FOOD PREPARATION
Buttermilk Made from a Culture.—Bring two quarts of milk to a boil, cool to the temperature required for inoculation (80° to 100° F., depending on the culture employed). Introduce the culture, and allow it to stand at the temperature of the room until a solid clabber forms. Place on ice, whip with an egg beater or break up with a churn before using. If a fat-free buttermilk is desired, use skimmed instead of whole milk.
There are many kinds of buttermilk cultures on the market, but Hansen’s is considered one of the best, because it is not too acid, besides which, it has a good flavor, and the culture can be utilized over and over for a week or ten days.
In preparing a subsequent portion, it is only necessary to use two or three ounces of the first buttermilk, which may be reserved for the purpose. This amount is introduced into the freshly boiled milk, instead of the original powder, and the preparation is continued exactly as described for the mother culture.
In every case the mixture must be placed on ice as soon as the clabber forms, as it becomes too sour otherwise.
Eiweiss Milk.—Heat one quart of whole milk to 145° F. and coagulate with pepsin, rennin, or chymogen, which is 10 per cent rennin. Let it stand until clabbered, which takes about ten minutes. Pour into a gauze bag and let it stand until all the whey is drained off. To the dry curd, add ½ ounce of flour ball, and one pint of skimmed buttermilk, the whole to be rubbed through a very fine wire mesh sieve (as fine as a tea-strainer, at least), three separate times; or, it may be ground twice through a special mill to break up the curd as minutely as possible. Add a pint of water and measure. There should be a quart and three or four ounces over. Place upon a slow fire and bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Boil two minutes, then cool, strain, measure, and add water to make up for evaporation. Shake well before measuring, as the curd is heavy and settles to the bottom.
Peptonized Milk.—(See p. [338].)
Whey.—To a pint of fresh, warm cow’s milk, add rennin as pepsin, or chymogen, and stir until mixed. Let it stand until coagulation is complete. Then the curd should be broken up with a fork, and the whey drained off through coarse muslin. This removes the coagulable proteins from the milk. A ten per cent cream can be had at home by allowing a quart of milk to stand for six hours and then using the upper one-fourth.
Whey-Cream Mixture.—Make whey as described and mix with cream, in the proportion of whey 1½ ounces to cream, 1 dram for each feeding.
Barley Water. No. 1.—Use one ounce of barley pearls to a quart of water. Wash thoroughly, put on a slow fire and boil for six hours. Add water to make up for evaporation, and add a pinch of salt. Strain and cool rapidly.
Barley Water. No. 2.—Use one heaping teaspoonful of Robinson’s patent barley flour to each pint of cold water. Boil twenty minutes and add water to make up for evaporation. Add a little salt, strain and cool rapidly.
Other cereal waters, like rice and oatmeal, are made like barley water No. 1, and in the same proportion.
Flour Ball.—Take four cups of ordinary wheat flour and wrap it in a piece of muslin, and tie it tightly. Drop the mass into boiling water and boil six hours. Then take it out, cool it and remove the outer peeling with a sharp knife. Break into small pieces, the size of an English walnut, and dry thoroughly in a slow oven. Pulverize in a mill or meat-grinder, sift and keep in a dry place.
Milk may be sterilized, pasteurized, or boiled.
Sterilization kills both germs and spores, but it is not nearly so necessary as it is to have the right proportion of sugar and fats. Place in an autoclave and keep at a temperature of 160° F. for an hour.
Pasteurization is desirable when a good, clean milk is not attainable. It kills the germs, but not the spores. The process must be carefully attended to, or the milk will sour more easily. Heat a quart of milk to 160° F. for twenty minutes. Cool rapidly to 40° F.
Boiling milk for two minutes kills all bacteria, and renders the casein more easy of digestion and prevents the formation of curds.