Butter and ghee
Practical Action
Pasteurise
Heat cream to destroy micro-
Check the temperature and time
cream
organisms and enzymes.
(e.g. 75oC +/- 2oC for 1 minute)
Chill
To age the cream
Temperature control at 6oC +/-
2oC. If the milk is too hot the milk
fat will be difficult to separate
and the yield of butter will be
reduced.
Churn
To produce butter
Check speed of churn, time of
churning (see text for details)
Wash
To remove buttermilk
Number of washings, check the
temperature of water and ensure it
is drinking quality (have it tested
at a laboratory)
Salting, working Adding salt for salted butter and Check the amount of salt added.
working the butter
Check the time of working to
ensure that salt is evenly
distributed through the butter and
it has uniform consistency
Pack
In greaseproof paper, foil or
Check the weight (e.g. 200g +/- 2
plastic wrapper, plastic pots with g net weight)
clip-on or foil lids.
Label
Attach label or print on the
Check that correct labels are
wrapper
used, that they are correctly
positioned, and show the correct
‘best before’ date (e.g. 9 months
from date of production) and
production batch number.
Store
Hold at 4-8oC in a refrigerator
Check refrigerator temperature is
6oC +/- 2oC
Table 3: Process control points in fresh butter production.
Product control
The main quality factors for butters are colour, texture, flavour and odour. For ghee they are
colour, clarity, flavour and odour. In butters, correct colour is due to control over heating, texture
is controlled by the extent to which cream is cooled, by the temperature when working the butter,
and temperature of storage. At higher temperatures the fat softens and results in a soft, greasy
butter, whereas butter from cooled milk fat is hard and stiff. The flavour/odour are controlled by
preventing rancidity. In ghee, the clarity is mainly due to proper filtering. The taste, colour and
odour of ghee depend on both the time of heating and preventing rancidity. Overheating
produces a burnt taste and odour and a darker colour. Incorrect packaging and storage
conditions accelerate the development of rancidity
Packaging and storage control
Rancidity during storage is reduced by using clean, dry containers and by keeping the stored
product away from light and heat. Iron and copper should not be used in any vessels, utensils or
packaging as these metals promote rancidity in the product.
Summary
Butter and ghee are low-risk dairy products that can have a high demand. They can be made
relatively easily at a small scale.
Equipment required
For fresh butter:
Butter churn.
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