Last weekend I picked up a bounty of super ripe peaches at the farmers market. I quickly got my canning supplies out and looked up a recipe for peach jam online. Whenever I’m searching the web AI mode takes over. The recipe that popped up read:
9 cups peeled and finely chopped peaches
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 ½ packets pectin
2 ½ to 3 cups sugar
I got to work sterilizing my jars, getting new lids ready and processing my fruit.
“Only 3 cups of sugar for 9 cups of fruit?” I thought. That seemed unusual. What does a half a pack of pectin weigh? I was using a new large jar of pectin, so went to the web to figure out how much a pack of pectin weighed, halved it and then added another full amount for the required 1 ½ packets. Stirring and rolling boiling ensued, sugar was added, more rolling boiling and then the molten compote was poured into hot jars, lids were seated and rings rung on the jars. I processed them in a water bath for 10 minutes (I normally don’t need to do this with my strawberry or blackberry jam recipes—but I don’t fool with food science when I read recipes).
All my lids “popped” closed, just like those on the video I watched to make sure I did the water bath correctly. Thank you, Kaleb Wyse, for the YouTube peach jam video. I didn’t use his recipe (though I probably should have) but did follow his guide for making sure my jam jars were properly sealed.
The next day I checked my jars, and everything was sealed. But the jam wasn’t really “set”. I tasted the “overage” that was in the refrigerator. It was delicious, not too sweet, and not really set. I’ve never had jam not set—but know it’s a common occurrence. This got me reviewing stonefruit jam recipes and I was starting to see that every other recipe had much more sugar added. It wasn’t an issue of whether or not pectin was being used—for 9 cups of fruit most every recipe would have called for at least 4 to 5 cups of sugar.
I quickly scanned the recipes at the National Center for Home Food Preservation. The Peach Jam Pectin recipe has 3.75 cups of peaches and 5 cups of sugar. Other sources were just as sweet.
Having lovingly placed my jam in the pantry, I grabbed a new jar this morning. It was well sealed. When I went to open it, the top popped off after the seal was broken. It had good color and smelled heavenly. I scooped out the jam, poured it on my yogurt and tucked into my breakfast. All was good.
But I’m starting to wonder if things are not as they should be. It’s been 5 days since I canned the jam. Was I sitting on a ticking botulism time bomb? My thoughts raced. My mouth grew dry. I felt weak. My vision grew blurry. Snapping out of my hypochondriac daydream, I came up with a plan. I’d just make peach ice cream and eat as much jam as quickly as possible. But I can’t eat 8 pints of peach jam in a day. Desperate times call for desperate measures. With 1 pint in the fridge, I have decided to freeze the rest–immediately.
Back at my desk after my run to the chest freezer I am thinking about how I ended up with 7 pints of jam in my freezer. I rushed into making jam without really checking what my AI mode pulled up for peach jam. I didn’t meticulously measure or weigh my fruit and sugar to get a perfect fruit to sugar ratio. I was cavalier in my jam project, and now I am unsure if my jam is shelf stable. I relied on the first recipe that popped up in Google’s AI mode. I didn’t second guess the recipe when the amount of sugar seemed drastically low. I just forged ahead, thinking the AI recipe must be fine.
While it might be just fine, I’m not going to fool with food safety. This was sort of a wakeup call about blindly believing AI generated information. A few jars of jam in my freezer is one thing, but following misleading information about employment law, business regulations or banking could cause serious problems. AI is a game changer, giving expert information in seconds on every topic imaginable. But faulty or insufficient information can blindside an unexpecting user. It’s still going to be important to consult experts, review several sources and trust your instincts. If something doesn’t seem right, investigate and find out what the facts really are. We still need to be smarter than the bots.
Do you make jam? Any thoughts on your fruit to sugar ratios? Do you always process fruit preserves in a boiling water bath? I’d love to hear from you. Recipes gladly accepted!
