Butter buttermaking

Historically, butter has been produced by churning chilled cream until the oil-in-water (O/W) milk fat emulsion is broken and the milk fat forms butter granules that separate from the aqueous buttermilk phase. Several continuous buttermaking processes are now available to manufacture butter (Brunner 1974 Harper and Seiberling 1976). 

In 1870, the year before the introduction of factory buttermaking, butter production in the United States totaled 514 million lbs, practically all farm made. Authentic records concerning the beginning of factory buttermaking are meager. It appears that the first butter factory was built in Iowa in 1871. This also introduced the pooling system of milk for creamery operation (1). 

Textural characteristics of butter significantly depend on milkfat composition and the method of manufacture. If the chemical composition of the milkfat is known, it is possible to select the appropriate technological parameters of the buttermaking to improve its texture. To obtain butter with constant rheological characteristics and to control the parameters of the buttermaking process, it is necessary to take into account the difference in the chemical composition and the properties of the milkfat in various seasons. Table 13 shows various compositional changes of milkfat derived from summer and winter mUk (36). 

Vacreation accomplishes a number of tasks in one operation. Pasteurization of the cream for buttermaking is perhaps the most important of these, followed by steam stripping of off odors. Other functions include destruction of natural milk lipases and development of a slightly nutty or cooked flavor in the resulting butter. 

The first steps in the manufacture of Bregott are pasteurization of the cream, followed by cooling and temperature treatment. The cultures are the same as those used in buttermaking. Measured quantities of cream and soybean oil are mixed in the churn or the oil is continuously injected before churning in a continuous butter machine. The byproduct is sour buttermilk. 

Butter manufacture continues to serve as the safety valve for the dairy industry. It absorbs surplus milk supply above market requirements for other dairy products. Milk not required by the demand for these products overflows into the creamery, is skimmed, and the cream is converted to butter. When the milk supply for other products runs short of their demand, milk normally intended for buttermaking is diverted into the channels where needed. Even though consumption patterns have... 

The churning process is carried out batchwise in rotating butter vats or continuously since the development of continuous buttermaking machines (Fritz process Pearce, 1948). In these machines, ripened cream is mechanically treated by rotating beaters. 

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