Churning Butter
Schools Collection, New Inn, County Galway
Margaret Donohoe
Churning Story from New Inn 1937, Duchas.ie
Name of Informant; Thomas Melody, Corrabane, New Inn, Co. Galway, Age 75
Collected By; Margaret Donohoe, New Inn, Woodlawn, Co. Galway
Different Types of Churns
There are three different kinds of churns namely, the machine churn, the dash churn and a barrel churn. We have a barrel churn and its height is three feet its breadth is two and a half feet. If you wanted to lift the churn down from place to place there are four iron handles on the frame. Our churn has a round body.
Winter and Summer Churning
There are four irons screws to keep the lid on. We have our churn about twenty years. We have a churning twice a week in Summer and once a week in Winter. We put cold water in the churn in Summer and hot water in Winter. There is a place in our churn for putting in the water. There is a hole in our churn in the side of it for letting out the buttermilk.
Taking turns for luck
If any strangers come into the house when the churning would be going they would take a churn because the old people say it would be unlucky to go out without taking a churn. It takes about a quarter of an hour to churn in Summer and half an hour in Winter. When churning some people would put a coal under the churn to bring good luck to the butter. Salt is also threw on the lid to keep away bad luck.
Buttermilk for bread
There is a glass in the lid of our churn and you can see the milk through it. When that glass is clear the milk is churned. A dish and two patters is used for taking out the butter. It is washed twice and then it is salted and washed again. The barrel churns are the older churns, but it is the dash churn that is mostly used now. The machine churn is the easiest to churn. The buttermilk is used for making bread.
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