Vologda oil can be called one of the assets of our state. He is well known not only in Russia, but also abroad for more than a hundred years. The production of butter, which conquered many people around the world with its refined taste, began in 1870, when the cheese maker Nikolai Vereshchagin visited the exhibition of the dairy industry in Paris. There, he came across a dairy product with a nut-like aroma. The reason for this was herbs growing in Normandy. Vereshchagin was captivated by the idea of creating a similar Vologda oil, because the grassy meadows of this region were no worse than the French pastures that add a nutty flavor to the final product.
True, the first attempt was unsuccessful. The reason for this was the use of raw rather than boiled water. Having corrected this and introducing cream pasteurization into the technology, Vereshchagin received what is now called “Vologda butter”. Its main highlight is the signature taste and aroma of roasted walnut.
Having become famous after the birth of the technology for the production of butter from "warmed cream", the oil maker continued to improve the processing process until his death. Due to his modesty, he called the resulting product Parisian. The second name that Vologda oil had in its history is St. Petersburg. It got its modern name already under the Soviet regime.
Today, dairy plants in Russia, producing this oil, must ensure compliance with GOST, developed back in the days of the USSR. In particular, the main requirement is the quality of the cream. It is allowed to use only raw materials obtained by the method of separation of premium milk. Cream fat - 27-24%. Another important condition is the time factor, everything should happen within one day. In addition, the cream should not have any odors, acidity can not exceed 15T.
Before you start the entire batch of raw materials for oil production, make a test by pasteurization. Depending on the results, determine which product will be produced. With a mild taste and smell, sweet cream butter will be produced, if these indicators are bright - Vologda. The pasteurization temperature is 97-98 degrees. It ensures the preservation of aromatic substances that give the final product its signature taste and aroma. Mandatory operations for the manufacture of oil are rapid cooling, ripening, churning and washing the finished product with boiled water.
It is unacceptable to increase the pasteurization temperature in excess of the value determined by the technology, double (repeated) pasteurization, holding the cream in the hot state for more than twenty minutes. All this leads to a decrease in the aromatic properties of the oil. In accordance with the standard, the finished product should have a fat content of 82.5%, the amount of moisture in it should not exceed 16%. It is recommended to make it in the summer. The shelf life of the product is not more than a month, at the end of it the Vologda oil passes into a different status and becomes ordinary premium grade oil.