SC - "bog butter"

[snowfire@mail.snet.net]

- -Poster: Jean Holtom <Snowfire at mail.snet.net>
 
>I thought I was the only one questioning the hair in the butter.  I have had dairy
>goat herds in the past and have never had a problem with hair in the milk.  Just
>wash the udders properly and strain the milk before you make butter or cheese.
>Your milk is free of any imperfections.  I can't imagine anyone not being clever
>enough to figure this out for themselves.

>> I've milked many a dairy beast by hand.  If the udder is washed competently
>> first, and the milking done properly, there shouldn't be any hair in the milk.
>> Now don't tell me our Medieval cousins, or even our Prehistoric cousins, or
>> our relatives in the Orkneys who do this all the time don't know how it's
>> done.  Sounds like the "researcher" is making it up as he/she goes along, or
>> reporting on the results of his/her own amateur experiments.  Besides that,
>> the easier way to remove hair from butter would be to strain the milk through
>> a "faire cloth" before allowing the butter to form.

Well I'm no great expert, but I know there's the Aberdeen Angus which is quite 
hairy.  I don't know if the Angus is a modern developed breed or not, but it's 
conceivable a hairy ancestor could have been around centuries ago is it not?

I also wonder, Mordonna, if the "faire cloth" method would interfer in any way with 
the initial solidifying process?  Again, I'm no expert, and the passage caught my 
eye because I'd never heard of butter being made that way.  

It's interesting isn't it?

Elysant 
============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================