UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 Agricultural Experiment Station 
 
 UKBANA, ILLINOIS, AUGUST, 1909 
 
 CIRCULAR NO. 131 
 
 HANDLING OF CREAM AND MAKING OF BUTTER ON 
 
 THE FARM 
 
 By Carl E. Lee, Assistant Chief, Dairy Manufactures 
 
 There is a growing demand for instruction in handling cream 
 on the farm. This interest is manifested not alone by those who 
 desire to know how to make good dairy butter, but by a large 
 number of milk producers, who find it more convenient and profit¬ 
 able to sell the cream. This circular is written with the thought 
 of aiding the makers of dairy butter, by presenting more specific 
 directions for carrying on such work. 
 
 Dairymen are beginning to realize that butter of good quality 
 cannot be made from cream produced under unsanitary, conditions. 
 If the natural, sweet, rich fiavor of cream has been destroyed by 
 carelessness and neglect, it will be noticeable in the finished but¬ 
 ter. There are a few dairymen who care very little about the 
 condition of their cream or butter, as long as it can be disposed 
 of, not realizing that by carelessness, they are doing an irrepar¬ 
 able injustice to their more painstaking neighbors. 
 
 First, it is important that such management be given the 
 herd that the result will be clean milk from healthy cows. 
 
Care of Utensies 
 
 Dairy utensils should be made of the best grade of tin and 
 never used for any other purpose. Wooden or galvanized pails 
 are objectionable. See that all joints in the pails, cans, and 
 strainers are well made and filled with solder. Cans with the tin 
 partly worn off are not suitable receptacles for milk and cream 
 because they rust and this condition imparts a metallic flavor to 
 the butter. Utensils that come in contact with milk or cream can 
 best be cleaned by first rinsing with cold water and then washing 
 with a brush and hot water. Washing powder suitable for use 
 in the dairy should contain no grease. Ordinary sal-soda used in 
 small amounts is also a good dairy cleanser. After washing the 
 utensils with hot water, rinse thoroly with boiling water and place 
 them where they will come in contact with the direct rays of the 
 sun. In washing the ordinary five, eight, or ten-gallon milk cans, 
 be sure that the inside of the shoulder of the can is rubbed with 
 the brush, as this is the most difficult part to clean. . 
 
 Utensils scalded with boiling water and left in contact with it 
 long enough to be thoroly heated need not be dried with a cloth. 
 Simply place them where they will drain and be exposed to the 
 sun. 
 
 Skimming the Milk 
 
 The old methods of putting milk in shallow pans in a cool 
 place, or in deep cans in a tank of cold water, are still in use, but 
 not all the cream is recovered by these methods. However, these 
 are more satisfactory than the so-called water separator, which 
 is nothing but a fraud—a piece of apparatus deceiving to the 
 users. The same results could be obtained with the ordinary 
 cans used in the deep-setting system by filling them one-third to 
 one-half full of water and filling with milk, then removing the 
 cream in the usual manner. By this hydraulic or water separator, 
 from one-fifth to one-fourth of the butter fat is lost, skim milk of 
 low feeding value is obtained, and the cream is thin and often 
 contaminated with all the impurities of the water. The cream 
 will have a watery flavor which leaves its effect in the butter. 
 The most satisfactory method of obtaining cream from milk on 
 the farm is by the use of a standard make of hand separator. 
 The cost of such a machine may seem high, but when the amount 
 of butter fat is compared with the butter fat obtained from the 
 same milk by other methods, one can easily figure how long it will 
 take to save the cost of the machine. 
 
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 There are several makes of hand separators on the market. 
 The principle upon which they do their work is practically the 
 same, but there is a difference in their efficiency and durability. 
 If the farmer has a preference for a certain make of machine, and 
 is satislied that it is durable and will do good work, that is the 
 separator for him to buy, but the man who has no preference, 
 who simply wants a.good machine, should not accept one that has 
 not been thoroly tested. 
 
 If the separator is put in and operated, capacity tested, and 
 the skim milk tested for butter fat by the agent or salesman, be 
 sure the machine is not turned faster than the number of revolu¬ 
 tions indicated on the handle or stated in the book of instructions. 
 There are machines that will not do close skimming at regulation 
 speed, but will do very efficient work at a'greatly increased speed, 
 and this means greater wearing of the running parts and more 
 work for the operator. 
 
 General instructions for the care and handling of the hand 
 separator are; Set the machine perfectly level on a solid floor; 
 be sure that no dirt or grit has found its way into the gearing; 
 clean all parts thoroly before using; all the parts that come in 
 contact with the milk should be thoroly scalded; oil the separator 
 each time it is used with only the best grade of separator oil; 
 once a month remove all gearing guards and examine to see if 
 everything is working properly. If at this time it seems advis¬ 
 able to thoroly clean all bearings and gearing parts, kerosene 
 applied, wiped off, and replaced by oil will materially lengthen 
 the life of the separator. If by accident some milk should get 
 into any portion of the separator, clean it out, as it will soon clog 
 the gearings and give an offensive odor to the room. Look occa¬ 
 sionally to see if the machine is standing level. Do not think 
 that the separator is a difficult piece of machinery to handle and 
 that it is hard to take care of. Follow the directions given in the 
 book of instructions pertaining to your make of machine. Clean 
 the separator each time after using, as once a day is not sufficient, 
 and this is best done immediately after it has been used. Take 
 it apart, rinse well with cold water, and then wash all parts of 
 the bowl and tinware in warm water, using the brushes that belong 
 to the separator. Never use a dish cloth or soap of any kind, 
 but rather small quantities of sal-soda or washing powder free 
 from grease. After all parts are thoroly washed, rinse in boiling 
 water and place in the sun. Even the brushes used in washing 
 
 ILLINOIS STATE LIBRARY 
 
 1129 00583 1532 
 
4 
 
 should be scalded and placed in the sun. During the night leave 
 all parts in the supply can without putting them together. 
 
 It is best to skim the milk immediately after milking, or while 
 it is still warm. Most separators do their best work with the 
 milk at a temperature of from 85° to 95° F. 
 
 See that the machine is operated at full speed and at full 
 capacity. If turned by hand, see that the speed is uniform and 
 evenly applied. Do not simply push when the handle goes down 
 and pull when it starts up, as this is hard on the separator. Prior 
 to turning on the milk supply and just after separating is com¬ 
 pleted, it is well to run a quart of water thru the bowl. The com¬ 
 mon practice is to stop turning and then pour in the warm water, 
 but the speed should be increased while flushing the bowl. Allow 
 the bowl to come to a standstill of its own accord unless there is 
 a brake attached. 
 
 The relative amount of cream to be obtained from the amount 
 of milk skimmed will depend upon the breed of cows, the season 
 of the year, and whether the cows are fresh or advanced in the 
 period of lactation. The percent of fat in cream varies as the 
 season advances, because the milk does not test the same thruout 
 the year. Other conditions being the same, the richest milk is 
 produced on dry feed and toward the end of the lactation period. 
 
 It is best to skim a cream that will test from 30 to 40, or, in 
 other words, in skimming ten gallons of milk, one or one and one- 
 third gallons of cream should be obtained. It is not the amount 
 of cream that is important, but the amount of butter fat. If the 
 cream is sold to a creamery where sampling for testing is done 
 by weighing instead of measuring, the correct test will be obtained 
 whether the cream be thick or thin. Cream testing between 30 
 and 40 means more skim milk left at home. Higher testing cream 
 keeps better, and naturally there is less to transport. If a cer¬ 
 tain amount of cream is churned at home and an equal amount 
 sent to the creamery, the number of pounds of butter obtained 
 will be a trifle more than the butter fat flgured from the test of 
 the cream at the creamery, simply because the test determines 
 the amount of butter fat, and, as a rule, under dairy conditions 
 six to six and one-fourth pounds of butter fat will make seven 
 pounds of butter. 
 
 When a separator is set to skim a 40 percent cream, it does 
 not mean that every can of cream obtained will test 40 percent, 
 for the percent of fat in the cream varies with the speed of the 
 
5 
 
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 -machine, temperature of the milk, amount of milk going into the 
 bowl, amount of water used in hushing the bowl, and, as stated 
 above, variation in the test of the milk. 
 
 Care of Cream 
 
 As soop. as the cream is separated, it should be cooled to the 
 temperature of the well water. Stir occasionally while cooling 
 in a loosely covered can. Never mix warm cream with cold, but 
 cool each skimming before mixing with the cream already on 
 hand. 
 
 Deliver the cream at least three or four times a week in sum¬ 
 mer and two or three times a week in winter. Do not think 
 because it is sweet that it is in good condition and need not be 
 delivered. 
 
 The best cream is usually received when the farmer delivers 
 it himself, and when each farmer’s cream is delivered at the 
 creamery or shipping station in separate cans. During trans¬ 
 portation the cans should be protected with a cover, a wet blanket 
 in summer and a dry one in winter. If the cream is gathered by 
 a cream hauler and your cream is mixed with your neighbors’, 
 see that it is thoroly stirred before a small sample is taken for 
 testing. 
 
 Most farmers would deliver a better grade of cream if they 
 had a suitable place for keeping it until it is delivered. No one 
 should attempt to keep the cream in the cellar or in a large tank 
 of water where the daily pumping is not sufficient to keep it cool. 
 If a suitable place cannot be built in a well-constructed milk 
 house, the following arrangement answers the purpose quite well. 
 
 Caring for the cream at the proper time by any of the meth¬ 
 ods given below will result in very little souring at the end of 
 two days. 
 
 Make a small water-tight box of two-inch material and of suf¬ 
 ficient size to hold all the cream cans necessary in handling the 
 cream. This box should have a tight fitting cover, and be 
 divided into sections by means of rods which will prevent single 
 cans from upsetting when left alone in the tank. The best place 
 for this tank is in the milk house. It may be placed between the 
 well pump and the stock watering tank, and in that case another 
 box or small house should be*built over it for protection. All the 
 water pumped for the stock should fiow through this tank, the 
 inlet discharging near the bottom, which will force all the warm 
 
6 
 
 water out first. The overflow pipe should have one-half inch 
 larger diameter than the inlet in order that the water may be 
 freely carried ofi. The water in the tank should be of sufficient 
 depth to immerse the cans within two inches of the top. Another 
 place that would be suitable for holding cream could be built in¬ 
 side the watering tank, or an ordinary empty kercfeene barrel 
 may answer the purpose. Burn out the oil and bore holes for 
 the water inlet and outlet between the second and third hoops 
 from the top. Make connections the same as for the box, but 
 be sure the inlet water pipe is extended nearly to the bottom. It 
 is a good plan to bore one-inch holes between the first and second \ 
 
 hoops from the top and place rods through them, so the cans will ^ ^ 
 
 not float when partly filled. Shelter this barrel the same as you 
 would the box, remembering to change the water in the box or 
 barrel often enough to have it reasonably cold, so that the cream 
 may be kept at nearly the same temperature as the water from 
 the well. 
 
 Ripening the Cream for Making Butter 
 
 The difficulties and problems involved in the handling of 
 cream for making butter are so numerous and complex, it is little 
 wonder there is a lack of uniformity in the product. The trouble 
 may be due to some one or more of the following causes: Improper 
 handling of the.milk before it is skimrned; using the utensils, 
 such as pails, strainers -and cans, for other purposes, and not 
 cleaning them thoroly before they are again used as receptacles 
 for milk or cream; allowing the cream to stand in a warm, ill- 
 ventilated room where it becomes tainted and acquires an off-flavor 
 or becomes too sour. 
 
 It is out of the question to make the best grade of butter out 
 of cream that has an off-flavor or is in any way tainted. Do not 
 think because there is a small amount of cream it is not necessary 
 to churn more than once a week, but aim to churn at least twice a 
 week. On a number of farms where butter is made the churning 
 days are Tuesday, Friday, and market day Saturday. It is not 
 essential to follow this rule, but in order to secure a uniform 
 grade of butter it is necessary to churn at least every third or 
 fourth day. 
 
 The cold cream, when warmed by additional lots of fresh, 
 warm cream, will sour quickly, and during the collecting period 
 it should be kept as cold as possible with well water. Each new 
 
7 
 
 lot of cream should be cooled to that temperature before it is 
 mixed with that previously saved. The following suggestion has 
 been tried and found to work well: For holding the cream have 
 a regular can fitted with a cover through which the handle of the 
 stirrer may project. The second can should be smaller, but of 
 sufficient size to hold all the cream of one skimming. Cool the 
 cream in this can before pouring it into the large can, and it is a 
 good plan to leave the cream in this until the following milking 
 time; but the cooling should begin as soon as the separating is 
 completed, in order to check souring. Stir the cream occasion¬ 
 ally while it is cooling. Twenty-four hours before the time for 
 churning, the cream can should be placed where the cream will 
 warm to from 60 to 65 degrees, in summer, and 70 to 75 degrees 
 in winter. Add the starter, using from one to two and a half 
 gallons for every ten gallons of cream. In case the cream has 
 not been kept cold enough to remain sweet, it will not be neces¬ 
 sary to warm it for souring. After the starter is added the cream 
 should be thoroly stirred • every hour until it has taken on a 
 sufficient amount of acid for churning. This can be determined 
 by an acid test or by the general appearance. It should be 
 smooth and glossy with a clean acid flavor and aroma. Under 
 favorable conditions, this development of acid is brought about 
 in from six to eight hours. The cream should then be cooled to 
 churning temperature and held for at least two hours in winter 
 and from four to six hours in summer; otherwise, the butter will 
 come soft and mushy with a correspondingly increased loss in the 
 buttermilk. 
 
 The following method has been used with success: At the 
 beginning of collecting period or when the first amount of cream 
 is placed in the cream can, a small amount of starter is added to 
 it, usually one-fourth of the amount of cream; in this case the 
 development of acid is going on slowly during the time the cream 
 is collected. No fresh cream should be added later than twelve 
 hours before churning. If the cream is kept cold enough to 
 check an over development of acid, the above method is satisfac¬ 
 tory. 
 
 Frequently the maker of dairy butter experiences difficulty 
 in completing churning in the proper length of time. This 
 is usually due to a viscous condition of the cream, caused by using 
 milk from cows that are nearly dry; churning cream that is 
 too thin or too rich in butter fat, at abnormal temperatures; over- 
 
8 
 
 crowding the capacity of the churn and churning the cream from 
 the milk of one cow. 
 
 The value of the starters in making butter cannot be over¬ 
 estimated, either on the farm or in the well-equipped creamery. 
 While butter can be made from sweet cream, it will not have the 
 same flavor as butter made from sour cream. Souring of cream 
 is most successful when controlled by means of a clean flavored 
 sour skim milk, or whole milk starter. 
 
 Starter 
 
 To make the starter, whole milk or skim milk may be used, 
 but the latter is preferable because the top of the starter must be 
 thrown away. Take a certain amount of either, depending on the 
 amount of cream to be churned (2 to 3 gallons to every 10 gallons 
 of cream). -Place this milk in a covered vessel where it can be 
 kept at a temperature of 70 degrees or even 85, if it is desired 
 that it should sour in a shorter period. At 70 degrees, as a rule, 
 it takes from 18 to 24 hours for it to become thick. When the 
 starter is sour, it is ready to be added to the cream, but first dis- 
 card an inch from the top. A smooth, glossy appearance with a 
 clean milk acid taste and aroma indicates a good starter. Stir this 
 well and add to the cream. It is sometimes impossible to obtain 
 a good starter from the mixed milk of the herd. This is especially 
 true in the fall or when a number of cows are going dry. In that 
 case better results can be obtained by using a commercial starter 
 or by selecting several samples of milk in perfectly clean quart 
 jars and allowing it to sour. Select the one that shows the most 
 solid curd and the cleanest flavor for your starter. Mix this with 
 the desired amount of selected whole milk taken from a cow that 
 is giving the most milk or from one that was recently fresh, and 
 allow this to stand at a favorable temperature for a short time, 
 or until it is sour enough to use in the cream. 
 
 As has already been stated, use from two to three gallons of 
 starter to ten gallons of cream. If the cream for churning has 
 been obtained by setting the milk in shallow pans or in the ordi¬ 
 nary shot gun or Cooley cans it is usually thinner than the cream 
 obtained by the use of the hand separator, and not more than one 
 gallon of starter can be used to ten gallons of cream. Best re¬ 
 sults can be obtained by churning cream that contains enough 
 butter fat to produce about two and one-half pounds of butter per 
 gallon of cream after the starter is added, or twenty-eight per¬ 
 cent cream. 
 
9 
 
 Churning 
 
 When the cream has been held at churning temperature for a 
 period of two to three hours, it is ready to be churned. This tem¬ 
 perature should vary with the season (summer 52-54° F.; winter 
 58-62° P.), lactation periods of cows, kind of feed the cows are 
 consuming, and amount of butter churned per gallon of cream. Do 
 not fill the churn over one-third full, because if more cream than 
 this is put in the churn it will lengthen the churning period. 
 The usual time required for churning is about 30 minutes. The 
 speed of the churn should be uniform and fast enough to give 
 the greatest concussion. 
 
 Churning should cease when the granules are fairly uniform 
 in size, and have the appearance of cracked corn. There is greater 
 danger in over churning than under-churning. Draw the butter¬ 
 milk through a strainer. 
 
 Washing the Butter 
 
 When the buttermilk has thoroly drained, sprinkle cold water 
 over the butter, without revolving the churn, until the water 
 comes out quite clear. Close this outlet and add fully as much 
 water as there was cream in the churn, twice as much will do no 
 harm. Close the cover, and revolve the churn about twenty times 
 and at the same speed as for churning. Allow the water to drain 
 out thoroly. The temperature of the wash water and the but¬ 
 termilk should be about the same. It may be necessary to have 
 the wash water warmer than the buttermilk in winter and colder 
 in summer. The butter when ready to be worked must not be too 
 soft or too firm. 
 
 Salting the Butter 
 
 When the last wash water has drained ofi, sprinkle the salt 
 solution over the surface of the granular butter. The amount to 
 use should be regulated by the demand of the consumers. As a 
 standard the following method will produce desirable results: 
 To every ten pounds of butter in the churn, mix one pound of 
 dairy salt and two pounds of water. The salt and the water should 
 be mixed at least thirty minutes before it is sprinkled on the but¬ 
 ter. Close the cover tightly and revolve the churn slowly about 
 ten times. The butter should then be allowed to remain in the 
 churn with the salt solution about fifteen minutes before it is 
 worked. If by this method of salting the desired i^esults are not 
 
10 
 
 obtained, vary the proportion of salt and water. A certain amount 
 of water must be present in the churn with the salt, as otherwise 
 it will not dissolve, incurring a greater danger of streaked or 
 uneven coloring. 
 
 Estimate the amount of butter in the churn by the weight of 
 butter in the previous churning. 
 
 Working the Butter 
 
 For a large dairy the combined churn and worker is prefer¬ 
 able, while in the smaller, the “V” shaped lever, or square shaped 
 roller workers give splendid satisfaction. The butter can be worked 
 in a butter bowl by means of a ladle, but it is difficult and tire¬ 
 some. 
 
 Working should be accomplished by pressure only, the slid¬ 
 ing of the ladle or lever over the surface of the butter will make 
 it salvy or greasy. When the lever or roller has passed over the 
 surface of the butter once, turn the outer edge toward the center 
 and on top of the middle portion of the butter. Repeat this oper¬ 
 ation until the working is completed. Worked butter should be 
 compact, of uniform grain, and the salt evenly distributed and 
 dissolved. 
 
 A number of dairy buttermakers think that it is necessary to 
 partly work the butter and then allow it to stand for several hours 
 before finishing. This need not be done if the granular butter, 
 salt and water in the churn have been thoroly mixed and the 
 salt has partly dissolved before the working was begun. 
 
 The Package of Butter 
 
 Put the butter on the market or deliver it to the regular cus¬ 
 tomers in a package that is neat and attractive. The country roll 
 is a thing of the past. No one can stake their reputation for 
 quality on that form of package. The one pound block print is 
 probably the most popular package. The name of the maker 
 stamped in the surface of the butter or printed on the outside of 
 the carton or wrapper signifies “Quality.” Aside from one pound 
 prints, pack the butter in jars or standard fibre packages. 
 
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