Editing Butter (section)

==Production==
{{Main|Churning (butter)}}
[[File:Churning butter.jpg|thumb|upright|Churning cream into butter using a hand-held mixer]]
[[Homogenization (chemistry)|Unhomogenized]] milk and cream contain [[butterfat]] in [[microscopic]] globules. These globules are surrounded by membranes made of [[phospholipid]]s ([[fatty acid]] [[emulsifier]]s) and [[protein]]s, which prevent the fat in milk from pooling together into a single mass. Butter is produced by agitating cream, which damages these membranes and allows the milk fats to conjoin, separating from the other parts of the cream. Variations in the production method will create butters with different consistencies, mostly due to the butterfat composition in the finished product. Butter contains fat in three separate forms: free butterfat, butterfat [[crystals]], and undamaged fat globules. In the finished product, different proportions of these forms result in different consistencies within the butter; butters with many crystals are harder than butters dominated by free fats.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Churning produces small butter grains floating in the water-based portion of the cream. This watery liquid is called [[buttermilk]], although the buttermilk most commonly sold today is instead directly fermented skimmed milk.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1 December 2006|title=A comparative study of the fractionation of regular buttermilk and whey buttermilk by microfiltration|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0260877405004966|journal=Journal of Food Engineering|language=en|volume=77|issue=3|pages=521–528|doi=10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2005.06.065|issn=0260-8774|last1=Morin|first1=P.|last2=Pouliot|first2=Y.|last3=Jiménez-Flores|first3=R.|access-date=7 June 2021|archive-date=7 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607013819/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0260877405004966|url-status=live}}</ref> The buttermilk is drained off; sometimes more buttermilk is removed by rinsing the grains with water. Then the grains are "worked": pressed and kneaded together. When prepared manually, this is done using wooden boards called [[scotch hands]]. This consolidates the butter into a solid mass and breaks up embedded pockets of buttermilk or water into tiny droplets.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Commercial butter is about 80% butterfat and 15% water; traditionally-made butter may have as little as 65% fat and 30% water. Butterfat is a mixture of [[triglyceride]], a [[triester]] derived from [[glycerol]], and three of any of several [[fatty acid]] groups.<ref>Rolf Jost "Milk and Dairy Products" Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2002. {{doi|10.1002/14356007.a16_589.pub3}}</ref> [[Annatto]] is sometimes added by U.S. butter manufacturers without declaring it on the label because the U.S. allows butter to have an undisclosed flavorless and natural coloring agent (whereas all other foods in the U.S. must label coloring agents).<ref>Butter: A Rich History. Elaine Khosrova. 2016. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. Pages 123–124. ISBN 978-1-61620-739-7 (PB).</ref> The preservative [[lactic acid]] is sometimes added instead of salt (and as a flavor enhancer), and sometimes additional [[diacetyl]] is added to boost the buttery flavor (in the U.S., both ingredients can be listed simply as "natural flavors").<ref>Butter: A Rich History. Elaine Khosrova. 2016. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. Page 125. ISBN 978-1-61620-739-7 (PB).</ref> When used together in the NIZO manufacturing method, these two flavorings produce the flavor of cultured butter without actually fully fermenting.<ref>Butter: A Rich History. Elaine Khosrova. 2016. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. Page 129–30. ISBN 978-1-61620-739-7 (PB).</ref>