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Butter: production process
The creams Virgilio uses in the production of butter are already pasteurised at the associated companies. Pasteurising cream as soon as it is produced allows preserving the maximum amount of quality characteristics. The creams are then collected and transported daily to Virgilio plants. On arrival the operators responsible for unloading will draw samples of the product to be sent to the laboratory to check the actual quality. Once the tests have been done the products are unloaded into refrigerated tanks (temperature not exceeding 6°C), when these are full the pasteurisation/uperisation process begins: this procedure entails warming the milk to a temperature exceeding 80 °C for a few seconds and then cooling it to 8-12 °C and storage in proper tanks called maturators. This process allows eliminating any residue bacteria. In the maturator, selected (live) lactic acid bacteria are added to the pasteurised cream, their metabolic activities lead to the production of NATURAL aromatic substances such as diacetyl (a substance responsible for the aroma of butter). Furthermore the presence of these bacteria (also called "dairy bacteria") permits a better storage of the product. The maturation phase lasts approximately 18-24 hours. Cream consists of water, fat globules, proteins, lactose and salts. The fat globules are each covered by a phospholipidic membrane that permits them to remain in a water emulsion. During the butter-making phase the cream is repeatedly beaten with a rotating device called a BEATER, causing the phospholipidic membranes to break and the triglycerides to exit (this is the actual FAT in the butter). The lean part, buttermilk is separated from the cream, and is removed from the butter-maker, the remaining butter will then continue the process in a different part of the machine where it will be kneaded to loose more humidity, until it reaches the limit of 16% water. At this point the butter is ready.
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