We have been having some debate about what may constitute powdered butter, as seen in the prizes at local shows long gone. Modern powdered butter can be bought in cans and made from mixing dried milk powder into butter to produce a breadcrumb like consistency. It seem unlikely that this method would be used, but rather that the additional chemical ‘powders’ mentioned below, may be referred to as powdered butter. Certainly, food additives are not a modern invention. Please tell us if you have any ideas.
From this cutting of an article about the Kilmarnock Show and Fair of 1892 it seems we are not the only ones wondering.
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| Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald 1892 |
The third cutting below describes clarified butter, much used today in indian cookery.
If you have any pictures of butter churns, scotch hands, or anything associated with making butter, please do send them to us.
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| Butter 'pats' or 'scotch hands' from Robert Stevenson 25cm (9 inches) in total length |
These butter pats would be used to shape and pat out the air and residual water, in a home scale setting. The butter would then be lifted using the hands into a rectangular sheet of grease proof paper and a pattern put on the top using the end of the blade - could be a diamond pattern, depending on the maker.
For small butter pats, Robert's mother would use these to form dainty rounds for a special tea party.
If the butter was being stored in a bowl, it may be pressed in and given a patterned top using a stamp, or boss rather like a seal on an old document.
For bulk manufacture, the blades would be an upscaled version, needing some muscle to operate!
Terms
Syle - colander type sieve with large holes and a muslin liner to take out debris.( Syle cloths, and syle pads to act as a layer of filters)
Nitre - Potassium nitrate a colourless or white crystalline compound used in gunpowders, pyrotechnics, fertilizers, and as a preservative for foods, esp as a curing salt for ham, sausages, etc (E252). Formula: KNO3. Also called: saltpetre, nitre
Sal ammoniac - is the name for the chemical compound ammonium chloride.
These are some newpaper clippings ........
| The Scots Magazine October 1773 |
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| The Scots Magazine - October 1773 |
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| The Scots Magazine - December 1792 |
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| Aberdeen Press and Journal - October 1844 |
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| The Perthshire Courier March 1844 |
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| Caledonian Mercury - May 1844 |
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| John O’Groat Journal - January 1839 |
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| Inverness Courier - March 1841 |
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| Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald - September 1872 |
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| Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald - July 1870 |
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| Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald - May 1876 |
From the Scottish Farmer Annual butter competion of 1921
And the winner is...........
Miss Agnes Findlay Templeton, Willoxton, Mauchline
with 100 Points
....and Second -
Mrs Robert Stitt, of Craigshield, New Cumnock
with 98 Points
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| This is the set up at Changue Farm in the 1940s |
Most farms at that time would not have had the luxury of electricity!
The cream would be separated from the milk at blood temperature through a hand turned centrifuge, skimmed milk coming out of one pipe, and cream from the other.
The milk is put into a vessel at the top of the machine, the centrifuge brought up to speed, and a valve opened to allow gravity to feed the milk through the centrifuge.
After processing, the machinery would have to be dismantled in order to thoroughly clean the constituant parts.
As a boy in the 1920s, my father fell out with the dairymaid over some misdemeanor - he was a very naughty kid!
By way of “punishment” for her telling him off, he took all the little bits of the separator and hid them in the corn bin.....it took his Dad HOURS to find all the bits! (EC)
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| Again Changue in the 1940s, the separator centrifuge is on the left. Belt drive replacing the handle. |
Butter made from fresh cream, with a very little salt is quite delicious and easy to make with a low speed paddle on a standard food mixer. If you really like it, you can still buy glass churns with a hand turned paddle. Wash out the butter in icy cold water until the water is clear, add a little salt to taste and spread thick!
The buttermilk makes great scones.
Do any of our readers make their own butter? Please let us know the perils and pitfalls - those days when it just won't come together!
Maybe it's the fault of the Fairies
The History of Old Cumnock by John Warrick M.A. (1899)
p339
'Bad fairies were apt to show their ill-will towards farmhouses. In such a case the churn would not produce butter. It was therefore evident that it had been bewitched, and would do no more good until the charm was removed. This was done by taking it to a place where the lands of three lairds met and rinsing it in the stream which flowed past. Such a spot was found immediately opposite the gates of Glaisnock House, a little more than 100 yards through the fields on the other side of the road. There the land of Lord Bute touches the lands of Glaisnock and Skerrington. A pool in the stream, which serves as the march, was used to dispel the hurtful influence. Stories of this actually having been done, not more than two generations ago, have reached our time.'
