boil, until the curd has entirely separated from the whey. Turn the
whole into a colander lined with a square of clean cheese cloth, and
drain off the whey. Add to the curd a little salt and cream, mix all
together with a spoon or the hands, and form into cakes or balls for the
table. The use of lemon gives a delicious flavor, which may be
intensified, if desired, by using a trifle of the grated yellow rind.
COTTAGE CHEESE FROM BUTTERMILK.--Place a pail of fresh buttermilk
in a kettle of boiling water, taking care to have sufficient water to
come up even with the milk in the pail. Let the buttermilk remain until
it is heated throughout to about 140°, which can be determined by
keeping a thermometer in the milk and stirring it frequently. When it is
sufficiently heated, empty the curd into strong muslin bags and hang up
to drain for several hours. If properly scalded and drained, the curd
will be quite dry and may be seasoned and served the same as other
cottage cheese. If scalded too much, it will be watery.