consumed in the United States and parts of
Europe.
Making Butter Butter making is in essence a
simple but laborious operation: you agitate a
container of cream until the fat globules are
damaged and their fat leaks out and comes
together into masses large enough to gather.
Preparing the Cream For butter making,
cream is concentrated to 36–44% fat. The
cream is then pasteurized, in the United States
usually at 185ºF/85ºC, a high temperature that
develops a distinct cooked, custardy aroma.
After cooling, the cream for cultured butter
may be inoculated with lactic acid bacteria
(see p. 35). The sweet or cultured cream is
then cooled to about 40ºF/5ºC and “aged” at
that temperature for at least eight hours so
that about half of the milk fat in the globules
forms solid crystals. The number and size of
these crystals help determine the how quickly
and completely the milk fat separates, as well