Before using the churn, it should be scalded for one min-
ute with boiling water, then emptied, and partly filled with
very cold water for five minutes : after that, the water may
be poured out, and the cream put into the chum. Very
thick cream should be thinned with milk before churning.
When the cream froths much in the chum, the butter should
be used soon after it is made, because there is some condi-
tion of the milk or cream which will prevent the keeping
of the butter. Chum with a series of steady, even strokes,
about sixty to the minute, and stop when the butter comes
in small, firm masses. At some seasons it is necessary to put
some very cold milk, or a piece of ice, into the churn before
the butter will come ; this may be done if it does not begin
to appear in about half an hour : butter comes in about half
an hour when the cream is at a temperature of about 65° Fah,
When the butter comes, if it is very soft, put ice or very
cold water into the churn so that it will harden enough to
be taken up. Remove the butter from the churn, to a clean
14 PRACTICAL AMERICAN COOKERY. -
table or butter-tray, with a wooden paddle, first wetting both
in very cold water. Never use the hands in working butter.
With the ladle, cut down through the butter, and press it
firmly, to work out the buttermilk ; but do not smooth it,
because that breaks the grain of the butter. If the weather
is warm enough to make the butter soft, put a piece of ice
upon it, and trust to the second working to eixtract the water.
When the buttermilk is worked out, spread the butter out on
the tray or table, sprinkle over it the finest dairy-salt, — about
an ounce of salt to a pound of butter, — and then, using the
same cutting motion, thoroughly work the salt into the butter.
Some butter-makers add about a quarter of an ounce of fine
white sugar✪ Butter Making to each pound of butter at the first or second
working : the sugar is a good corrective to any trace of bit-
terness in the butter, and helps preserve it. After the salt
has been worked into the butter, put it away to harden again.
When the butter is hard, repeat the working with the ladle,
to work out all the water, and use a cloth repeatedly wrung
out of ice-water to pat the butter while working it ; do not
work long enough to soften the butter, but extract all the
moisture, so that a clean surface is presented when cut, with
only a slight dew upon it. Then either make it up in pats
or rolls, wrap each one in a wet cloth, and sink them in
brine, or pack the butter in firkins as directed .below. The
butter should be of a rich yellow color, sweet and nutty in
flavor, and showing a fine close grain when broken, or an
even surface slightly bedewed with colorless moisture when
cut. Freezing does not impair the taste or keeping-quality
of butter r but if it is long exposed to the air, it is apt to
become rancid upon the surface ; and this rancidity gradually
penetrates the entire mass, and develops an acid which is
poisonous when brought into contact with any copper surface.
All packed butter should be put into firkins or tubs made
of hard wood, — oak or hemlock, — which have been soaked
THE KITCHEN, PANTRY, AND CELLAR. 1 5
Page 18 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1885. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Before using the churn, it should be scalded for one minute with boiling water, then emptied, and partly filled with very cold water for five minutes : after that, the water may be poured out, and the cream put into the chum. Very thick cream should be thinned with milk before churning. When the cream froths much in the chum, the butter should be used soon after it is made, because there is some condition of the milk or cream which will prevent the keeping of the butter. Chum with a series of steady, even strokes, about sixty to the minute, and stop when the butter comes in small, firm masses. At some seasons it is necessary to put some very cold milk, or a piece of ice, into the churn before the butter will come ; this may be done if it does not begin to appear in about half an hour : butter comes in about half an hour when the cream is at a temperature of about 65° Fah,
When the butter comes, if it is very soft, put ice or very cold water into the churn so that it will harden enough to be taken up. Remove the butter from the churn, to a clean
table or butter-tray, with a wooden paddle, first wetting both in very cold water. Never use the hands in working butter. With the ladle, cut down through the butter, and press it firmly, to work out the buttermilk ; but do not smooth it, because that breaks the grain of the butter. If the weather is warm enough to make the butter soft, put a piece of ice upon it, and trust to the second working to extract the water. When the buttermilk is worked out, spread the butter out on the tray or table, sprinkle over it the finest dairy-salt, — about an ounce of salt to a pound of butter, — and then, using the same cutting motion, thoroughly work the salt into the butter. Some butter-makers add about a quarter of an ounce of fine white sugar to each pound of butter at the first or second working : the sugar is a good corrective to any trace of bitterness in the butter, and helps preserve it. After the salt has been worked into the butter, put it away to harden again. When the butter is hard, repeat the working with the ladle, to work out all the water, and use a cloth repeatedly wrung out of ice-water to pat the butter while working it ; do not work long enough to soften the butter, but extract all the moisture, so that a clean surface is presented when cut, with only a slight dew upon it. Then either make it up in pats or rolls, wrap each one in a wet cloth, and sink them in brine, or pack the butter in firkins as directed .below. The butter should be of a rich yellow color, sweet and nutty in flavor, and showing a fine close grain when broken, or an even surface slightly bedewed with colorless moisture when cut. Freezing does not impair the taste or keeping-quality of butter, but if it is long exposed to the air, it is apt to become rancid upon the surface ; and this rancidity gradually penetrates the entire mass, and develops an acid which is poisonous when brought into contact with any copper surface. All packed butter should be put into firkins or tubs made of hard wood, — oak or hemlock, — which have been soaked
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Butter Making