While butter of this kind is
perhaps a few cents cheaper than that which is handled in a more
sanitary way, it is less desirable, and if possible should be avoided by
the housewife. In case butter is obtained from a certain farm, the
conditions on that farm should be looked into for the same reason that
the conditions in a dairy are investigated.
6. To be able to select good butter, the housewife should also be
familiar with its characteristics. In color, butter to be good should be
an even yellow, neither too pale nor too bright, and should contain no
streaks. The light streaks that are sometimes found in butter indicate
insufficient working. As to odor, butter should be pleasing and
appetizing, any foreign or strong, disagreeable odor being extremely
objectionable. Stale butter or that which is improperly kept develops
an acid called _butyric acid_, which gives a disagreeable odor and
flavor to butter and often renders it unfit for use.
7. CARE OF BUTTER.--The precautions that the farmer and dairyman are
called on to observe in the making and handling of butter should be
continued by the housewife after she purchases butter for home use. The
chief point for her to remember is that butter should be kept as cold as
possible, because a low temperature prevents it from spoiling, whereas a
high one causes it to become soft and less appetizing. The most
satisfactory place in which to keep butter is the refrigerator, where it
should be placed in the compartment located directly under the ice and
in which the milk is kept, for here it will not come in contact with
foods that might impart their flavors to it.
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