School: Carrickvallen, Dundalk

On this page

1. Churning

   

   Share Share Post

   We have an end over end churn at home. It is fifteen inches in height and thirteen in width.
   When my mother turns the milk into the churn she tests it with a thermometer. In wintertime she warms up the milk with boiling warer to sixty degrees. In summer she puts cold water on it to lower it to sixty degrees as this is churning temperature. People churn often in summer because milk is more plentiful then, than in winter. In winter there is less churning because milk is not so plentiful as in summer.
   If a stranger comes in when churning is in process it is customary for them to help. It is said that this will put luck on the butter. In summer it takes about ten minutes to do the churning, and in winter a half-hour.
   When the butter is made the glass becomes clear. Water is poured in when the churning is nearly finished. My mother pours in cold in summer to harden the butter. In winter she pours hot water in to soften it
   To make up the butter you let out the buttermilk into a crock through the tap. Then water is poured in to wash the milk of the butter. More water is poured in to wash the salt of it. The butter is made into pound rolls with a butter shape.

   (continues on next page)

   

   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

   Peter Kelly

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Coolderry, Co. Monaghan