Process Of Butter-Making Process

The processing of butter involves quite a number of stages.

STEP 1:

SEPARATION OF THE CREAM

The modern butter-making process starts when cow’s fresh milk from dairy farms is supplied to the industry. The product is tested, classified into different categories according to its adjudged quality, and then filtered to remove impurities. Then the milk is separated through centrifugal force. It is forced into a large, cylindrical, vertical rotator device. When turned on, this rotator spins the liquid until the cream comes to the top. The cream should be sweet (pH should be greater than 6.6, Titratable acidity: 0.10 - 0.12%), and it should not be rancid nor oxidized.

STEP 2:

 PASTEURIZATION

cremoris, S. lactis diacetyl lactis, Leuconostocs, are added and then the cream is ripened to pH 5.5 at 21oC and then to pH 4.6 at 13oC. Most flavour development occurs between pH 5.5 - 4.6. The colder the temperature during ripening the more the flavour development occurs relative to acid production. Ripened butter is usually not washed or salted. Ripening increases the percentage of diacetyl, the compound responsible for the flavour of butter. Culture inoculation may take place during churning. Butter which is flavour enhanced by this process is termed lactic, ripened or cultured butter. This process is very common in continental European countries. Although the product is known to have a superior flavor but the storage life is limited. Butter which is made without the addition of a culture is called sweet cream

In the churning process the cream is violently flustered to break down the fat globules, causing the fat to accumulate into butter grains, while the fat content of the remaining liquid known as the buttermilk lowers down . Thus the cream is divided into two fractions: butter grains and buttermilk. In traditional churning, the machine stops when the grains have obtained a particular size, where the buttermilk is drained off. After draining, the butter is worked to a finely dispersed water phase and a continuous fat phase. It used to be an older practice to wash the butter after churning to remove any residual buttermilk and milk solids but this is rarely done today.

STEP 6:

 SALTING

Salt is used to improve the flavour and to increase the shelf-life as it is a preservative. If the butter is to be salted, salt (1-3%) is spread evenly over its surface, in the case of batch production. For the continuous process, a slurry of salt is mixed into the butter. The salt is all dissolved in the aqueous phase, so the active salt concentration is approximately 10% in the water.

STEP 7:

