School: Mághthobair (Mohober), Dúrlas Éile (roll number 7048)

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1. Old Crafts - Making of Butter and Cheese

   

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   There is a creamery situated in Knockulty, Mullinahone, Co. Tipperary. Cheese and butter were made there some time ago but now they are not. Butter making is a very good industry. For the making of butter the churn in which it has to be made is prepared as follows.
   First it is damped with cold water, scrubbed with salt, and then it is rinsed again in cold water, and then the cream may be put into the churn. After a reasonable period of churning the cream should show signs of breaking. This stage is most important because if the butter is allowed to go too far it will lump and if not taken far enough it will be too fine and this means loss, and difficulty in gathering. It should be taken far enough to notice a complete separation between the butter and butter-milk. The churn should be allowed to keep turning until the butter is a nice loose mass and like grains of shot. When all the fine grains have gathered together the butter-milk may be drawn away.
   Salt is added to butter in order to improve its keeping qualities. There are two methods of salting butter namely, by dry salting and by brine. Milk curd butter requires one quarter ounce of salt to one pound of butter. The salt should be added immediately it is taken out of the churn. To make butter there should be eighty five per cent of butter fat, twelve per cent of moisture, and three per cent of salt. When the butter

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. activities
      1. economic activities
         1. agriculture (~2,659)
            1. butter and churns (~3,280)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Ned Noonan

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Knockulty, Co. Tipperary

   Informant

   Miss N. Noonan

   Gender

   Female

   Age

   22

   Address

   Knockulty, Co. Tipperary