Optimizing Butter Making Laura Kelley and Mohammad Biswas

Optimizing Butter Making Laura Kelley and Mohammad Biswas CHEN 3820 Chemical Engineering Lab 1 April 24, 2007

Buttery Facts • Butter is made by the agitation of the cream layer from unhomogenized milk. • Butter has been made for many centuries in the same fashion, but technological advancements have lead to faster ways to make butter. • Our project involves making butter by varying temperature and adding co-solvents.

Background: How to Make Butter Milk Content Analysis, per 100 grams • Milk: Basis of Butter – Milk is an emulsion of fat globules within a water based fluid – Milk consists mostly of water – Fat separates from the milk to form cream layer – This layer is more concentrated in fat than the milk Reference: Milk Content, http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Milk, April 22, 2007

Background: How to Make Butter • Churning: Means to Butter – Early period butter making process – Collect the cream layer from the milk – Allowed to sour over a couple of days at room temperature – Use Butter Churn to produce butter and buttermilk – Remove butter from buttermilk and rinse with cold water – Add salt to butter for preservation

How We Made Butter • Main Ingredient: – Heavy Whipping Cream • Methods Used: – Electric Mixer – Manual Shaking • Agitation causes physical separation of butter and buttermilk

Stages of Butter Churning • Heavy Cream Layer – This was obtained after separation of the milk emulsion – Agitation begins at this stage • Whip Cream – Stiff peaks form – This is what is purchased at stores after adding other ingredients

Stages of Butter Churning • Transition Stage – Butter begins to form – Appearance of the signature pale yellow color • Final Stage: Butter – Formation of clumps – Separation of butter and buttermilk – Wash butter to remove excess buttermilk for storage

Experiment 1: Different Ingredients • Main Ingredient: – Heavy Whipping Cream • Co-solvents Examined: – Salt – Calcium Supplements (Calcium Sulfate) – Baking Powder – Cornstarch – Sugar

Results of Experiment 1

Experiment 2: Addition of Salt • Amount of Salt for every two cups (~ 460 g) of heavy cream: – – – ½ teaspoon (2. 4 grams) 1 teaspoon (4. 7 grams) 1 tablespoon (14. 2 grams) 2 tablespoons (28. 5 grams) 3 tablespoons (42. 7 grams)

Results of Experiment 2

Experiment 3: Temperature • Temperature Variation: – – 0 o. C 10 o. C Room Temperature 30 o. C • Determine the role of temperature on the formation of butter

Results of Experiment 3

Conclusions • Butter can be produced the fastest with an ionic co-solvents • Increasing the amount of co-solvent does not always decrease the time to make butter • Ideal conditions to make butter is at room temperature

Questions? References – Cooking for Engineers, http: //www. cookingforengineers. com, April 2, 2007 – Milk, http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Milk, April 22, 2007 Now let us have some Bread and Sweet Butter