[3] It will be perceived that the arrangement for cooling the milk before setting in the pans, in the Dutch dairies, is very elaborate. I have followed the original in translating the above, though the practice in Holland differs widely from our own in this respect, and from that recommended in the preceding pages. The point may be worthy of careful experiment.—Translator.
The milk, when properly cooled, is brought to the milk-cellar, where it is immediately poured out of the milk-kettles into vessels designed to receive it. Wooden bowls or pans, or high earthen pots, are used for holding it. The pans and pots are set on the table, and a small ladder, or hand-barrow, is laid on there, on which is placed the strainer, when the milk is poured from the kettles. The wooden milk-pans are of several forms, generally made of ash or of linden, and oval. They are, on an average, three and a half feet long, and half a foot broad, more or less; but their dimensions vary.
It has been found, by experience, that the flatter and shallower the pans, the quicker and better the cream rises. The milk-pots are pretty large, but are rather shallow than deep, glazed inside, of different forms, and different capacities; but they are always broader on the top than at the bottom, though they stand firmly on a round, broad foot-piece. Milk pans and pots are rinsed with cold water before the milk is poured into them. When properly cleaned and filled, they are placed on shelves made for the purpose, in regular rows. These shelves are only a few feet high above the floor of the cellar, and of suitable width; but, if there is not space enough for the milk, the pans are placed on the bottom of the cellar. The pots are also set along the walls, on firm board shelves.
The milk-cellar, or rather the milk-room, [Fig. 98], in the North and South Dutch dairies, is placed on the north side of the house, next to the kitchen, but a little lower than the latter, so that there are usually three steps down. The longer side, facing towards the north, has one window, whilst the gable end, with its two windows, faces towards the west. The windows are generally kept shut, and are open only nights in summer. The cellar is either arched or covered with strongly boarded rafters, over which the so-called cellar-chamber is situated. The floor of this room is laid in lime or cement, with red or blue burnt tiles, so that nothing can pass down through into the milk-cellar. In the cellar itself are the above-mentioned shelves and platforms for the milk-vessels along the walls, while outside, in front of the cellar, linden and juniper trees are planted, to prevent as much as possible the heat of the sun from striking upon the walls. Cleanliness, the fundamental principle of Dutch dairy husbandry, is carried to its utmost extent in the cellar. Barrels of meat, bacon, vegetables of every kind, and everything which could possibly create a strong odor and infect the air, or impart a flavor to the milk, butter, or cheese, are carefully excluded.
Fig. 98. Dutch dairy-room.
The vessels in which the milk is set remain standing undisturbed in their places, that the formation of cream may go on without interruption. Twenty-four hours, on an average, are thought to be necessary for the milk to stand, during which time the cream is twice taken off, once at the end of each twelve hours. The morning’s milk is skimmed in the evening, and the evening’s on the next morning. But the milk always remains quite still till the dairymaid thinks it time to skim, which she decides by the taste. Long practice enables her to judge with great certainty by this mode of trial.
Fig. 99.
When the cream is ripe it is taken off by the dairymaid with a shallow wooden skimmer, [Fig. 99], in the form of a deep plate, and carefully placed in a particular vessel—a bucket or cream-pot. The cream-pot is generally washed very clean, the staves very finely polished, striped with blue or white outside, and held together by broad brass or copper hoops, kept very bright. For closing the jar they use an ashen cover, which is either simply laid on by a common handle, or sometimes held on by brass or copper hinges. Both cream-pot and cover are always scoured quite white and clean. The cream remains there till enough is got for churning, or till it becomes of itself thick enough for butter. It is known to be of the proper consistence for butter when a long, slender, wooden spoon, thrust down into it, will stand erect. When in summer the cream does not get thick enough in season, they seek to hasten it by putting in a little butter-milk; but in winter the ripening of the cream is hastened by warming, either by holding the cream-pot over a coal-pan, or on a hearth-plate.