GIFSQ Tools · Module 07 — Dairy, Milk, Cheese & Fermented Products · Tool 135 of 500
Work out the butter and buttermilk from a cream churn, and how much of the cream fat ends up in the butter.
Try sample values — fills the form with the worked example below.
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Butter (kg)
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Buttermilk (kg)
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Fat recovered in butter (%)
Equation: Butter (kg) = cream (kg) × (cream fat − buttermilk fat) ÷ (butter fat − buttermilk fat), all as fractions. Buttermilk (kg) = cream (kg) − butter (kg). Fat recovered in butter (%) = butter × butter fat ÷ (cream × cream fat) × 100.
Method: Fat mass balance across the churn; fat by ISO 1211 Röse-Gottlieb or ISO 9622. Butter is at least 80% fat under Codex Stan 279-1971, commonly made at 82%.
Assumptions: all fat leaving the churn is in either the butter or the buttermilk; the fat contents are measured on the same churn.
Limitations: the balance does not cover working losses, wash water or salt added after churning; it does not judge butter texture or flavour.
Rounding: masses to 2 decimal places; recovery to 2 decimal places; intermediates unrounded.
This is a calculation aid, not a laboratory report — confirm against your accredited method before citing a value.
Method: Fat mass balance across the churn; fat by ISO 1211 Röse-Gottlieb or ISO 9622. Butter is at least 80% fat under Codex Stan 279-1971, commonly made at 82%.
Assumptions: all fat leaving the churn is in either the butter or the buttermilk; the fat contents are measured on the same churn.
Limitations: the balance does not cover working losses, wash water or salt added after churning; it does not judge butter texture or flavour.
Rounding: masses to 2 decimal places; recovery to 2 decimal places; intermediates unrounded.
This is a calculation aid, not a laboratory report — confirm against your accredited method before citing a value.
Worked example: 100 kg of cream at 40% fat; butter at 82% fat, buttermilk at 0.5% fat. Butter = 100 × (0.40 − 0.005) ÷ (0.82 − 0.005) = 48.47 kg; buttermilk = 51.53 kg; fat recovered = 99.36%.
Enter values above to see results.
Butter is usually 80–82% fat; a good churn leaves buttermilk near 0.5% fat and recovers 95% or more of the fat in the butter. Tool 135 of 500 — GIFSQ
