SALT IN BUTTER.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1654, 22 January 1913, Page 10

SALT IN BUTTER.

A BUTTER EXPERT'S VIEWS,

.An interesting paper 'on;- some buttcruiaking experiments was read at tho Australian Scenic Congress by .sir. fi.' (Jrowe, tiovernuient Butter Jixpert. ; I'iom time .to time, he-said, douuts : nail.arisen as to'whether salt in butter-had any preserving effect, or it' it were only u. liavoiiring agent. : An experiment concluded in November last with one parcel of butter from the same churning.showed that the sample,which had no salt or preservative in it was better alter keeping tor some months that' the duplicate sample with only salt added. On noting the re's'ult,' three factory managers,' .-"ono in-the Western district, another in Uippsjand, and the third in the U.o'ulburn_ Valley, provided butters from the one churning, now live weeks old; The results in all cases showed distinctly that buter without salt kept better over a lengthened i period, in cool \storage than "salted butter. It'was nioro likely that tho pre■serice of salt facilitated bacteriological "development'in butter than that salt was instrumental in.bringing abouta/cheniiA • eat alteration. Unsaited butter usually 1 commanded a higher, price by 2s. per cwt. ;thaii that which was salted, the-reason given being that butter in that form was imoro-suitable for blending purposes or for sale as-Normandy, or in competition' with., Normand y-salted, butter. It had been generally known, however, for many years that unsaited * buttsr kept bet to. and was niuch less liable, to develop tho fault known as "flshiness." Unsaited butter contained a greater. percentage ot lnoistureithan.salted'.butter. .■_-'. •• During the last seven years, Mr. Orowe continued, '■ the analyses' lor' moisture of 13,193 samples of export butter had shown an average of 13.84 per cent.. There had been a great deal of controversy (rom time: to time as to the,maximum, lhoisture contents, which should.be allowed ill butter. It-was worth, noting that the average for the' 1910-11 season was. 13.82 'per cent., when the maximum allowed' ,was 16 per cent.; whilst for. 1911-12 the average rose to 13.91 per cent., when the maximum '.■permitted had been 15 per cent. The average.composition of Victorian butter might bo stated at 83.5 per cent, butter-fat, 13.8 per. cent, moisture, 0.7 per cent..curd, 1.8 per cent: salt, and 0.2 per cent.' borio acid. v . -.'