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Classic
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page 384
paddle with hard coarse salt, which prevents butter from sticking. Rinse
thoroughly and fill with cold or ice-water to cool. After washing butter free
from milk, remove to this bowl, having first poured out the cold water, and (the
butter-bowl and paddle should occasionally be scoured with sand or ashes, washed
thoroughly with soap-suds, and rinsed until all smell of soap has disappeared,)
work in gradually salt which has been pulverized by rolling, and freed from
foreign substances. If wanted for use, one-half ounce of salt to the pound of
butter is sufficient, but if wanted for packing, use three-fourths of an ounce
or even an ounce of salt. Use only the best quality of dairy salt. After
salting, cover with cotton cloth soaked in brine, and set away in a temperature
of about 60 degrees for twelve hours. Work the second time just enough to get
the remaining buttermilk out. This, however, must be done thoroughly, as
otherwise the acid of the buttermilk will make the butter rancid. At the end of
the second working it is ready for use, and should be kept in a clean, sweet
place, as it soon absorbs bad odors and becomes tainted. The air of a cellar in
which are decaying vegetables soon ruins the sweetest butter.
In packing for market, (ash butter-tubs are the neatest and best packages,) soak
the package for twelve hours in brine strong enough to float an egg, pack the
butter in evenly and firmly, having first put in a thin layer of salt. If the
tub is not filled by the first packing, set away until next churning, in a cool
place, with a cotton cloth wet in brine spread over the butter, and place cover
carefully on the tub. When filled, lay over the butter a cotton cloth (from
which the sizing has been washed) soaked in strong brine, nail up the tub, and
set away in a clean, cool place until ready to sell.
In packing for family use, work into rolls, lay in large stone crocks, cover
with brine strong enough to float an egg, in which a level tea-spoon of
saltpeter and a pound of white sugar to each two gallons have been added; over
it place a cotton cloth and a weight to keep the butter under the brine, and tie
a paper over the top of crock. Or pack in a stone jar, pressing it solid with a
wooden pestle, cover with a cloth wet in brine, and sprinkle over it salt an
inch thick. When ready to pack the next churning, remove the cloth with the salt
carefully, rinsing off with water any that may have been scattered in uncovering
it, pack butter as before, replace cloth with salt over it, and repeat until jar
is filled to within two inches of the top, cover all with cloth, add salt to the
top of crock, tie paper over the top and set in a cool place. In removing for
use each churning comes out by itself.
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