3004.—BUTTER, TO CLARIFY.
Method.—Put the butter into a stewpan, heat it slowly, removing the scum as it rises, and when quite clear, pour it carefully into clean and dry jars, leaving the sediment behind.
3005.—CURLED BUTTER.
Method.—Tie a strong cloth by two of the corners to an iron hook in the wall. Tie the other end of the cloth into a knot, but so loosely that the index finger may be easily passed through it. Place the butter in the cloth, twist it lightly, thus forcing the butter through the knot in fine short rolls or curls. The butter may then be garnished with parsley and served. Butter for garnishing hams, etc., should be worked until sufficiently soft, and then used by means of a piece of stiff paper folded in the form of a cornet. The butter is squeezed in fine strings through the hole at the bottom of the cornet, and a little experience soon enables the worker to execute various designs.
3006.—FAIRY OR FEATHERY BUTTER.
Method.—Work the butter until it is sufficiently soft, then place it in a piece of coarse butter muslin or some loosely woven fabric through which it can be forced in fine particles, and which must be previously wetted with cold water. Draw the edges of the muslin together and the butter gently through, letting it fall lightly into the dish in which it will be served, or round any dish it is intended to garnish.
3007.—FRESH BUTTER, TO KEEP AND CHOOSE.
Method.—Fresh butter should be kept in a dark, cool and airy place, and in as large a mass as possible. Mould as much only as is required, as the greater the surface exposed the more risk there will be of it becoming rancid. Butter coolers of stoneware are very much used for keeping butter in warm weather. They are made with bell-shaped covers, into the top of which a little cold water should be poured, and in summer time very frequently changed. Failing one of these useful additions to the larder, the butter should be kept in a vessel surrounded with cold water, and covered with muslin kept constantly wet by immersing its edges in the water which fills the outer vessel.
In choosing fresh butter, see that it has a fresh, pleasant smell; if otherwise, it may be accepted as an indication that it has not been sufficiently washed from the buttermilk, and consequently will not keep. Butter should be quite dry; a considerable amount of water is sometimes left in it, so as not to decrease its weight, and thereby its keeping qualities are impaired.
