When I think about myself and science, the (redundant) phrase "obstinate, pig-headed fool" is the first thing that leaps to mind. I argue with science, especially when it comes to science and food safety. In part, this is because I know that while food poisoning is always awful, it's not likely to actually kill a healthy adult. Whether one is generally argumentative or not, I think that food safety concerns tend to relate to each of us more personally than other kinds of science. Do you like to forage for mushrooms? I bet you have different thoughts than I do when I see market signs on false morels that read "must par-boil before eating". I read it as "must par-boil before eating or will require new liver."
I like to can things. I love our homemade pickles (I am not alone, you greedy beggers) and I get better at making jam every year (and less hazardous--so far, no nasty burns this summer). I plan on making cooked salsa this September (with the goal of copying Gordito's), and Cap'n's going to pickle some hot peppers. I have several canning books, which I have compared at length. After The Great Pickle Disaster of Ought-Five I understand that in canning, precision is the better part of valor.
But still, when making jam over the weekend, I ended up in a pointless-yet-interesting discussion about canning technique with Cap'n. A standard method for canning is this: Boil the hell out of whatever you plan to put in the jar. Boil the hell out of the empty jar. Put the boiling goop into the hot jar, seal it with a hot lid, and then put the whole lava-hot sealed jar back into boiling water for 15-20 minutes. Even under these circumstances, most of the jars should be thrown out rather than eaten because they are invisibly suspect.
I understand that safety is preferred to sorrow, but I also have numerous cookbooks that claim pork should be cooked to 180 degrees, when it's generally acknowledged today that 150-160 is fine. Until relatively recently, food science has been notoriously imprecise, with almost as much myth as actual science. I figured that boiled goop put into a hot jar should be enough; that last hot water bath was nonsense.
Except it's not. Yes, most bacteria will be killed in the boiling process, but--in a nutshell--some kinds of bacteria poop out nerve toxin in the form of very hard-to-kill spores. These spores are what causes botulism. Botulism causes paralysis. No jam I have ever eaten is worth paralysis.
At the same time, I find articles like this one frustrating. Most jam recipes use way too much sugar for my taste, so I have adjusted that by both cutting the sugar and increasing the lemon juice. This changes the acidity level in my jam, which seems to mean it's no longer "safe". Except I can't "adjust that upon serving" as the article suggests for salsa; I don't plan on squirting lemon all over my morning toast. This Alabama Extension article seems both less fussy and more detailed, it's about reducing risk and being sensible, not about instilling panic.
