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Show Winter Weather No Guarantee of Cream Quality "Now that cold weatlier Is he.e some mom producers In this va-clnlty va-clnlty think that they can take a holiday from "the careful production produc-tion and handling of cream," says Max Johnson, of the State Department Depart-ment of Agriculture. "They, as well as a lot of buyers, route handlers and others concerned with the handling and transportation of cream, are under the impression that cold weather will be their watch-dog against a lower grade of cream, germs, bad flavors, and old cream. Because of this delusion, neglect might easily result In a poorer poor-er quality of cream in winter than in summer. "It is true," Mr. Johnson points out, "that cream deteriorates more slowly In low temperatures thim high. But no matter what the temperature, tem-perature, unclean methods, diny utensils and dirty separators will contaminate cream. And only a few days are required to develop undesirable un-desirable flavors, even at low temperatures. tem-peratures. "Cream may remain iweet, and at the same time have such old, rancid ran-cid flavor that It will be unsuitable for buttermaklng. On the other hand, cream that is produced under sanitary conditions, and kept it a temperature which might cause It to become slightly sour, may be churned Into good butter. "There Is only one remedy for these conditions. Namely, the use of the same careful, sanitary methods meth-ods of production In winter as in i summer. No cream, good or bad, should be held more than a few I days as age has a very bad effect on the flavor and quality. It should j be delivered to market at least I twice a week in winter, however j small the quantity. Holding cream In poorly tinned, open - seamed, battered or rusty cans Is another ! practice that threatens the quality. Such utensils cause undesirable flavors at any temperature. "In winter as well as summer it is always necessary to cool cream quickly. Bacteria and mold Immediately Immed-iately begin their growth in the warm milk and cream. Dependin? on air-cooling, no matter how cold the weather, does not accomplish the results, as water cools cream A S times faster than air. Cream should be immediately placed in a cold-water cold-water cooling tank, properly stirred stir-red and kept cool until marketing. Under no circumstances should cream be kept in the kitchen in winter. The temperature in a kitchen kit-chen ia uneven much too hot at ' meal time and probably all the I time, while cooking odors will surely destroy the fluvor of cream. "Winter weather brings around another hazard to guard against, too, and that is freezing. Frozen cream will not make good butter. Freezing cream changes It and usually us-ually results in mealy, oily butter. When cream is taken to market in extremely cold weather, it must be protected from freezing. "And In both winter and summer sum-mer it should be remembered that healthy cows give milk almost free i from the elements that cause de- terioratlon. INothlng but cariless i handling will cause spoilage. Only good care, day after day, will keep ! up the quality." |