Small-ScaleDairy Farming Manual |
Volume 1 |
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What should you know about making butter?
What is butter and what types are there? (5-11)
1 You should know: - what is in butter e.g. butterfat and water - the different types of butter e.g. salted and non-salted, sweet and cultured butter. |
How do you make butter? (12-59)
2 Prepare milk or cream by heat treatment and ripening (for cultured butter). Churn on a small or a larger scale. Wash and work the butter. |
What can you do with buttermilk?(60-63)
3 You can use it for: - drinking or making milk products - animal feed. |
What can be wrong with butter? (64-75)
4 If your butter has a bad smell, taste, texture or appearance, check your: - husbandry - raw materials - method of making butter. |
What is butter?
5 Butter contains about:
- 80 % butterfat (minimum)
- 16 % water (maximum)
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6 You can make butter from:
- milk or - cream. 1 l of cream makes about 300-400 g butter. |
7 The steps in making butter are:
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8
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What types of butter are there
9 You can make butter from:
- fresh cream - cultured cream. |
10 You can make butter:
- without salt - with salt. |
11 For cooking purposes you can make herb
butter by adding:
- parsley or - garlic. |
12 How do you make cultured butter?
The following recipe is for cow or goat's milk. You may need to change it for other types of milk. |
Heating |
Cooling
14 Then cool it quickly to 18 C in running water. Use a thermometer to measure the temperature accurately. |
15 Ripening
Then ripen. For each 1 1 of milk or cream: add 50 cc of (3 desert spoons) of sour butter milk or mesophilic starter; -stir this into the milk or cream |
16 Cover container and leave for 24 hours at 18 C. |
17 You can use raw milk or cream which is sour
naturally if it still tastes and smells fresh.
Do not ripen it. |
19 Heat the cream as before to 80-90
C.
Cool the cream to the lowest possible temperature. |
What do you need to make butter from sour cream or milk?
Raw materials
20 You need: - milk or cream - sour buttermilk or starter - fine salt - clean water. |
Equipment
21 You need:
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22
- a churn - a sieve or coarse cloth - a skimmer - a bowl |
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- a working table - wooden spoons - greaseproof paper for wrapping the butter. |
Small-scale churning
24 You can churn milk or cream:
- by shaking in a sealed bottle - by rotating in a milk can
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25
- by whipping in a bowl:
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- by plunging in a container
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27 This is a small household glass churn:
- screw lid - glass container - rotating whippers. |
28 Rinse the churn with clean water
This prevents sticking. |
29 Half fill with sour milk or sour cream. |
30 Churn with a regular movement until:
- the pieces of butter are as big as peas - the buttermilk looks watery.
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31 If there are no pieces of butter after
30 minutes:
- change the temperature by adding clean cool or warm water - churn again.
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32 Churning may take from 15 to 60 minutes. |
33 The time depends upon:
- the time of year - the type of animal - the type of feed |
34
- the temperature
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35 Carefully remove the pieces of butter
from the lid and side with clean, cold water.
The water with butter will float
on top
of the buttermilk.
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36 Pour off the buttermilk through a coarse sieve. |
38
- use a skimmer to remove the pieces of butter floating on the water |
39 Or wash the butter in a sieve:
- sieve the butter and buttermilk - put the buttermilk on one side - turn the butter over while washing with clean cold water. Do not let the butter become a large lump. |
40 If you wash your butter carefully you
can:
- lower the water content - keep it longer.
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41 Do not overwash.
Your butter will have:
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Salting
42 Salt your butter according
to
taste:
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Working (kneading)
43 Working improves the structure and the quality of your butter. Rinse the working table with clean water |
44 Work the butter with damp wooden spoons
or a damp roller until it has a smooth surface and you can see
no more drops of water.
As you work, remove any water. |
Storage
45 Store butter in a cool place: - in a pot or
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46 Sprinkle a little salt on the surface
of butter in a pot:
- this prevents fungus. |
47 You can freeze butter but it becomes rancid
quickly after defrosting:
- divide the butter into many small parts
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48 Do not freeze salted butter:
- it easily becomes fatty or oily and smells fishy. |
49 If you keep butter for too long, it tastes rancid or develops fungus. |
50 You can keep it longer by making ghee. |
Large-scale churning
51 You can work this churn by
hand or use an electric motor.
It holds 30-50 l of milk or cream. |
52 Half fill the churn with milk or cream.
Churn for 5 minutes (the speed depends on the shape, size and construction of the drum). Stop the churn and release the gases. |
53 Churn again for 35-45 minutes or until
the butter pieces are about 2 cm in diameter.
Pour off the buttermilk through the valve into plastic pails. |
54 Add the same amount of water
as buttermilk
you remove.
Churn at 10-15 rpm for 5 minutes. Pour off the water. |
55 Churn at 10-15 rpm for about 10-20
minutes.
Check the water content and if correct remove the butter from the churn. |
56 You can check the water content
of your butter by using a:
- special balance - beaker for melting butter - burner. |
57 Weigh some butter accurately.
Evaporate the water by heating. Weigh the butter again.
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58 If you know the weight of butter and the weight of water lost, you can find the % of water in the butter. |
59 You can then:
- add water if you want a higher moisture content - churn for longer without adding water if you want a lower moisture content. |
What can you do with buttermilk?
- drinking
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61 You can use it for animal feed:
- warm it for chickens - as it is or with feed for calves. |
62 You can make Trahana:
- leave buttermilk to become sour and add a little salt - add flour or semolina, make a stiff dough and shape into balls - flatten these and dry on a clean cloth, turn over every hour |
63
- rub these through a sieve
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What can be wrong with your butter?
Smell and taste
Use a new starter and wash and sterilize all equipment. |
65 If your butter has a feed flavour check the quality of your feed especially silage, onions etc. |
66 If your butter is green or malty use a new starter. |
67 If your butter is oily or tallowy
check the quality of the milk and cream you are using to make your
butter:
- increase the heat treatment - make less-cultured butter - use less salt - work the butter less. |
Texture
68 If there are drops of water on your butter, knead it more. Your butter should be dry before packing - bacteria multiply quickly in damp butter. |
69 If your butter is oily you see droplets
of oil when you cut it:
- you churning time is too long. |
70 If your butter is soft, check your mixing. |
71 If your butter is crumbly or has a
high melting point, check:
- your feeding - your heat treatment - your churning. |
72 Make sure:
- you cool your cream enough after pasteurization - you do not churn your butter at a high temperature. |
Appearance
73 If your butter has streaks, make sure: - you do not mix butter from different days' production - you knead the salt into your butter for long enough. |
74 If your butter is mouldy,
make sure:
- you are wrapping it properly - all equipment and materials are clean. |
75 If your butter has holes,
make sure:
- you do not work it for too long or at too high a temperature - there is no air in your butter. |
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