Cream

Cream varies in composition according to the circumstances under which it rises.

In the process of churning; the membranes of casein which surround each of the little globules constituting the cream are broken, and the fat of which they are composed becomes a compact mass known as butter. The watery looking residue containing casein, sugar of milk, mineral matter, and a small proportion of fat, comprises the buttermilk.

Skim-milk, or milk from which the cream has been removed, and buttermilk are analogous in chemical composition.

SKIM-MILK.

BUTTERMILK.

Skim-milk and buttermilk, when the butter is made from sweet cream and taken fresh, are both excellent foods, although lacking the fat of new milk.

Cream is more easily digested than butter, and since it contains other elements besides fat, is likewise more nutritious. In cream the fat is held in the form of an emulsion which allows it to mingle freely with water. As previously stated, each atom of fat is surrounded with a film of casein. The gastric juice has no more power to digest casein than it has free fat, and the little particles of fat thus protected are carried to the small intestines, where the pancreatic juice digests them, and on their way they do not interfere with the stomach digestion of other foods, as the presence of butter and other free fats may do.

It is because of its greater wholesomeness that in the directions for the preparation of foods given in this work we have given preference to the use of cream over that of butter and other free fats. The usual objection to its use is its expense, and the difficulty of obtaining it from city dealers. The law of supply and cost generally corresponds with that of demand, and doubtless cream would prove no exception if its use were more general.

Cream may be sterilized and preserved in a pure state for some time, the same as milk.

Milk requires especial care to secure a good quality and quantity of cream. Scrupulous cleanliness, good ventilation, and an unvarying temperature are absolute essentials. The common custom of setting milk in pans is objectionable, not only because of the dust and germs always liable to fall into the milk, but also from the difficulty of keeping milk thus set at the proper temperature for cream-rising. Every family using milk in any quantity ought to have a set of creameries of large or small capacity according to circumstances, in which the milk supply can be kept in a pure, wholesome condition, and so arranged as to facilitate the full rising of the cream if desired. A very simple and satisfactory creamery, with space for ice around the milk, similar to that represented in the accompanying cut, may be constructed by any tinman.

The plan of scalding milk to facilitate the rising of the cream is excellent, as it not only secures a more speedy rising, but serves to destroy the germs found in the milk, thus lessening its tendency to sour. The best way to do this is to heat the milk in a double boiler, or a dish set inside another containing hot water, to a temperature of 150� to 165�F. as indicated by wrinkles upon its surface. The milk must not, however, be allowed to come to a boil. When scalded, it should be cooled at once to a temperature of about 60� F. and kept thus during the rising of the cream.

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