“The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman.” – Willa Cather, O Pioneers! 1913
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Ah, the good ol' days when every farm house, like the Anderson Ranch house, had a butter churn and when calories didn't count.
Many varieties of butter churns were available, from wooden or crockery churns to the 1920s version, which was a large glass jar mixer that was turned by hand with the crank on the jar's lid.
The old crockery or tall wood churns employed a dasher, or plunger which was manipulated up and down in the cream to eventually produce golden butter.
It is said that pioneers moving west along the trails simply kept an enclosed container of some sort on the back of the wagon. The constant movement along the trail churned the butter for them.
A barrel churn, like the one in the photograph could be turned by a handle, which turned a crank with churn-paddles inside the wooden container. The larger barrel churns were used more often for larger production purposes.
Butter as a food goes back as far as 2,000 B.C. Certain butter churns were put to use as far back as the 6th century A.D.
According to National Geographic, “bog butter” was unearthed in Ireland. The 22-pound mass of fat that was found in a bog is believed to have been preserved in the peat over 2,000 years ago.
Bog butter has been unearthed in more than 400 places there. The cool, acidic moisture in the bogs was used as an early form of refrigeration for many foods. Bog butter could be bartered or even used to pay taxes then.
Butter's creamy colors range from yellow to off-white, depending on Bessie the cow's feed. Today, carotene or other coloring is often added to butter.
Aside from making butter from cream skimmed off the top of cow's milk, butter can be produced from goats and sheep. For an exotic culinary treat butter can be churned from buffalo or yak's milk as well.
When butter is first churned the cream separates. The thin liquid left after the separation is buttermilk.
Can you say butter cookies, buttered popcorn and buttered biscuits?
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.
Lake County Time Capsule: Old timey butter churns
- Kathleen Scavone
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