HOME SEPARATION

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 26 March 1913, Page 3

HOME SEPARATION

i . • — CARE OF CREAM ON THE FARM...

By G. M. Valentine, in the Journal of Agriculture. It is a well-established fact that the quality of the manufactured article depends principally on the character of the raw product, and this applies with special fo/rce to cream separated on the-farm and delivered to a distant manufacturing centre, often at infrequent intervals. Further, it has ""been conclusively proved that good butter can be made from gathered cream, if this has been carefully handled and. delivered in a good ;condition to the factory. Given !a daily delivery of well-cared-for cream, it is possible to make just as good butter under home ; separation as under the wholemilk principle ; but as this is not ! always possible—in fact, the ; system is generally in operation wfiere transit difficulties make a daily delivery impracticable— the^necessity.forcare on the part of the farmer in We handling of ' "the cream is seen to be a vital consideration in the success of the-u-nder-taking —._, Cleanliness essential. If there is one principle more than another which should beemphasized in the successful handling of cream it is that of cleanliness. With milk - and all its products that is the great secret of success, and the farmer separating-his own cream should paste this fact in his hat if he would succeed in producing the best article and thereby afford the factory-manager a chance to turn out a first-grade article that brings the first grade price, a fact particularly emphasized this season. Conditions on all oversea markets/have enabled buyers to discriminate more strongly than in the past between first and second qualities. It therefore behoves the farmer who is unable to make a daily delivery of his cream to take such care of it that he will be able to land it at the factory in the best order possible under the circumstances. . The ..general principles laid down in regard to handling milk on the farm -under the wholemilk system apply with equal force where home separation is in vogue. Having produced a clean milk, this should be at once removed to the separating room,, never under any circumstances being separated in the milkingshed. A special room should be provided for the separation, at least 30 yards from the milkingshed, and it should be-located on the windward side of the shed. This should never be used for any other purpose. It should have a concrete floor, be provided with good drainage-facilities, be well ventilated, and be'furnished with a good supply of water both for cooling and washing purposes. Cooling the Cream. If possible, separating the cream should be carried on simultaneously with the milking process, as the cleanest skimming is obtained when the animal-heat is in the milk. An efficient cooler should be provided, in order to reduce the cream to the lowest possible temperature. As the amount of water required to cool the cream is comparatively small, this should present no serious difficulty. It is also advisable to provide a trough of cold water, preferably running; in which to stand the cream cans, in order to maintain their contents at a reduced temperature. Should a satisfactory supply of water for a cooler not be available, the trough system will have to be depended on, and the cream frequently stirred to reduoe the temperature, The stirring is necessary in any case to break up the froth which collects on the surface of the cream. For this" purpose nothing is better than the perforated pluger generally used in factories. Being made of metal it is e.shi|y kept clean It is not to be thought that, where cream, is delivered.daily to a factory, the cooling is unnecessary. I have sometimes seen cream delivered every day, but which had been qarelessly handled, arriving at a factory \\\ a worst) condition than a tw-o days' supply which had been handled with every care and had been effectively coole.d. Under no circumstances should cream from one skiupn.in.'g he' raided wl\£\t that fr-qm another skiminrflg, im]es« it"has been previously well cooled, as this is one of the cause.-, of the worst of all defects in homeseparated cream known as the " fermentad " flavour.. The. most.-, unsatisfactory of/ n]\ syippljey-s to the homeusenamon" fac tQi'vr i« lie* who places a can under the seprator and does not touch it again till it has received the cream from several milkings, neither stirring nor cooling, the cream being Ijb,us held at the very; he*;t tQi.ydHiQn for. the envelopment of acidity and of undesirable flavours. While held on the farm the cream , can should be covered with a light cheese-cloth to keep out

dust; and -this cloth;- -shouid be thoroughly washed and then dipped in boiling water each time it is used. The Separator. On the care of the separator largely depends the success of home separation. Unless this is kept sweet and clean it is impossible to secure the cream in a sound state. Thorough cleaning after every time of use is imperative —not merely the running through the machine of some hot water, but the dismantling of the machine and the effective cleansing of all the parts. The idea that it is not necessary to wash the machine more than once a day is entirely wrong, and if practised will invariably cause rapid deterioration of the cream. Having finished separating, first wash the various parts Of the machine with warm (not hot) .water to which has been added a -little washing-soda or a reputable cleansing-powder. A brush should always be used in preference to a cloth, which rapidly becomes unsanitary. Thoroughly scald with boiling watei7"and-~^laee--to- air, preferable in the sun but in a sweet atmosphere, until again required. With ~_ this_ process no drying is necessary." " " V Cream-cans. It is very necessary that the cream-cans should be thoroughly cleansed and scalded. Although in the majority of cases the 'cans are washed at the factory, it is most desirable that they should be cleansed again before being used, and the method advised-for the separator applies also in this case.* (Continued onpa°re 4.)