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Post by: philldodilldo(22259) 2005-11-04 19:11:41 |
String after conversion: Butter – the everlasting delight of the gourmand, the faithful ally of the culinary arts, the constant symbol of good living. Through time and across the globe, butter has had a sacred quality. From the ancient Fertile Crescent to the present day, butter has symbolized the powerful, life giving and sacred, the good, the happy, the healthy and pure. It has sustained lives, cultures and civilizations for millennia. Butter is a culinary treasure as old as King Tut’s tomb. "She brought forth butter in a lordly dish" (Judges 5:25). A jug of wine, a loaf of bread – and butter! Pure butter is produced today essentially as it was in King Tut’s time, though butter made of milk from cows instead of camels or water buffaloes. It takes 21 pounds of fresh, wholesome cow’s milk to make each pound of butter like the pat of butter on waxed paper (at right) at a French farm in Brittany. We have record of its use as early as 2,000 years before Christ. The Bible is interspersed with references to butter, the product of milk from the cow. Not only has it been regarded from time immemorial as a food fit for the gods, but its use appears to have been divinely recommended and its users promised certain immunities against evil. Butter was the only food ever defined by an Act of the U.S. Congress prior to the enactment of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938. The word butter comes from bou-tyron, which seems to mean "cowcheese" in Greek. Some scholars think, however, that the word was borrowed from the language of the northern and butterophagous Scythians, who herded cattle; Greeks lived mostly from sheep and goats whose milk, which they consumed mainly as cheese, was relatively low in butter (or butyric) fat. Naturally, it is presumed that in four thousand years there has been considerable improvement in the manufacture of butter although we, of course, know little more of the method by which Sarah produced butter for the angels than we know of the means employed in the construction of the pyramids. The earliest details of method of manufacture are derived from the Arabs and Syrians, who appear to be as well satisfied with the original process of making butter as they are with other habits, since they have remained unchanged for centuries. The original practice of the Arabs and Syrians, so far as is known, was to use vessel made from goatskin for a churn. The animal was skinned, the skin sewed up tight, leaving an opening only at the left foreleg, where the cream was poured in. The "churn" was then suspended from the tent poles and swung until the "butter comes." This, incidentally, is the earliest known process of making butter. Little is known of the part which butter played as an article of commerce in ancient times. In the first centuries butter was shipped from India to ports of the Red Sea. In the 12th century, Scandinavian butter was an article of oversee commerce. The Germans sent ships to Bergen, in Norway, and exchanged their cargoes of wine for butter and dried fish. It is interesting to note that the Scandinavian king considered this practice injurious to his people, and in 1186 compelled the Germans to withdraw their trade. Toward the end of the 13th century, among the enumerated wares of commerce, imported from thirty-four countries into Belgium, Norway was the only one, which included butter. In the 14th century, butter formed an article of export from Sweden. It may be fairly inferred that butter making in north and middle Europe, if not indeed in all Europe, was introduced from Scandinavia. In 1817, and later, butter was discovered buried, and packed in firkins (small, wooden vessel or cask) usually holding 112 English hundredweight. Some of the commonest archaeological finds in Ireland are barrels of ancient butter, buried in the bogs. The Norsemen, the Finns, the Icelanders, and the Scots had done the same: they flavored butter heavily with garlic, knuckled it into a wooden firkin, and buried it for years in the bogs‑for so long that people were known to plant trees to mark the butter's burial site. The longer it was left, the more delicious it became. A further advantage was doubtless the safety of supplies from robbers, or enemies in wartime. Most of the Irish archaeological specimens date from the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Although some of our sources imply that bog butter turned red, the firkins in the Irish National Museum contain "a grayish cheese‑like substance, partially hardened, not much like butter, and quite free from putrefaction" because of the cool, antiseptic, anaerobic, and acidic properties of peat bogs. John Houghton, an Englishman, writing on dairying in 1695, speaks of the Irish as rotting their butter by burying it in bogs. This burying of butter in the peat bogs of Ireland may have been for the purpose of storing against a time of need, to hid it from invaders, or to ripen it for the purpose of developing flavor in a manner similar to cheese ripening. Archeologists found a deposit of butter buried in peat bogs found wrapped in a skin in County Leitrim, and another packed in a tub with perforated wooden handles in County Tyrone, Ireland. It is believed possible that the practice of burying butter in Ireland ceased about the end of the 18th century and that many of the specimens which have been found are of far greater antiquity (11th to 14th century). The large number of specimens found, some of which weighed over 100 pounds, suggests that the burying of butter must have been a widespread practice in Ireland. Similar deposits of buried butter were also discovered in Finland. Various other methods of packaging butter have been found mentioned in a variety of sources. A news item in the December 4, 1907 issue of the New York Produce Review and American Creamery tells of a traveler in Central Africa in 1872 being offered butter wrapped in leaves and then covered with a layer of cow dung which upon drying kept air from the butter. Repeated references are found in the literature of instances where pats of butter are cited as being "wrapped in cool cabbage leaves or freshly cut grass" -- a practice, which appeared to be rather common in various parts of Europe. As a matter of fact, it was a common practice in the earlier days of the South Water Street market in Chicago, for farmers to refrigerate their shipments of butter transported in open wagons by covering the same with grass freshly cut while still wet with dew. Dairy work included milking, making cream and butter, and also the sophisticated art of making cheese. |
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Post by: philldodilldo(22259) 2005-11-04 19:12:02 |
In Europe it was always done by women. The word "dairy" is from Middle English dey ‑ a female servant. The dairy was associated with the house as opposed to the lands; "inside" has always been female in the Western imagination, and "outside" male, so that the man's place was in the public eye while the woman's was at home. Also, milk was perhaps considered self‑evidently a woman's affair. History records that a primary object of keeping cows was to supply the needs of the family for milk and butter. Butter was produced almost universally in olden times because it was more essential in the diet of most people, although it was several centuries before the consumption of fresh butter became established custom. The art of making butter, therefore, originated in the home. As communities expanded and frontiers were pushed back with the growth of nations, many families were gradually forced to procure their supplies of milk and butter from farmers located in their vicinity. Then, as populations became more congested, and as cities sprang up, butter making on farms became more and more important. As our larger cities developed, important tracing areas also developed resulting eventually in the establishment of Boards of Trade and later in Mercantile Exchanges in New York and Chicago, for example. The farm production of butter began to assume definite shape at least as early as 1791 as Willard stated in 1871 that "Orange County located 50 miles north of New York City had for 80 years devoted its chief attention to butter making and the production of fresh milk for the New York City Market." "Dairy butter," as this product made on the farm was called, made up for sale was oftentimes collected as "pats," "balls," "rolls" and even "prints." Butter stamps and molds, carved in various styles and patterns, were used in dairies to decorate blocks or rounds of butter. This was particularly true in the Philadelphia market which long enjoyed high reputation for fine dairy butter. It was not uncommon for such "Philadelphia butter" to sell at a dollar per pound and even higher where the prevailing market prices were around 20 cents per pound or less. This fine Philadelphia butter was defined as: "Our idea is that butter -- such butter as would give a man an appetite to look at, to smell of and taste of -- is as far removed from an oily, fatty, or tallowy substance as possible... a firm, fine- grained article, of rich golden color, sweet, nutty aromatic smell and unctuous taste, put up in pound or half-pound lumps, whether square or round, and which, when opened out from its moist, then white linen wrapper, invites both the senses of smell and taste." In the late 19th century, marketing butter was thought to be the easiest part of the whole process, or the least important, judging by the manner in which it was done. If the maker was near a market, it was often put into half-pound or pound lumps, and printed or stamped with some emblematic device, such as a sheaf of wheat, a cow, a beehive, or the maker's initials. After the final working, a lump is cut off with the clapper, placed upon the scales, and either added to or taken from, always being sure to give rather over than under a pound. It is then taken from the scale by one clapper (roughly a spoon) in the right hand, and with the other clapper in the left, it is worked over into a ball by a few expert touches; and while held on the left-hand clapper, the right-hand one having been exchanged for the stamp-mould is dipped in cold water to prevent its sticking to the lump, and then pressed firmly upon it, then withdrawn, leaving a beautiful raised impression of the stamp upon it, and adding to its attractions. The fashion was to make the lumps square, which was more convenient for use and for packing in the market tray. When it was all stamped, it was set aside in a cold place to thoroughly harden; in a tray in the spring-house water was best. When about to market it, each pound or roll was wrapped in a linen cloth taken out of ice water or cold spring water, and laid upon the shelf of the tray or tub. In the winter, the butter was often kept in a square box with a sliding lid and several shelves. In the summer, it was common to have a large tub made of cedar, with an inner tin vessel, with a well in each end for broken ice, an oil cloth covering, and shelves on each side of them on which the butter was placed, and was removed as it was sold. Refrigeration was not common. Beginning in 1806, Boston traders conducted extensive commerce in enormous blocks of Arctic ice, towed to destinations all over the Atlantic world. In 1851, the first refrigerated rail car, cooled by natural ice, brought butter from Ogdensburg, New York, to Boston. Ice, however, remained, in most of the world, an expensive commodity, which could never be the basis of industrial freezing. The solution was the compressed-gas cooler, perfected in Australia in the 1870s (for brewing), and later used worldwide. The linen wrappers or napkins used in the Philadelphia market for covering the print butter were often washed, ironed and returned by customers to the dealers in their market stalls. |
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Post by: philldodilldo(22259) 2005-11-04 19:12:23 |
In other areas, the rolls, pats, or prints produced on dairy farms for sale were wrapped in freshly laundered pieces of cloth rags of either white or colored and printed fabrics which lead to the adoption of that rather descriptive term -- "shirt-tail wrappers." Cheesecloth was early adopted as an economical wrapper in the place of the linen wrappers or napkins used in Philadelphia and later replaced with a "butter" or "dairy cloth" made expressly for the purpose of wrapping rolls, pats and prints. Blocks of butter ready for wrapping on a table on the Coulter farm, early 20th century in Chilliwack, Canada. In the 1880's and 1890's, paraffin paper later replaced by vegetable parchment were used as wrappers in place of the various cloth fabrics. It might be mentioned in passing, however, that Hazard was not unaware of the possibilities of paper as a wrapper, for in his text can be found a statement relative to keeping butter fresh, which reads as follows: "...it is then wrapped in clean white paper which has been coated on both sides with a preparation of white of egg and fifteen grains of salt to each egg, the paper then dried, and heated before the fire, or with a hot iron just before it is applied to the rolls of butter." Concerning the molding and packing of butter in California in 1870, butter was sent to market in barrels, half-barrels and in two-pound rolls placed in packages. The rolls were made three inches in diameter and nearly seven inches long. A mold used for the purpose of forming these rolls had two iron handles crossing each other on a pivot and used similarly to a pair of nippers. By applying pressure on the two handles, butter was compressed in the mold into a solid roll. The roll was smoothed by rolling with a wooden paddle following which each roll of butter was wrapped in cloth. Fine cambric cloth cut in strips long enough to surround the roll and wide enough to leave about one-half inch of cloth at each end served as the wrapper. The wrapped rolls were then set on end in an oblong box of either cedar or redwood and securely held in place with the cover fastened down. Such rolls were supplied the San Francisco market. In 1877 Vermont, if the butter was to be packed into tubs, it was best not to put in small pieces at a time and pound it in, but rig up a lever and put in enough to half fill the tub at a time, and press it firmly down. This would retain the grain of the butter. The butter maker would put the butter up in pound prints. Not using a mold -- it gave the butter a dull look. They would press it into the form of a brick with a stout paddle, and press cross lines on one side with the edge of the paddle. Each pound would be wrapped in a piece of white cloth. Print butter would be shipped in a neat clean package, nicely painted on the outside. In 1894, the "World's Largest Creamery" was located at St. Albens, Vermont which was reputed to have made 25,000 pounds of butter daily. In those earlier days, butter making was largely the province of the farm wife. A "cool hand" was the term used for giftedness in butter‑making: kneading butter required swift, firm movements and a low temperature. When a farmer from an English county like Cheshire, famous for its dairy produce, sought a wife, he chose brawn over delicacy every time. In one village it was traditional for a young girl to lift the immensely heavy lid of the parish chest with one hand, to show how desirable she was. She first skimmed the cream from the surface milk allowed to "set" in shallow bowls or pails. The cream was then usually churned in the old familiar wooden cooper-made dash churn invariably referred to as an instrument of torture by those who, as boys, had to operate them. Other forms of churns were introduced from time to time, such as rocker churns, swing churns, circular churns with revolving paddles and square box churns swung by diagonal corners -- none of them, however, becoming sufficiently popular to displace the dash churn until the barrel churn was later developed for factory use. These farm wives of earlier days often used their butter as barter at the general stores in small country towns or trading centers in exchange for merchandise needed at home. The more enterprising storekeepers would encourage those ladies whose products they recognized as being of superior quality, to use different types, and incidentally ever-increasing sizes, of containers as packages for their product. Wooden pails holding five or ten pounds were used as well as earthenware crocks. Bradley butter boxes of circular construction with wooden slip covers and made of spruce or maple-veneer were popular in New England and New York State in the 1880's. |
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Post by: philldodilldo(22259) 2005-11-04 19:12:38 |
Also, tapered spruce tubs were used to some extent on farms. Wooden containers thus came into general use, as other materials were not generally available such as paperboard, for example. Woodworking was extensive in those earlier days and as a matter of fact, the first utensils used on farms making butter were mostly made of wood. While some store proprietors encouraged farm wives to pack their product in tubs, Bradley boxes and the like, most of the farm butter brought into the general store was in the form of "pats" or "rolls." As a matter of fact, butter "rolls" became known as cash-weight rolls. As more and more farm butter was produced, local markets could not consume it all locally and therefore it was shipped to ladlers and renovating plants located in central points. The best butter was sorted out and reworked, packed and sent to the market under various trade names. The poorer grades were sent to renovating plants where the butter was melted, and the butterfat was mixed with skim milk and reworked. The renovating plant was placed under Federal supervision and required a special license. Adulteration of butter became a menace and to further confuse the public, colored oleomargarine was offered for sale as butter. With the Nation growing and ever expanding the frontiers, the demand for fresh butter increased. The start of the factory system of making butter is not too well established. However, the experience related by one D. Hall in a letter to the Editor of Chicago Dairy Produce in 1899 is illustrative of how the trend to creamery operations developed: "In about the years 1859 and 1860 the farmers began looking for some way to widen out in the dairy business, as our neighbors in the adjoining county were building cheese factories and reaping the benefit of a foreign market for their output. But the war breaking out in 1861 gave a backseat to the prospect in our locality... In 1865 the first cheese factory in our town was erected... After running for about three summers it was decided not a paying institution, and the building was sold, and the machinery also to a new man... By now the farmers began to see that in localities where there were factories they were doing better. This started them to locating factories from six to 10 miles apart over the country when milk could be obtained. In 1869 and 1870 dairymen began to combine butter making and cheese factories. We built a pool about 20 feet square, placing a partition each way through the middle, so each end could be drained and cleaned without disturbing the others. Of course all factories must have running water. It was thought that unless a good spring could be had there was no use of a factory. We took milk both morning and night. The night's milk was strained in the long, shotgun cans and placed in the pool. In the morning these were removed and the cream taken off with the funnel skimmer. The milk was turned into vats, while the morning's milk was weighed and strained in with it. This gave us what we claimed was a slight skimmed cheese... The cream was churned in the old-fashioned dash churn and (now we have our first worker) which was the old lever worker, which all creamery men are familiar with... This working was partly done, the butter set aside for three to six hours, then reworked and packed in firkins... and placed in a cellar. Instead of putting the cloth and salt on top, we bored a hole in the top head of the firkin and filled the space with strong brine made from salt and salt-Peter, going over the whole lot once a week, so as to keep the firkins full of brine. Perhaps some of you readers will ask how did we ship... at this time? I will say that in 1867 we got, by furnishing heavy bonds, a railroad through our valley and from then on it seemed that all roads wished to come our way." The early creameries in this country followed what was termed "the whole milk system." This term refers to the practice whereby farmers delivered their whole milk supplies to the factory or creamery daily or at frequent intervals. In the very early creameries, the whole milk would be collected in so-called Cooley cans which when sufficiently full of whole milk were placed in pools of spring water to cool and "set" (or cream). The cream was then skimmed off with hand dippers and when a sufficient quantity was thus collected, the cream was churned. Later, centrifugal separators were used for removing the cream from the whole milk following the introduction of the DeLaval Cream Separator from Sweden into this country in 1879. The whole milk system of creamery operation was satisfactory as long as the milk was brought from territories fairly contiguous to the creamery. |
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Post by: philldodilldo(22259) 2005-11-04 19:13:10 |
However, as more farmers took up dairying, enterprising manufacturers developed and offered small hand separators for use on the farms. With either hand or other power, these machines separated the cream, which was cooled and ready for its transport to the creamery. This left the skim milk with the farmer, which was valuable as, feed for calves and hogs. The introduction of the hand separator revolutionized the creamery business. Big plants were established over a wide territory and frequently cream was shipped hundreds of miles to the factory and was made possible by the growth and expansion of the railroads. This system of creamery operation became known as "the gathered cream system" chiefly because of the long hauls or as "centralized creamery system" as the big factories could be located in strategic railroad or trade centers. Incidentally, the centralized system became common practice in the Middle West where the greatest expansion in the creamery business took place. The question as to when and where the first creamery was started has never been satisfactorily resolved. Records indicate that a factory was established by Alanson Slaughter at Walkill, New York in 1861, another at Middletown, New York in 1863 with others in New York State the following year. Factories wee also started in Illinois in 1867. All of these plants, however, made both butter and cheese. The Elgin Butter Company was established in Elgin, Illinois in 1871 following the visitation of Dr. Joseph Tefft and others to Orange County, New York to learn the essentials of butter making as practiced in that celebrated district which then had its high reputation for the best quality dairy butter. This creamery was engaged in the manufacture of butter only and got its start by utilizing the surplus milk from the condensed milk factory of Gail Borden located in that city. In 1872, John Stewart erected a creamery in Manchester, Iowa and later "wrote history" by winning the Grand Sweepstakes at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876 thus advising the world that good quality creamery butter could be made west of the Allegheny Mountains -- in fact, even west of the Mississippi River. Elgin, Illinois later became the Butter Capitol of the World because of its renown for fine creamery butter whereas Iowa and later Wisconsin and Minnesota also came in for their just share of recognition as quality butter producing states. From Illinois and Iowa, the creamery operations spread rapidly throughout the western United States, across the prairie states and out to the Pacific Coast, California later sending some of her product to eastern markets when prices were attractive. The factory system of butter making made rapid strides and received tremendous impetus through the introduction of the centrifugal cream separator and the invention of simple method by which the exact butter fat content of milk and cream could be determined by the creamery operator. Before the days of this Babcock test, milk was purchased in bulk regardless of its fat value. With its discovery in 1890 and its subsequently rapid adoption by the dairy industry, a factor of control was introduced which in its absence would have doubtlessly retarded progress in dairy operations. |
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Post by: philldodilldo(22259) 2005-11-04 19:13:25 |
Bonnyville Creamery built in 1924 and operated till 1969. Another example of a local creamery is the Bonnyville Creamery in Bonnyville (Alberta) Canada. At this time, butter bought at the grocery store came in two categories: "dairy," made by the farmer's wife or "creamery," made by the factory or plant. The Bonnyville Creamery was constructed and began operation in 1924. Pioneer settlers in the area, previous to this time, used the cream produced by their cows mainly for home consumption. Any surplus of raw cream could be sold to customers in Bonnyville or the home churned butter was sold or bartered at the general store for the farmer's necessary supplies. The newly established creamery, in the first year of operation, produced ove 56k pounds of butter with Mr. A. Blanchard as the first buttermaker. Of this total, 52k pounds were sold through the Provincial Department Marketing Service for 31.27 cents per pound. The Department had outlets in Alberta and British Columbia with shipments also being made to England, China and Japan. Annual production increased significantly to 388k pounds by 1940. In those intervening Depression years, Cliff's helping hand with cash advances will be remembered by many needy cream shippers. The cream was delivered to the creamery in a variety of containers from eight and five gallon cans down to five pound lard pails and creamers. No matter how small, the cream cheques provided many farmers' wives with a bit of "pin money" for desired purchases. As the traffic in butter increased, larger containers came into more general use and became popular as they permitted shipment of their contained butter to more distant markets. Dairies became neighborhood affairs where one farmer did the churning for a few of his more immediate neighbors. In the last half of the 19th Century, small shipments developed into traffic whereby the bulk of the stock to reach New York City, for example, came by river boats. Many of the dairies in these areas developed a craftsmanship and quality of product that had an appreciable trace acceptance even in the early 1900's. Many of these dairies made a good deal of butter during the summer and early Fall, packing the summer product (or "June" butter as it was commonly called) in casks or "firkins" holding an English hundredweight of 112 pounds. Some grocers for the home retail trade liked it. In packing these firkins, it was common practice to bore a small hole in the head, just before shipping, and pour in as much clear, well skimmed brine as was required to fill any vacancies between the butter and the package, thus displacing the air, and closing the hole with a well fitting peg cut off flush with the surface. The firkin owed its popularity as a bulk butter container because it permitted the storage of butter without quality impairment and without refrigeration. It kept butter in good condition in the springhouse on the farm, in a commission-house cellar in New York or Chicago or in the hold of a ship rounding Cape Horn enroute to the Orient. To consider some of the problems confronting the makers of dairy butter in the 19th Century, here is a letter addressed to the Editor of the Chicago Dairy Produce in 1899 concerning the experiences of one D. Hall in the days of dairy butter: On the Chenango River, in Chenago, NY, in 1864. "Having been born in New York in the year 1844 upon a farm on the Chenango River and in the county of the same name, I have seen the growth of the dairy business of that state. My first experience was with sheep and cows, as most farmers kept both. We used the old-fashioned 10-quart pan, straining the milk in these and letting it set in a milk room to rise, using a tin skimmer when the cream was ready to skim. We kept our cream from two to three days, stirring it as often as we came into the room and also when we put in fresh cream. We used a dash churn for a number of years, and then purchased a crank churn with a dash inside, which turned and thereby agitated the cream. We always stopped churning as soon as the butter had gathered enough to draw off the buttermilk. The butter was washed in the churn, and then removed to a large wooden bowl in which it was mixed with the salt, but not worked too much to injure the grain. The butter was set away in the cellar until the next day, when we re-worked it in the same bowl, using a ladle (there were no workers in those days) until we had it the desired shade, which every dairyman knows but can hardly describe. The butter was now packed into 100-pound firkins and it usually took two or three churnings to fill each. Then a cloth wet with brine made of saltpeter was placed over the top and the space filled with wet salt. (Now, boys, don't kick because we used an `embalming fluid' over our butter, as I think if some of us would use the same plan nowadays there would be less butter with strong tops.) These firkins were kept in the cellar from about the 20th of May until late in the Fall, or until it got cold enough so buyers could ship to New York City, as this was our only market. And how do you think we shipped? Why, by the `raging canal' -- the old Chenango canal to Utica, then the Erie canal to Albany, then down the Hudson River to New York City. No railroads in those days." Popular as the firkin was as a bulk butter container, its contents oftentimes became tainted with woody flavors. When gold was discovered in the Yukon, the affluent miners were willing to pay any price in order to satisfy their taste for fine butter. Perishable foods were unknown delicacies in the Arctic Zone. Butter, of course, was one of these perishables. Suppliers in the United States working on the problem found that butter sealed in cans from which the air had been exhausted was still creamy and fresh months later. Thus, the discovery of gold in Alaska gave impetus to the canning of butter in tin containers -- a practice that was later followed in supplying export demand and for expeditions to remote and unknown regions. |
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Post by: philldodilldo(22259) 2005-11-04 19:13:45 |
The U.S. Navy became interested in this method of packing butter and in 1912 considerable effort was made to secure a grade of canned sweet butter that could be carried for a long time in almost any climate. It took a couple of years of hard work to get the butter up to the required standard, but in 1914 substantial orders for millions of pounds of such butter were placed by the U.S. Navy, which orders were filled satisfactorily but only with the cooperation of a hundred or more plants in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Chief Rawl of the Dairy Division of the Department of Agriculture became so interested in the development that he suggested that this sweet cream butter be put on the commercial market -- which was finally done. Thus, today the sweet cream butter sold in many markets throughout the United States that has enjoyed an ever-increasing market had its origin in the "strike" of gold in the Yukon in 1861. The butter crock has evolved over the years. Historically, a butter pot was a different type of container. It was a large, cylindrical or slightly bulbous vessel, taller than it is wide, used to store dairy products and carry butter to the markets. Large Norman butter pots date back to at least post-medieval Welsh borderland kiln-sites. They were cylindrical vessels with or without a handle, and often with internal glaze. 3-gallon urn from Doulton Lambeth, London. The trade of making butter pots for the easier marketing of butter developed in the town of Burslem. Thus Burslem earned the position of mother town of the Potteries. (Before 1700, potters were criticised for digging holes in the roads to obtain clay -- a practice which gave rise to the term 'potholes'.) An example of early butter-pots, made in the 1640s, were unearthed in Burslem, center of the butter-pot industry from the earliest days. The Burslem pots were well made of common clay, without glaze, and were marked in "rude letters" Cartwright on a relief two inches in diameter. This was the warranty that the pots were of the proper size. At that time shysters tried to hoodwink the butter-buying public by various means: false bottoms, or too heavy or too lightweight wares to insure proper weights of butter to the ultimate consumers. Finally, in 1670 Parliament passed a law that these utensils had to weigh not more than six pounds, had to hold fourteen pounds of butter, and were to be of hard quality to prevent them from absorbing water from the butter. To insure and/or enforce the law, surveyors (inspectors) were hired to spot-check the contents; so rather than depend on weight alone they used an auger-type "butter boare" which was inserted obliquely to the bottom, removed, and check/tested to assure that the butter the same all the way through. This was, after a fashion, an early day pure food act. The right pot This is not a butter pot. Rather, this Melbourne pattern Chamber pot has large, yellow and crimson red Poppy like flowers with pale blue florals on the handle. Potter Frank Gosar’s grandmother told a slightly scandalous story from her childhood in Slovenia about a butter pot. There was an old woman in her village who made clarified butter to sell. She'd save the cream from her cows, churn the butter, then melt it on the wood stove and pour it into her old grey stoneware crock. Once a week, on market day, she'd go into town and sell butter by the scoop to all the housewives there. Well, one day she sold all her butter early, before noon, so she had a little time to go looking at the other stalls in the market. In one booth she came across a lovely big pot, all painted in flowers, with handles on the side. She thought, "If my butter sells so well from my old grey pot, think how much faster it would sell from this pretty new one." And she bought the pot.\ You know what's coming, of course. The next market day, nobody bought any butter. The city women just giggled and pointed, and wouldn't tell her why. It fell to the gatekeeper at the end of the day to explain to her what a chamber pot was, and why it wasn't the best container for displaying and selling her butter. |
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Post by: philldodilldo(22259) 2005-11-04 19:14:01 |
Along with the changes in butter making wrought by the advent of creameries, there developed also a change in the type of bulk package. The firkin began to lose ground and early in 1863 white ash 60-pound tubs were introduced in the west. They found such favorable acceptance that it was not long before they came into quite general use. In the east, the spruce tub was favored probably due to the fact that Vermont and northern New York State butter was packed in 20, 40 and 60-pound sizes made of that wood. The tub came into general favor as both dairymen and creamery men became shippers, their product finding its way to markets such as New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago where it was sold through commission houses and brokers. There were some variations in the size and style of such packages which becomes understandable when it is recognized that the dairymen had to take into consideration the fact that his butter must go forward every week and accordingly he was governed in the size of the package by the amount he would have to ship. In the Chicago market, the 40 or 50 pound ash tub was preferred by this type of shipper whereas the creamery men, whose chief business was to manufacture butter in large quantities, adopted as their favorite package the 60-pound, 5-hoop, hand-made, clear ash tub, well put together, without glue or nails. For years, there was a controversy between the east and the west as to the relative merits of ash versus spruce tubs. As the years passed, suitable white ash became increasingly scarce, and some of the tub manufacturers turned to the Sitka spruce and Douglas fir forests of the Northern Pacific Coast. These woods were relatively free from flavor and made attractive containers. The early made tubs contained five wooden hoops, but in 1917 the use of three galvanized steel hoops for the tubs and a galvanized beaded steel rim for the tub covers was introduced, and they replaced the five wooden hoops. The original size of the tubs was 56 pounds -- the "half firkin" container for the "fresh ends" as formerly quoted on the New York market. For economical and progressive reasons, savings in cost of manufacture and handling, the size gradually crept up in capacity from 56 pounds to 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64 and 65 pounds. Pioneers in the manufacture of butter tubs were the Creamery Package Manufacturing Company originally founded in 1882 and the Elgin Butter Tub Company founded in 1886 located at Rock Falls and Elgin, Illinois respectively. The use of the tin fasteners replacing the earlier ten penny nails for holding the cover to the tub apparently was developed in Elgin by the Elgin Butter Company as a means of utilizing the waste tin of the Illinois Condensed Milk Company who manufactured all their own cans and cases for shipping their product. Incidentally, a Mr. C. W. Gould has been cited as starting a cheese factory in Elgin about 1860 (the Illinois Condensed Milk Company factory having been erected in 1865) and later engaged in butter making using as tubs for shipping his product, containers made of flour barrel staves cut in half. Australian square boxes, containing 56 pounds were introduced when creamery men began to consider the prospects of foreign markets but they never became popular in the east although they were used to some extent in the Central and Western sections of the country. Boxes of other shapes and sizes come into moderate use, especially where butter was to be cut and otherwise molded for prints. The most common and constant complaints against butter packed in tubs, boxes and pails prior to 1890 pertained to woody flavor, mold contamination and difficulty in stripping tubs. The common method employed in efforts to control these defects was to soak the tubs, boxes or pails in salt water the night before they were used. The following morning they were rinsed out with scalding water and then with clear cold water, after which the butter was packed at once. |
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Post by: philldodilldo(22259) 2005-11-04 19:14:21 |
Every effort was made in packing to eliminate air holes and when the tub or pail was full, it was placed in a cool place so that the tops might be chilled. When taken out, a little brine was poured over the top surface of the butter in each tub and a white "dairy" or "butter cloth" put on, the cloth having been cut the size of the top. The cloth was then smoothed on top of the butter and salt sprinkled on and rubbed around and around until a thin even paste covered the cloth. When butter was so covered, it would generally reach the market with a smooth and bright surface, as the cloth would strip clean. PAPER AND PARAFFIN PUT IN AN APPEARANCE The next step appears to have been the use of paper liners -- Paraffin paper having first been recommended and used for such purposes. One of its staunchest advocates was quoted as follows: "I have experimented with paraffin paper and know what I am talking about. Last year I stored 6,000 tubs. Every tub was lined with paraffin paper. When I took the butter out last winter there was not the slightest taste of wood to the butter. The flavor was as good on the edges as it was in the center of the package, and the paper gave us no trouble adhering to the butter. Further than this, the paraffin paper I used did not color the butter or make it dark in the least." The reference to the paraffin paper not discoloring or darkening the butter may seen rather strange to the reader but in the 1880's and 1890's, paraffin was not as highly refined and free of odor and color as our modern product. In 1889, W. F. Brunner interested Mr. Sol Wheat Hoyt in the possibilities of vegetable parchment as a liner for butter tubs. Sample liners were sent to the Fairmont Creamery Company for investigation and were found satisfactory according to Mr. E. F. Howe. Incidentally, Mr. Howe had begun to use vegetable parchment sheets for wrapping pound prints of butter in 1888. Apparently, his experiments with vegetable parchment marked the beginning of the almost indispensable use that vegetable parchment now enjoys as a wrapper for butter and other fatty foods due, of course, to its grease-proof character, insolubility, high wet strength, as well as its odorless and, in fact, tasteless properties. Parchment because of its peculiar and distinctive characteristics, contribute as important prerequisite to our modern butter packaging methods. It goes without saying that the invention of the Peters' package as well as those of the Howe silicated carton and the Vavra high gloss paraffined carton opened up new opportunities for the merchandising of butter. The individual packaging of crackers got under way rapidly because of the consolidations that Editor Willson referred to. In addition, a development of considerable importance was the building in 1900 by the E. G. Staude Manufacturing Company of a shell carton machine. (U.S. Patent 730,410, June 9, 1903) for the Heywood Manufacturing Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota, which machine was to make two-pound folding cartons for Quaker Oats. According to Bettendorf (27) this machine took printed board from a roll and cut and creased the cartons at the rate of ninety per minute. Staude later built and patented similar and improved machines for Cream of Wheat Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Ralston Purina Company, St. Louis, Missouri; Shredded Wheat Company, Niagara Falls, New York; the Larkin Company, Buffalo, New York; Fels and Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Postum Cereal Company, Battle Creek, Michigan; and the W. K. Kellogg Toasted Com Flake Company, Battle Creek Michigan. By 1909 the machine had been improved so that it would cut and crease "wet" printed stock from a web, strip the waste, and deliver two hundred box blanks per minute. It is this type of machine that is used for very long runs of cartons, printed or unprinted and glued or of the unglued over-wrapped type. The butter industry was not prepared to undertake the mass production of cartooned butter at the start of the 20th Century as the means for so doing were not available either in its own production facilities nor in the supply of the paraffined cartons themselves. Automatic molding, wrapping and packing of butter prints was unknown although the industry was on the threshold of a tremendous expansion not only in production but in the development of its art. Such mechanical aids as the combined churn and worker (and incidentally 40 years later the "roll-less churn") mechanical refrigeration for processing and storage, pasteurizing equipment for batch and continuous operations, cream ripening and holding vats, neutralizing practice to enhance keeping quality and reduce churning losses of fat, and transportation and marketing were all waiting for their advent. Then too, in the production of cartons themselves, their fabrication from virgin pulp and their volume manufacture as well as multi-color printing and modern attention-compelling patterns were all developments still to be envisioned and created. In order to convey some appreciation of the momentum that the creamery system did generate following the turn of the 20th Century, we have only to point out that in 1908 more patents were issued for butter churns than for any other device. As a matter of fact, the Continental Creamery Company and later the Beatrice Creamery Company were able to take advantage of the potential markets for their Meadow Gold Butter in the Peters' "Inner-Seal" package as well as they did only with the most strenuous efforts. According to "Tom" Borman (30) at that time general superintendent of the Topeka, Kansas plant of the Continental Creamery, "some of the prints were made manually with punch blocks after the butter had been permitted to chill and "firm up." Oftentimes the butter was cut from the tubs using a former machine designed to cut one-pound prints from tubbed or boxed butter. The scraps were then collected and prints made up with punch block. Continental Creamery first used the `Inner-Seal' carton with a manual operation later using a cumbersome machine designed by Mr. Peters, which performed the entire operation mechanically and thus increased the production enormously. This machine which had been designed and constructed rather hastily required almost constant attention and supervision by a trained mechanic. |
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Post by: philldodilldo(22259) 2005-11-04 19:14:38 |
" Nevertheless, the success of Continental and Beatrice in discovering and establishing a market for cartooned butter, served to interest other factors in the industry to serve the apparent demand. Early in the 1900's, the Blue Valley Creamery Company of Chicago, Illinois spent considerable money in inaugurating the production and distribution of pound prints packed in cartons in the markets they were serving of which the City of Chicago was a considerable one. Fairmont Creamery Company of Omaha, Nebraska was not slow in realizing the marketing appeal of carton butter and early in the 1900's they also prepared to meet the mounting demand, as did other creamery organizations. Butter is the crème de la crème, the quintessence of the risen richness of milk itself, and as such has traditionally belonged to the exclusive category of "best" things: "top," "opulent," "pure" things. Even for cultures that almost never eat it, butter often achieves an aura of medicinal and cosmetic power. Among the butter-eaters, that minority of people who originate in the steppes and the cold north, it has always had regal status as a substance both unique and splendidly filling. The lactose Greeks, Arabs, and Near-Eastern Jews, whose cultures are resistant to raw milk, dislike drinking it in spite of a long dairying history. The indigenous millions of Oceania, the Americas, China, and Japan remain largely milk intolerant. Butter, cheese, yoghurt, arid soured milk like laban are all low in lactose because the fermenting bacteria use it up as fuel; these foods are therefore biologically acceptable by everybody, although non-milk-drinking people may eat them very seldom. Butter is more extravagant to make, and in its solid form more difficult to keep, than the other low-lactose milk products, and may therefore become a rarity and as such either precious or abominable, depending on the circumstances of the encounter with it. The magnificent Butter Tower of Rouen Cathedral was built with money which the Church received from people who preferred to pay rather than forgo their daily butter. In the oil-loving European south, butter, being expensive and relatively rare, tends to be perceived as a luxury. In the Middle Ages it was one of the foods banned during Lent. This was a minor inconvenience in the south where the normal cooking medium was olive or walnut oil; it was however a great hardship in the north, where butter was an everyday necessity. Clever southern businessmen cashed in on Lent by selling oil to the north during this time. The more cynical northerners would simply pay their way out of the ban—and the church used the money to build the "Butter Tower" of the Rouen Cathedral. Not being allowed to eat butter especially enraged the idealistic Martin Luther. "For at Rome they themselves laugh at the fasts," he wrote in 1520, "making us foreigners eat the oil with which they would not grease their shoes, and afterwards selling us liberty to eat butter ...." Norway In medieval times, the king was due taxes at Yule time. Included in his demands were one spann of butter, or one bucket, from every household. In the days of Norway’s World War II barter economy, butter emerged as one of the most coveted “units of currency”. It played an important role on the table too, and as a decoration at celebrations and weddings, molded into large, lavishly decorated pyramidal sculptures. Traditional Norwegian butter molds are displayed today in a number of museums here and abroad. United States The definition and standards for butter in the U.S. was first set by congress in 1886. Current standards have not been changed since a statute to set the criterion was enacted into law on March 4, 1923. Butter grades are determined by classifying the flavor, then rating the body, color and salt characteristics. The resulting score translates into a grade B, A, or AA. History Butter divides the people of northern Europe as radically from the oil-loving southerners as beer and cider distinguish them from wine-drinkers. People from Mediterranean lands believed until at least the 18th century that butter was a cause of the leprosy which seemed to be so prevalent in the north. The Cardinal of Aragon took his own cook and plenty of olive oil when he visited Holland in 1516. A Greek poem satirizing a Thracian wedding in the fourth century BC describes the guests as "butterophagous gentry" with unkempt hair. The two attributes amount to the same thing: untidy hair and butter-eating were equally outlandish. Greeks in their own estimation had better coiffeurs than anything available to Thracians; Greeks preferred olive oil to barbarous butter. In Mexico a few years before the turn of the 20th century, native people were still placing cream in a bag, the whole taken behind the saddle of a spirited horse, and a tour of a few miles horseback undertaken by the rider. When the journey was at an end, the churning process was supposed to be finished. Butter was probably first created accidentally when whole milk carried in skin bags was carried by horseback and naturally "churned" while traveling over rough terrain. The first documented mention of butter making was in the sacred songs of the dwellers of Asiatic India, dating back to 1,500-2,000 B.C.E. There is historical mention of ancient tribes creating primitive churns by horizontally agitating cow, yak and horse milk. Butter back then was not only eaten, but used as an illumination oil, for medicinal purposes and also as skin coating to insulate the tribe members from the harsh winter cold. The expansion of the northern Asian tribes by conquest and colonization brought butter to the inhabitants of southern Asia. However, butter in the southern climates could not be stored as easily as it could in the frozen northern plains. The southerners were the first to clarify butter in order to keep the fat from spoiling. The Hunza tribe, who live in the remote Himalayan range between Pakistan, India, and China, are famed for their lifespans of 115 or more. Their vitality has been attributed to a culture-rich diet of butter, kefir and yogurt, along with plenty of whole grains. In Hindu culture, the cow is sacred, and butter is the only animal fat that Hindus will eat. The cow represents the soul, with its obstinate intellect, and unruly emotions, but it is also gentle and generous. The butter it gives is a sacred offering, fuel for lamps, and treasured food. The golden liquid quickly gained popularity in the Middle East and was even elevated to a sacred oil in India. In other southern civilizations, butter was associated with the northern barbarians. It's use was frowned upon in the city states of Ethiopia, Greece and Rome. |
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Post by: philldodilldo(22259) 2005-11-04 19:15:52 |
Fertile crescent In 3500 BC, the people of Sumer shook cream in a vertical churn. And butter was important enough to write about — records have been carved in stone. In the frieze below, to the right of the farm shed, temple staff milk a cow, and to the left they strain and stores the milk and make butter. Limestone and shale mosaic frieze framed in copper from the Ninhursag temple facade al-`Ubaid. ca. 2500 BCE. According to ancient references, butter was used not only in cooking, but in medicine, cosmetics and even sacrificial worship rituals. Through the centuries, butter became so well liked, it was almost a sin to eat it on certain days. From the 14th century onward in Europe, popes and people who liked butter on fast days had to buy special dispensations from the church. The ancient Hebrews referred to butter in the Old Testament, and as a result, they have been credited as the first developers of the art of butter making. Smen Traditional Moroccan cous cous, seasoned with smen. Berber farmers in southern Morocco bury a tightly-sealed pot of smen on the day of a daughters birth, unearthing it years later to flavor the couscous served on her wedding day. Moroccan terda, a lentil & bean stew, flavored with smen, and served over stale bread. Smen (semneh, beurre ranci) is a traditional butter-based cooking oil made from sheep and goat milk. Preserved butter, with its deep, pungent aroma and distinctive flavor, enhances many of Morocco's savory dishes, especially couscous. It is an aged butter similar to Asian ghee, and is a prized flavoring ingredient in Moroccan dishes. In Morocco, smen (or sman) is still a delicacy. It is made by kneading butter with various decoctions of herbs, cinnamon, and other spices; the mixture is then cooked, salted, and strained like ghee. It is poured into jugs, tightly stoppered, and buried in the ground for months, sometimes years. Stores of the precious stuff are saved for special feasts. The smell is considered especially magnificent: a particularly aged pot of the family smen may be brought out of the cellars for honoured guests to sniff. The smen represents the riches of the house. The necessity of "doctoring" a perishable substance in order to save it in hot weather is in this manner turned into a gastronomic triumph, and hedged about with tradition and prestige. Other versions of clarified butter, called samna by non-Moroccan Arabs, are to be found throughout the Middle East. In Lebanon, samneh is made from butter that has been boiled until the fat in the pan is as transparent as a tear (dam'at el-eyn). It is then taken off the heat and left to settle before being carefully strained through a fine sieve into sealed containers where it will keep for a year or more. Ethiopia has a spiced version, nit'r k'ibe. Read more about making ghee. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recipe: Smen (moroccan preserved butter) Makes 11/2 cups 1 pound unsalted butter (pasteurized or unpasteurized) 2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves 1 tablespoon sea salt In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Wrap the oregano in a small piece of cheesecloth. Tie the sachet with cotton string, and set in the butter. Simmer until the butter separates into a clear, golden liquid and a milky sediment, 25 to 30 minutes. Carefully pour off the golden liquid (clarified butter), and strain through a piece of clean, fine muslin. Discard the milky sediment and oregano sachet. Transfer to a hot sterilized glass jar. Add the salt and mix until dissolved. Cover and let stand in a cool place until the mixture becomes pungent, 1 to 2 weeks. Drain any liquid from the jar and refrigerate the butter. Use within 6 months. Tibetan life still revolves around the yak, which the people have herded and placed at the center of their culture for at least two thousand years. Tibetans are warmed by yak-dung fires and lit by yak-butter lamps; they eat yak meat and yak blood, butter, cheese, and yoghurt; they use yaks for transport and weave clothing, blankets, shelters, and even boats out of yak hair. Their staple dish is tsampa, made of salted tea pounded together with yak butter, to which toasted barley flour is added and mixed by hand before eating. The dependence in so many ways upon their particular animal herd is typical of pastoralists, the original "buttercaters," the world over. Each yak produces very little milk; The young yak on the right wears a halter to keep it from suckling -- saving the mother's milk for the humans. Yak butter may be wrapped in cloth (left), or stored in a stiched yak stomach (right). A few times a year, they go to market to trade it for corn and other things they need. In the city, yak butter has an important use in ceremonies, as a fuel for butter lamps. In particular, the 15th day of the first month is a the high point of the Great Prayer Festival (Smom-lam), and the day of the fabulous "Butter lamp day." This festival was started by Tsong kha-pa in the first Smom-lam in 1409. In his dream, all beautiful flowers and trees appeared in front of Buddha. He commissioned monks to make flowers and trees with colored butter. Yak butter is for sale in yellow packages in the country, as well as this downtown market in Lhasa. Inside the 1300 year old Jokhang Temple, a pilgrim lights a yak butter candle. Tibetan monks have made intricate, colored butter sculptures as part of a tradition that is as old as Buddhism. In Lhasa, they continue to carve fantastic flowers, animals, birds and plants for December’s Butter Lamp Festival, and place them on a street lit with hundreds of lamps that burn butter. One sculpture takes up to six months to complete, as it is part of the path to enlightenment, upon which the monks create a positive collective world karma to overcome epidemics, hunger, and war. The Festival of the Butter Gods Every year, at Kumbum, half a million pilgrims, representative of the Buddhist world from Siberia to modern Sri Lanka, and from the Russian Pamirs to the Pacific, took part in the festival and were themselves part of the pageantry. (photo ca. 1925) In 1942, one of the last descriptions was made of the Festival of the Butter Gods in Tibet. What Harrison Forman, writing for the Canadian Geographic, saw was one of the world's most magnificent religious celebrations, a particularly splendid example of which took place annually at the monastery he visited, Kumbum Gomba. The festival drew participants from all across Asia, and continued for many days, with songs and dancing, masked theatre, a huge market, the Questioning of the Lamas, chanted prayers, and music accompanied by cymbals, drums, gongs, flutes, oboes, and brass trumpets up to twenty feet long. The climax of the whole celebration was the night-long display of the Butter Gods. Immense panels of bas-reliefs representing Buddhist deities and mythical subjects had been carved in yak butter by scores of lamas, supervised by a guild of artists acclaimed as among the finest in the Buddhist world. |
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Post by: philldodilldo(22259) 2005-11-04 19:16:03 |
They had taken months to make the figures, which were multicolored, as much as three meters (10 ft.) tall, and amazingly intricate, with every hair, even' realistic detail of the design on their "silken" clothes, every bead in their elaborate jewelry meticulously carved and molded in butter. Some of the tableaux included hundreds of lively figures in action. The monks had had to work in the cold, and often suffered from frozen hands and feet during the winter weeks of work. Every year the sculptures were entirely different. The crowd surged forward to gaze at the butter figures in the flickering light of thousands of yak-butter lamps. As the night passed the butter began to melt in the heat. By dawn it was all over: the temporary is intrinsic to the nature of festivals. The sacred occasion had passed, and the special manifestation of the gods was finished for that year. Keeping warm and oiled Fat discourages insects and fat keeps you warm. Many travelers who have lived among pastoral societies in cold climates, like the Mongols and Tibetans, have described how these people spent their lives coated in grease, usually butter, which might turn black and rancid before anyone seemed to mind. People have always enjoyed oiling their bodies, and hot water for washing was not commonly available until very recently. Our own fanatical obsession with washing is mostly new and largely a matter of our own self-esteem: it is a habit which would have astounded most of our ancestors, including the fastidious and supercilious Greeks. According to the Chinese Buddhist teacher T’ien-t’ai, who was active about the year 600, the dharma, or teachings, could be understood in terms of successive stages of refinement analogous to the stages by which ghee (clarified butter, or literally, “liberation”) is derived from milk. Just as milk comes from a cow, cream comes from milk, butter comes from cream, melted butter comes from butter, and ghee is liberated from melted butter, the 12 divisions of the canon come from the Buddha. In Tang China, kumyss, clotted cream, and clarified butter were three stages in a hierarchy of products derived from milk. In Buddhist religious imagery, each of them symbolized a stage in the transformation of the soul. Clarified butter represented the ultimate development of the Buddha spirit. Butter is not a traditional part of the Japanese diet, though it has become common since the 1960s, when westernisation of the Japanese diet increased the demand for milk and dairy products. Japan now consumes nearly 90 million tons each year, or about 0.8 kg per person. That is about a third of what Americans eat, and a tenth of the French or Germans. It was not until the mid 19th century that that dairy was common in Japan. Butter in a Japanese supermarket. Prior to World War II, Japanese contact with the West had been at a minimum. When they came in contact with the Portuguese in the sixteenth century and the more numerous English and Americans in the 19th century, they reacted with shock. The blue eyes and “red” hair of westerners are attributes of goblins in Japanese folklore. They were appalled at the hairy, sweaty bodies that gave off a strong body odor due to a diet higher in animal fat. Those who did meet Europeans were disgusted by their stench: people who seldom touch animal products are extremely sensitive to the body-odor exuded by eaters of animal fat. It was butter, the Japanese thought, which made Europeans so peculiarly rank: bata-kusai they called them (using the English word for the foul substance): “butter-stinkers." The terms Bata-kusai, “stinking of butter,” is still a derogatory term for things obnoxiously Western. In the latter 1800's, "Ayrshire," and later Holstein-Friesian cows were imported. Then, in 1923 Hokkaido invited dairy farmers from Denmark to show them how to run a dairy operation, after which dairy farming became an established industry. Maslyanitsa means butter in Russian, and it is also the name of the festival that says goodbye to winter and welcomes summer. From Moscow to St. Petersberg, Russians celebrate Butter Week just before their Lent fast days. Monday is the high point of celebration, when people cook pancakes, or blini, served with honey, caviar, fresh cream and butter. The more butter there is, the hotter the sun is expected to be in the coming summer. Russians in the regions of Uzbek, Bashkir, and Kirgiz still drink mares' and donkeys' milk and turn it into kumyss, a powerful fermented liquor or spirit, often served with lumps of butter in it. Kumyss is mentioned in reports from Christian missionaries in central Siberia in 1253; Marco Polo wrote in 1298 that Genghis Khan kept a stable of ten thousand white horses for the production of kumyss. This is probably the same drink as the oxygala ("sharp milk") which the ancient Greeks knew from the horse‑riding and "butterophagous" Scythians. Herodoms had reported that the Scythians used to blind their slaves and then make them sit round wooden barrels full of marcs' milk and "stir them round and round; the stuff that rises to the top is skimmed, and considered more valuable than what sinks to the bottom." The Scythians ate horse meat and horse butter and drank horse buttermilk and oxygala, using strainers to remove the scum; many of these strainers of bone, and kumyss or oxygala jars with sieves built into them, have been found in Scythian tombs, together, sometimes, with the tattooed bodies of the Scythians themselves, preserved in the icy soil of central Russia. Every year, over 5 million metric tons of butter are consumed worldwide. The chart below shows how much butter is being eaten for selected countries. Americans have been eating less and less butter since the mid 20th century. Butter is one of the most highly concentrated forms of fluid milk. Twenty litres of whole milk are needed to produce one kilogram of butter. This process leaves approximately 18 litres of skim milk and buttermilk, which at one time were disposed of as animal feed or waste. Today the skim portion has greatly increased in value and is fully utilized in other products. Commercial butter is 80–82 percent milk fat, 16–17 percent water, and 1–2 percent milk solids other than fat (sometimes referred to as curd). It may contain salt , added directly to the butter in concentrations of 1 to 2 percent. Unsalted butter is often referred to as “sweet” butter. This should not be confused with “sweet cream” butter, which may or may not be salted. Reduced-fat, or “light,” butter usually contains about 40 percent milk fat. Butter also contains protein, calcium and phosphorous (about 1.2%) and fat-soluble vitamins A, D and E. Although there are over 120 different compounds that contribute to butter’s unique flavor, the five primary factors responsible for butter’s flavor include: fatty acids, lactones, methyl ketones, diacetyl and dimethyl sulfide. Read more about the composition. Chemically butter fat consists essentially of a mixture of triglycerides, particularly those derived from fatty acids, such as palmitic, oleic, myristic, and stearic acids. The fatty acid composition of butter fat varies according to the producing animal's diet. |
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Post by: philldodilldo(22259) 2005-11-04 19:16:16 |
A measure of the amount of these acids, the Reichert-Meissl, or Reichert-Wollny, number is important in the analysis of butter fat. Fatty foods are often more flavorful because many flavors dissolve in fats. Butter works very well as a flavor carrier for spices, vanilla and other fat soluble ingredients. When you sauté an onion in butter before adding the base ingredients, all the flavor from the onions will be carried by the butter into the dish. Butter can be used to provide the primary, characteristic flavor of a sauce, as in Bechamel-type sauces, or in dessert toppings, such as butterscotch. The actual flavor we perceive once the food is in our mouths results from a combination of taste and smell to add flavor. The actual perception of tasting works like this: Our taste buds sense taste particles in food. The neurons associated with these cells send their taste messages to the brain. When food is placed on the tongue, smell particles travel to the olfactory neurons through the "back way" called the nasal pharynx which connects the mouth and the inside of the nose. Aromatic chemicals from the food (outside the mouth) go by the retronasal route by way of inhaled air to the olfactory neurons. These neurons have cilia that carry receptors for odor molecules. The molecules then bind to their receptors and messages are sent along these neurons to the olfactory bulbs at the base of the brain and then to various other parts of the brain for identification. Butter box label, c 1930. "Fraternal Brand" was the brand of the Upper Murray Butter Factory in Cudgewa, North Eastern Victoria. Butterfat is also inherently tasty. We are genetically programmed to seek out high-energy foods. There are at least five tastes: salty, sour, sweet, bitter, and umami. The umami taste is that of monosodium glutamate and has recently been recognized as a unique taste, as it cannot be elicited by any combination of the other four taste types. Glutamate is present in a variety of protein-rich foods, and particularly abundant in aged cheese. Recently, scientists have found that we can taste fat also, though the actual receptors are yet undiscovered. Butter varies in flavor, both good and bad. Flavors can be: absorbed, bacterial, or chemical. Left in the open air, butter turns rancid quickly. This is why a butter crock (which keeps the butter away from air) is valuable. Due to its high water content, the size of the water droplets in the water-in-oil emulsion being less than 6 µm, butter is subject to rapid microbiological spoilage at normal temperatures. It used to be that one farmer’s butter tastes different from another’s because of the pasture. You could taste the pasture. Most dry feeds (like hay or concentrates), silage, green alfalfa, and various grasses produce feed flavors in butter. Butter would taste different if the cow was eating feed (alfalfa, sweet clover) or weeds (onion grass, dandelions). Today, most cows eat pretty standardized diets, but the smell of the barn will affect flavors, as does the amount of time since the cows last ate. Cows impart an odor and taste within 30 minutes of eating or breathing grass or corn silage, legume hay, or brewer's grains. Similarly, butter will readily absorb flavors and odors from your refrigerator. Bacterial Butter can taste a bit malty (like “Grape Nuts”), or sour if bacterial had a chance to grow in the milk. The cause is usually due to Streptococcus lactis in poorly cooled milk. Bacterial degradation results from bacteria that get into the milk upon contact with improperly washed or sanitized equipment, from external contamination, and is made worse by improper cooling. Milk is an excellent growth medium for bacteria. It provides the nutrients and moisture and has a near neutral pH. Off-flavors are the results of bacterial growth psychrotrophs). Chemical flavors Chemical flavors can be cowy (ketosis), rancid, oxidized, sunlight, and medicinal. The cowy or ketone flavor is the result of the animal suffering from ketosis. A foreign flavor can be caused by medications, a reaction to pesticides, disinfectants, or any number of contaminants. Rancidity and oxidation result from the degradation of milkfat. This is the most common. Many of the oxidation pathways are not entirely understood. Salted butter was developed to prevent spoilage, and to mask the taste of rancid butter. Rancidity A sour-bitter taste is identifiable with rancidity (i.e. soapy, baby-vomit, blue cheese). Rancid butter becomes yellow to brown and the flavor becomes harsh. There appears to be a seasonal effect, with the months between July and September having the highest occurrences, and is also caused by stressed cows, and plumbing issued with the processing tanks. Rancidity is caused by a chemical development, which continues until the milk is pasteurized. It often occurs if the membranes around milkfat globules are weakened or broken. When butter becomes rancid, the enzyme lipase breaks it down into glycerol and fatty acids. Hydrolytic rancidity results in the formation of free fatty acids and soaps (salts of free fatty acids) and is caused by either the reaction of lipid and water in the presence of a catalyst or by the action of lipase enzymes. Low levels of free fatty acids are not objectionable if they are sixteen or eighteen carbon fatty acids as commonly found in soybeans, corn or animal fat. However, in butter fat (and coconut oil), low levels of shorter carbon chain fatty acids may be quite objectionable. |
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Post by: sparkles(18049) 2005-11-04 19:16:32 |
MADNESS |
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Post by: philldodilldo(22259) 2005-11-04 19:16:33 |
The worst offender being butyric acid (butanoic acid). Oxidation A cardboardy or metallic taste is caused by oxidation. It is more common in milk from the winter and early spring because the cows eat less vitamin E, an antioxidant, in stored forages. It can also be caused by excessive copper or iron in the water supply used to wash equipment or compensate for dirty milking equipment The off-flavor can sometimes be detected in raw milk, but more often is noticed in high fat products such as butter or vanilla ice cream. Oxidative rancidity results from more complex lipid oxidation processes. The processes are generally considered to occur in three phases: an initiation or induction phase, a propagation phase, and a termination phase. In complex systems, the products of each of these phases will increase and decrease over time, making it difficult to quantitatively measure lipid oxidation. During the initiation phase, molecular oxygen combines with unsaturated fatty acids to produce hydroperoxides and free radicals, both of which are very reactive. For this phase to occur at any meaningful rate, some type of oxidative initiators must also be present, such as chemical oxidizers, transition metals (i.e., iron or copper), or enzymes (i.e., lipoxygenases). Heat and light also increase the rate of this and other phases of lipid oxidation. The reactive products of this initiation phase will, in turn, react with additional lipid molecules to form other reactive chemical species. The propagation of further oxidation by lipid oxidation products gives rise to the term "auto-oxidation" that is often used to refer to this process. In the final, termination phase of lipid oxidation, relatively unreactive compounds are formed including hydrocarbons, aldehydes, and ketones. Other flavors The following are other flavor characteristics common to butter:Acid Associated with moderate acid development in the milk or cream, or excessive ripening of the cream. Aged Associated with short or extended holding periods of butter. The holding temperature will affect the rate of development of this flavor. May also occur if high quality raw material is not properly handled and promptly processed so that the flavor loses its freshness. Bitter Attributable to the action of certain microorganisms or enzymes in the cream before churning, certain types of feeds and late lactation. Cooked Associated with using high temperatures in pasteurization of sweet cream. Coarse Associated with using high temperatures in pasteurization of cream with slight acid development. Feed Attributable to feed eaten by cows and the flavors being absorbed in the milk and carried through into the butter. Most dry feeds (like hay or concentrates), silage, green alfalfa, and various grasses produce feed flavors in butter. Silage flavor may vary in degree and character depending on the time of feeding, extent of fermentation and kind of silage. Flat Attributable to excessive washing of the butter or to a low percentage of fats or volatile acids and other volatile products that help to produce a pleasing butter flavor. Malty Attributable to the growth of the organism Streptococcus lactic var. maltigenes in milk or cream. It is often traced to improperly washed and sanitized utensils in which this organism has developed. Musty Attributable to cream from cows grazing on slough grass, eating musty or moldy feed or drinking stagnant water. Neutralizer Attributable to excessive or improper use of alkaline products to reduce the acidity of the cream before pasteurization. Old Cream Attributable to aged cream, or inadequate or improper cooling of the cream. This flavor may be accentuated by unclean utensils and processing equipment. Scorched Associated with using excessively high temperatures in pasteurization of cream with developed acidity, prolonged holding times in forewarming vats or when using vat pasteurization. Also associated with vat pasteurization without adequate agitation. Smothered Attributable generally to improper handling and delayed cooling of the cream. Storage Associated with extended holding periods of butter for several months or longer. Utensil Attributable to handling or storing milk or cream in equipment which is in poor condition or improperly sanitized. Weed Attributable to milk or cream from cows which have been fed on weed infested pastures or weedy hay. Whey Attributable to the use of whey cream or the blending of cream and whey cream for buttermaking. The quality of butter is based on its body, texture, flavour, and appearance. In the United States, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) assigns quality grades to butter based on its score on a standard quality point scale. Grade AA is the highest possible grade; Grade AA butter must achieve a numerical score of 93 out of 100 points based on its aroma, flavour, and texture. Salt (if present) must be completely dissolved and thoroughly distributed. Grade A butter is almost as good, with a score of 92 out of 100 points. Grade B butter is based on a score of 90 points, and it usually is used only for cooking or manufacturing. The flavour of Grade B is not as fresh and sweet, and its body may be crumbly, watery, or sticky. The U.S. grade shield is usually found on the main panel of the butter package, but may be shown on the side or end panel. U.S. Grade AA and Grade A are the quality ratings most often seen. However, U.S. Grade B butter is also sold in some areas. U.S. Grade AA Delicate, sweet flavor, with a fine, highly pleasing aroma Made from high-quality fresh, sweet cream Smooth, creamy texture with good "spreadability" May possess a slight feed and a definite cooked flavor. U.S. Grade A Pleasing flavor Made from fresh cream Fairly smooth texture Rates close to top grade May possess any of the following flavors to a slight degree: Acid, aged, bitter, coarse, flat, smothered, and storage. May possess feed flavor to a definite degree. U.S. Grade B May have slightly acid flavor Readily acceptable to many consumers May possess any of the following flavors to a slight degree: Malty, musty, neutralizer, scorched, utensil, weed, and whey. May possess any of the following flavors to a definite degree: Acid, aged, bitter, smothered, storage, and old cream; feed flavor to a pronounced degree. Exactly how churning works is still unknown. Current theory runs along these lines: just as happens in whipped cream, some air is incorporated into the liquid, bubbles form, and the fat globules collect in the bubble walls. But where whipping cream is kept cold, and the agitation stopped when a a stable, airy foam is produced, churned cream is warmed to the point that the globules soften and to some degree liquify. |
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Post by: philldodilldo(22259) 2005-11-04 19:16:45 |
The ideal temperature range is said to be 55° to 65°F (12° to 18°C). Persistent agitation knocks the softened globules into each other enough to break through the protective membrane, and liquid fat cements the exposed droplets together. The foam structure is broken both by the free fat and the released membrane materials, which include emulsifiers like lecithin. These materials disrupt thin water layers and so burst bubble walls, and once enough of them have been freed in the process of whipping or churning cream, the foam will never be stable again. As churning continues, then, the foam gradually subsides, and the butter granules are worked together into larger and larger masses. Paddles slowly agitate the cream causing it to thicken and separate into butter grains and buttermilk. Cold water at 10°C is then added and then it is agitated again. Added water is necessary to help the cream to 'break' but the water should not exceed 25% of the total volume of cream. Churning continues until the butter granules are about the size of wheat grains. The fat globule Fat globules vary from 0.1 - 10 micon in diameter. The fat globule membrane is comprised of surface active materials: phospholipids and lipoproteins. Fat globules typically aggregate in three ways: flocculation coalescence partial coalescence The process of butter making can be described as an inversion of the original cream emulsion. The system of fat droplets dispersed in water is converted into a continuous phase of fat that contains water droplets. The final product is about 80% milk fat, 18% water, and 2% milk solids, mainly proteins and salts carried in the water. The physical structure of butter is, however, a bit more complicated. The continuous, amorphous phase of solid fat surrounds not only the water droplets, but also air bubbles, intact fat globules, and highly ordered crystals of milk fat that have grown during the cooling process. The proportion of continuous or "free" fat can vary from 50% of the total to nearly 100%, and it has a direct influence on the behavior of butter. The more fat there is in discrete globules or crystals, the harder and more crumbly the butter, even to the point of brittleness. A preponderance of free fat, on the other hand, makes for a malleable butter that softens readily and may even weep some liquid fat in the process. The difference is a matter of both large-scale and molecular arrangements. In a mass where the free fat merely fills the small interstices between globules and crystals, the texture will be largely that of the separate particles. And it takes more energy to separate the molecules ordered in a crystal than it does to disrupt an already disordered phase of the same molecules. Mostly crystalline butter, then, will be relatively stiff and not as smooth as mostly amorphous butter. The ideal, of course, lies somewhere between the two extremes, and is attained by manipulating the cooling process (much as one controls the texture of candy). Milk fat is comprised mostly of triglycerides, with small amounts of mono- and diglycerides, phospholipids, glycolipids, and lipo-proteins. The trigylcerides (98% of milkfat) are of diverse composition with respect to their component fatty acids, approximately 40% of which are unsaturated fat firmness varies with chain length, degree of unsaturation, and position of the fatty acids on the glycerol. Flavorful fatty acids play an important role in the flavor of butter and are present at varied concentrations. Although long-chain fatty acids are present at higher concentrations in butter, they do not make a significant contribution to flavor. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), on the other hand, do play an important role in butter's flavor. Typically, SCFA are found in the serum portion of butter (aqueous solution of all non-fat components) where their flavor potential is stronger. They occur below their Flavor Threshold Value (FTV): the minimum concentration level below which aroma or taste is imperceptible. Despite low concentrations, SCFA react in a synergistic and additive manner to provide characteristic flavors found in butter. Butyric acid is the most widely known and most potent SCFA and is attributed to providing intensity to fatty acid-type flavors associated with butter. Butter also contains a variety of fatty acid precursors of 4-cis-heptenal, a compound which provides butter with a creamy flavor. It is a curious feature of fats that once melted, they have to be cooled to well below their melting point to resolidify them. Butter, for example, melts at about 35 °C (96 °F) but has to be cooled to about 23 °C (73 °F) to solidify it. Milkfat from cows fed diets higher in stearic acid produced softer butter than milkfat from cows fed diets higher in palmitic acid. The change in butter softness was associated with changes in fatty acid and triglyceride structure of the milkfat. Butyric acid Butyric acid, also called butanoic acid (CH 3CH 2CH 2CO 2H), is a fatty acid occurring in the form of esters in animal fats and plant oils. As a glyceride, it makes up 3–4 percent of butter ; the disagreeable odour of rancid butter is that of butyric acid resulting from hydrolysis of the glyceride. The acid is of considerable commercial importance as a raw material in the manufacture of esters of lower alcohols for use as flavouring agents; its anhydride is used to make cellulose acetatebutyrate, a useful plastic. Butyric acid can be artificially manufactured by aerial oxidation of butyraldehyde. It is a colourless liquid, soluble in water and miscible with common organic solvents; it freezes at -4.26° C (24.33° F) and boils at 163.53° C (326.35° F). An isomer, isobutyric acid (CH 3)2CHCO 2H, or 2-methylpropanoic acid, is found both in the free state and as its ethyl ester in a few plant oils. It is commercially less important than butyric acid. It is generally similar to butyric acid; it freezes at -46.1° C (-51° F) and boils at 153.2° C (307.8° F). Linoleic Acid Linoleic Acid is the principle fatty acid in many vegetable oils, including cottonseed oil, soybean oil, and corn oil. It is also abundant in rapeseed oil (from members of the mustard family, Brassicaceae) and is used in the manufacture of margarines, shortening, and salad and cooking oils. Triglycerides built from linoleic acid are oils because of the double bonds in their chains of carbon atoms. Since margarine and shortening manufacturers want a soft solid, they bubble hydrogen through the oil in the presence of a nickel catalyst. This hydrogenation process brings about several changes, including the partial saturation of the carbon chains as hydrogen atoms attach to carbon atoms that were originally joined by double bonds. The replacement of carbon-carbon double bonds with single bonds allows the carbon chains to become flexible. As a result, the molecules can pack together more closely and the oil is converted to a fat. The hydrogenation process is stopped sooner if the oils are destined to become softer (tub) margarines. The elmination of the double bonds during the hydrogenation also reduces the likelihood of attack by oxygen, so that the fat remains fresh longer. Nasty-smelling molecules are removed by passing superheated steam through the molten fat. This also rmoves the molecules responsible for color, so carotenes of various kinds are added to restore a butterlike appearance. The odor of butter is simulated by adding butanedione. The flavor is enhanced and sharpened by emulsifying the fats with skimmed milk that has been cultured with bacteria that produce lactic acid. The nutritional value is improved by the addition of vitamins A and D. And finally, natural surfactant molecules (lecithins, which are triglyceride like substances with one side chain containing a phosphatelike group) are added to ensure that the entire conccoction hangs together. Molecules that contain the carbonyl group (=C=O) are called ketones and are responsible for many natural flavors and odors. Methyl ketones exist in their precursor form in fresh butter as alkanoic acids. As such, they may be only marginally important in contributing to the flavor of fresh butter. However, when heated, the precursors are converted to methyl ketones and their total concentration rises above their FTV. |
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Post by: philldodilldo(22259) 2005-11-04 19:16:57 |
Thus they are very important in providing flavors associated with heated or cooked foods containing butter. Methyl ketones are important flavor components, especially of blue cheeses; Penicillium roqueforti for instance produces 2-pentanone, 2-heptanone and 2-nonanone (pathwayt shown on right). Diacetyl (2,3-Butanedione) shown at left, is another ketone flavorant and is very important in providing the rich or heated note in butter flavor. Diacetyl is also the primary flavor compound in starter cultures and distillates which are used in producing cultured butter. It is a volatile yellow liquid ketone with a cheese-like smell. It is, in fact, the molecule that gives butter its characteristic flavor and the molecule you should have in mind when you smell it; for when cream is incubated with bacteria, they produce some butanedione. After incubation, the cream is churned. This breaks down the sheaths around the fat droplets, and they coalesce into a soft, solid mass. Sheep's milk and goat's milk are richer in short-chain trigylcerides than cow's milk, and cheese made from them (such as Roquefort) is richer in pungent molecules. Diacetyl and acetoin produced by lactic streptococci are flavors characteristic of butter, buttermilk and sour cream. Diacetyl also imparts a yellow colour to dairy products; it is formed from citrate via oxaloacetate and pyruvate which is de-toxified to form diacetyl and acetoin. An essential step is transport of citrate into the cell by an inducible citrate permease. Natural diacetyl can also be obtained from starter distillate, a by-product from the manufacture of dairy starter cultures. You may be able to smell butanedione by sniffing your armpits or someone's unwashed feet, because it is a contributor to the odor of fermenting perspiration. Fresh sweat is almost odorless, but th action of the bacterium Streptococcus albus, which is present on the skin, increases its aciditiy and makes an inviting feast for other bacteria; they, in turn, excrete pungnet compounds including butanendione. Cultured butter Cultured butter, common in Europe, differs in flavor from sweet cream butter. Cultured butter has a more pronounced, distinct flavor that stems from starter cultures that are added to the cream during churning. As a result, flavor compounds from cultured butter are superimposed on those of sweet cream butter, creating a full-flavor effect. Starter cultures are typically mixtures of flavor concentrates produced by one strain or mixed strains of bacterial cultures. Streptococcus diacetilactis produces diacetyl, the flavor most commonly associated with flavored butter and Streptococcus lactis is used to produce lactic acid, which contributes to the acidic flavor typically associated with cultured butter. Methyl ketones and lactones are the primary components responsible for the cooked flavor associated with baked goods made with butter. Baked & carmalized Originally, the croissant was made from a rich bread dough. It wasn't until the early 1900s that a creative French baker had the inspiration to make it with a dough similar to puff pastry. Both methyl ketones and lactones are present in fresh butter at levels which are below the concentration at which their taste is perceptible. Upon heating, however, the total concentration of both lactones and methyl ketones becomes noticeable. The two compounds also react in a synergistic manner, providing the rich flavor associated with baked goods made with real butter. The above compounds, and numerous others, interact to contribute to the unique flavor of fresh, sweet cream butter. However, butter also has a variety of flavor compounds which create the developed, baked butter flavor typically associated with croissants, butter cookies and other baked goods using butter. The methyl ketones and lactones also interact with the flavors developed through the Maillard reactions (browning reactions between sugars and proteins), creating flavor notes traditionally associated with caramels, pralines, and toffee. Most sources agree that a good quality caramel must be made using condensed milk and butter. Although the compounds that contribute to this unique flavor are not completely understood, it is believed that they are a combination of the flavor compounds developed from browning reactions, which occur both in the dough and in butter. Fried Frying mushrooms in butter to bring out their flavor. Butter also develops specific flavor compounds when it is used in frying applications. The reaction flavors, which are produced in the process, are highly unique to butter. Scientists believe that the flavor compounds that impart this unique flavor develop during cooking and are comprised of non-fat components from the serum phase of butter that interact with flavor derivatives of the fat phase. Factors that affect and create butter flavor are not clearly understood. Butter flavor is very complex, and research that has been published to date only scratches the surface of what is left to learn about this system. This is one of the reasons butter’s flavor remains irreplaceable. Other compounds Lactones In fresh butter, precursors to lactones and free lactones exist in small concentrations. Free lactones exist in the lipid phase of butter, where they have higher threshold values. Despite their low concentration in fresh butter, free lactones are important flavorants, which act in an additive manner to impart the perceptible sweet, fruity flavors characteristic of butter. Upon heating, the lactone precursors are converted to lactones and their total concentration rises above their FTV. Thus, they provide the rich flavor notes commonly associated with heated foods containing butterfat. Lactones in butter are also the major source of flavor in confections and high-quality candies where they provide the unique, pleasurable flavors associated with these products. Dimethyl Sulfide Dimethyl sulfide is originally derived from the feed of cows and occurs in butter at concentrations above its FTV. Dimethyl sulfide helps to smooth the harsher flavor notes of diacetyl and other acidic substances in butter and is also largely responsible for the freshly cooked note associated with freshly churned butter. Other flavor constituents Although the exact role of aliphatic aldehydes in butter flavor has not been defined, it is known that they are important. Aldehydes are chemical compounds of the general formula R-CHO (where R is an alkyloran aryl group). They are typically present in concentrations below their Flavor Threshold Value (FTV), particularly since they have low thresholds and produce desirable creamy, buttery flavor at very low concentrations. At high concentrations, they lead to the oxidized off-flavors associated with butter oxidation. Aldehydes can also be found in butter cultures used in the manufacture of cultured butter. Indole and skatole are two additional flavor compounds which are present in butter and which contribute to its flavor. Phenol and cresol are of borderline significance but also play a role in the flavor of butter. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Additives BHA (2-Tert-Butyl-4-Methoxyphenol C11 H16 O2) The shelf life of margarine and other fats and oils is improved if oxygen attack on the double bonds in the carbon chains can be repelled or at least diverted, for then they do not turn rancid. The compound 2-tert-butyl-4-methoxyphenol or, more succinctly, BHA is anantioxidant, a substance that inhibits oxidation; it acts by interupting the chain reaction in which oxygen combines with double bonds and slices molecules in two. It does so by combining with peroxide radicals (radicals of the form X-O-O, where X is th rest of the molecule) before they have time to attack other molecules and continue the chain. Antioxidants have been used in foods for thousands of years, but their rules has only recently been appreciated. Among the more familiar ones are spices, which not only mask unpleasant odors but also help to prevent their formation. Sage, cloves, rosemary, and thyme all contain phenolic compounds resemblinh BHA, which interupt the chain reactions and stabilize fats against oxidation. Thyme oil is also effective against bacteria and has been used in gargles, mouthwashes, and disinfectants. Animals contain antioxidant materials, including vitamin E, that serve a similar purpose - to stop them from going rancid while they are still alive. Margarine, a butter substitute made originally from other animal fats, but nowadays exclusively from vegetable oils, is, like homogenization and pasteurization, a French innovation. Like its model, margarine is about 80% fat, 20% water and solids. It is flavored, colored, and fortified with vitamin A and sometimes D to match butter's nutritional contribution. A single oil or a blend may be used. During World War I, coconut oil was favored; in the thirties, it was cottonseed, and in the fifties, soy. Today, soy and corn oils predominate. The raw oil is pressed from the seeds, purified, hydrogenated, and then fortified and colored, either with a synthetic carotene or with annatto, a pigment extracted from a tropical seed. The water phase is usually reconstituted or skim milk that is cultured with lactic bacteria to produce a stronger flavor, although pure diacetyl, the compound most responsible for the flavor of butter, is also used. Emulsifiers such as lecithin help disperse the water phase evenly throughout the oil, and salt and preservatives are also commonly added. The mixture of oil and water is then heated, blended, and cooled. The softer tub margarines are made with less hydrogenated, more liquid oils than go into stick margarines. Today, we consume nearly three times as much margarine as we do butter. Margarine overtook butter in popularity in the mid 20th century. Both price and the current concern about cardiovascular disease are responsible for this differential. Margarine, once far cheaper than butter, is still marginally so, and contains none of the cholesterol and less of the saturated fats that have been implicated in heart disease. A fat's hardness at a given temperature is an index of its saturation; the proportion of saturated fats in liquid oil, tub margarine, stick margarine, and butter increases in that order. Margarine was developed in 1869 by a French pharmacist and chemist, Hippolyte Mège-Mouriés, after Napoleon III offered a prize for the formulation of a synthetic edible fat. Western Europe was running low on fats and oils; petroleum hydrocarbons were as yet unexploited, and the growing industrial need for lubricants and the popular demand for soaps (caused by a rising standard of living and interest in hygiene) were cutting into vegetable sources. In 1813, Chevreul isolated a substance from animal fat that formed pearly drops, and, thinking it to be a new fatty acid, he named it margaric acid, from the Greek for "pearl" (margaron, also the root of "Margaret"). As it later turned out, there was no such thing as margaric acid (a synthetic fatty acid has since been given that name), but Mège-Mouriés used an extract of animal fat that supposedly contained a great deal of it, and so gave his concoction the name margarine. The name margarine comes from a minor scientific error. Michel Chevreul, a chemist whose investigations of color influenced the painter Seurat, also worked on natural fats early in his career, isolating and naming many fatty acids and establishing a model of analytic research in the heretofore rather casual field of organic chemistry. Mège-Mouriés was looking for a butter substitute, and so of course had to use animal fats, which are semisolid at room temperature. Mège-Mouriés was not the first to give suet a buttery texture, but he was the first to make it palatable by flavoring it with a small amount of milk. It was not until 1905, after French and German chemists had developed the process of hydrogenation for hardening normally liquid vegetable oils, that these oils could be made into a butter substitute. Margarine caught on quickly in both Europe and the United States, where patents began pouring out in 1871, and large-scale production was under way by 1880. At the turn of the century, Mark Twain overheard a conversation between two businessmen aboard the Cincinnati riverboat, and recorded it in Life on the Mississippi. Why, we are turning out oleomargarine now, by the thousands of tons. And we can sell it so dirt-cheap that the whole country has got to take it-can't get around it, you see. Butter don't stand any show-there ain't any chance for competition. Above, a modern Tintometers, and a late 19th century engraving. The regulation of margerine's color has been U.S. Law since the 1950s. US Code TITLE 21 , CHAPTER 9 , SUBCHAPTER IV , Sec. 347: colored oleomargarine or colored margarine is oleomargarine or margarine having a tint or shade containing more than one and six-tenths degrees of yellow, or of yellow and red collectively, but with an excess of yellow over red, measured in terms of Lovibond tintometer scale or its equivalent. Churn buttermilk is the fluid remaining when the fat is removed by churning cream into butter. It was formerly drunk as a beverage, but today it is mostly condensed or dried for use in the baking and frozen desserts industry. Despite its name, it is not high in fat. Churn buttermilk is the watery end-product of butter making... but it has been replaced as a beverage by cultured butter milk. Before World War II much of the butter produced in the United States was made from gathered cream . Farmers separated milk on the farm and shipped cans of cream to a butter factory, sometimes once or twice a week. The cream was often sour and needed to be neutralized (with sodium hydroxide) before churning. When transportation and the value of the skim portion improved, whole milk was shipped to the creamery, providing a supply of “sweet cream” ( i.e., cream that had not soured) for butter making. With these improvements came the advent of higher-quality butter and the demise of naturally soured buttermilk. Most modern buttermilk is cultured buttermilk, made from low-fat or skim milk and has less than 2 percent fat and sometimes none. It is prepared from skim or low-fat milk by fermentation with bacteria that produces lactic acid. The resulting product is thicker than traditional butter milk but is similar to it in other respects. Its correct name in many jurisdictions is “cultured low-fat milk” or “cultured nonfat milk.” Cultured buttermilk, like skim milk, consists mainly of water (about 90 percent), the milk sugar lactose (about 5 percent), and the protein casein (about 3 percent). Butter milk made from low-fat milk contains small quantities (up to 2 percent) of butter fat. In both low-fat and nonfat butter milk, some of the lactose is converted by the bacteria into lactic acid , which gives the milk a slightly sour taste and makes it easier to digest by lactose-intolerant consumers. The high numbers of live bacteria organisms are also thought to provide other healthful and digestive benefits. How is cultured buttermilk made? The starting ingredient for buttermilk is skim or low-fat milk. The milk is pasteurized at 82° to 88° C (180° to 190° F) for 30 minutes, or at 90° C (195° F) for two to three minutes. This heating process is done to destroy all naturally occurring bacteria and to denature the protein in order to minimize wheying off (separation of liquid from solids). The milk is then cooled to 22° C (72° F), and starter cultures of desirable bacteria, such as Streptococcus lactis, S. cremoris, Leuconostoc citrovorum , and L. dextranicum , are added to develop buttermilk's acidity and unique flavour. These organisms may be used singly or in combination to obtain the desired flavour. The ripening process takes about 12 to 14 hours (overnight). At the correct stage of acid and flavour, the product is gently stirred to break the curd, and it is cooled to 7.2° C (45° F) in order to halt fermentation. It is then packaged and refrigerated. Substitutes Combine one cup of milk (or soymilk) plus one tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar, and allow to stand for ten minutes Combine one cup of milk plus two teaspoons cream of tartar, and allow to stand for ten minutes Combine two parts plain yogurt plus one part milk plain, low-fat yogurt sour cream molasses (in batters that also call for baking soda) Note that churn buttermilk may require longer baking times than ordinary commercial buttermilk. Making butter is easy with a food processor, and it produces a light fresh taste. You will need: Stages of buttermaking in the food processor, and bowl. 1-2 cups heavy whipping cream, or double cream (1/3 liter) (preferably without carrageenan or other stabilizers) Fit food processor with plastic blade, whisk, or normal chopping blade. Fill food processor about 1/4 - 1/2 full. Blend. The cream will go through the following stages: Sloshy, frothy, soft whipped cream, firm whipped cream, coarse whipped cream. Then, suddenly, the cream will seize, its smooth shape will collapse, and the whirring will change to sloshing. The butter is now fine grained bits of butter in buttermilk, and a few seconds later, a glob of yellowish butter will separate from milky buttermilk. Drain the buttermilk. You can eat the butter now -- it has a light taste -- though it will store better if you wash and work it. Add 1/2 cup (100 mL) of ice-cold water, and blend further. Discard wash water and repeat until the wash water is clear. Now, work butter to remove suspended water. Either place damp butter into a cool bowl and knead with a potato masher or two forks; or put in large covered jar, and shake or tumble. Continue working, pouring out the water occasionally, until most of the water is removed. The butter is now ready. Put butter in a butter crock, ramekins, or roll in waxy freezer paper. Yield: About half as much butter as the amount of cream you started with. Various options: Salt to taste before working, a few pinches. Have the cream around 60°F/15°C before churning. (55°F/13°C for goat milk) Obtain the freshest cream you can. So-called "vat pasteurized cream" tastes better than ultra heat treated (UHT) or HTST pasteurized. Try calling your state Department of Agriculture, and asking the Milk Control office who sells vat pasteurized cream. Shake in a jar instead of a food processor. Shake about once a second. Add a marble to speed things up. This is fun with kids, but expect it to take between 5-30 minutes, depending on the shaking. Culture the cream before churning. Add a few tablespoons (50 mL) store-bought cultured yogurt, buttermilk, sour cream, clabbered cream, or creme fraiche, and let sit about 12 hours at warm room temperature (75°F/24°C is ideal) to thicken and ferment before churning. It should taste delicious, slightly sour, with no aftertaste. If it is bubbly, or smells yeasty or gassy, discard. Use some butter making tools, such as a churn, paddle for working, or molds for forming the finished butter. |
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Post by: Dalvian(38356) 2005-11-04 21:21:48 |
That's terrific.
I think I just had an accident on myself. And where is all this drool coming from. By the way..Where can I get a barrel of that old Irish butter that was burried in the peat bogs? |
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Post by: philldodilldo(22259) 2005-11-04 21:49:28 |
Ireland ? |
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Post by: mael(88584) 2005-11-05 04:55:01 |
OH MY STARS AND GARTERS!!! |
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Post by: Dalvian(38356) 2005-11-05 20:27:46 |
"John Houghton, an Englishman, writing on dairying in 1695, speaks of the Irish as rotting their butter by burying it in bogs. This burying of butter in the peat bogs of Ireland may have been for the purpose of storing against a time of need, to hid it from invaders, or to ripen it for the purpose of developing flavor in a manner similar to cheese ripening. Archeologists found a deposit of butter buried in peat bogs found wrapped in a skin in County Leitrim, and another packed in a tub with perforated wooden handles in County Tyrone, Ireland. It is believed possible that the practice of burying butter in Ireland ceased about the end of the 18th century and that many of the specimens which have been found are of far greater antiquity (11th to 14th century). The large number of specimens found, some of which weighed over 100 pounds, suggests that the burying of butter must have been a widespread practice in Ireland."
Yes, Phill, Irish Butter burried in Peat Boggs. I want some. Thank you. |