H70.142.29

• california gold rush

Crock churn. Description: Stoneware churn with brown slip glaze, dark brownware base, wooden top. Wooden lid with hole, and dasher. a: Crock churn. b: Dark brownware base. c: Wooden top. From the History Information Station: This half-gallon churn has a hand-carved wooden lid and dasher. To make butter, cream was put in the churn and the dasher was pumped up and down in the cream. This made the butterfat particles clump together and separate from the remaining liquid, the buttermilk. Butter was not only important in cooking in pioneer households. It also was a good way to preserve nutritious fresh cream, for cream spoiled very quickly when no ice was available to keep it cold. Packed in crocks, butter was stored in cold cellars or in storehouses built over creeks, which stayed cool all year.

Used: butter | Kitchen ~ utensil