Preparation of Milk Fat. II. A New Method of Manufacturing Butteroil

Summary The possibility of preparing butteroil by de-emulsification of cream with surface-active agents was investigated.The potential utility for this purpose of 97 commercially available surface active agents was determined. Twenty-six of these demonstrated a capacity to quantitatively de-emulsify cream (40 to 45 per cent fat) at a level of 10 per cent or less of the agent. The testing procedure concerned addition of various amounts of agent to cream samples, heating the mixtures in a water bath, centrifuging the mixtures in graduated tubes and measuring the quantity of oil liberated. Most of the agents found effective yielded a clear quantitative oil layer before centrifuging. One of the effective agents (Tergitol 7) was studied intensively in regard to the variables of agent concentration, fat content of cream and heat treatment. Tergitol 7 was employed also in several pilot-scale productions of butteroil. Butteroil prepared with the aid of Tergitol 7 compared favorably in quality with butteroil produced from cream by churning. The de-emulsification procedure may have a number of useful applications in the dairy field and has certain significant advantages over present methods of manufacturing butteroil.