Would you make jam with fruit that had worm holes?

[~Megan~]

I'm thinking not but we have a plum tree in the yard. So far each plum that has fallen to the ground (we've not picked any yet as they mostly aren't ripe) have worm holes in them. When I cut them open I see little the little buggy crawling inside.

Would you use them in any way or not?

[cristeen]

Yes, I would. Since the alternative is usually that they've been sprayed with something.

Just clean them really well when you cut them up - removing the hole, it's track and the worm.

[mamadelbosque]

Yeah, I would too. Almost all fruit that hasn't been sprayed is going to have worms & bugs of some sort in/on it. So, if your not into pesticide/chemical laden food then thats your best bet. You can make sure to clean it out really well, or not (just think of them as added protein.

[Alyantavid]

Originally Posted by mamadelbosque

Yeah, I would too. Almost all fruit that hasn't been sprayed is going to have worms & bugs of some sort in/on it. So, if your not into pesticide/chemical laden food then thats your best bet. You can make sure to clean it out really well, or not (just think of them as added protein.

Yep. None of our fruit is ever sprayed and we just go around the bugs and eat them anyways.

[Ruthla]

I don't have much experience with anything other than supermarket produce, but I routinely use 'less than perfect" fruit for baking and cooking. Just cut away the "bad spots"- which include bruises or worm holes. I'd certainly be careful about avoiding the worms themselves!

I'll admit, if there's one apple with worms in a big bag of "perfect" apples, I might end up tossing the whole apple. But if I had a tree full of wormy fruit, available for free jam, I'd do the extra work and cut out the wormy spots.

[noobmom]

I would use fruit with worm holes in it to make jam. If the worms were still inside, I'd probably just cut anyway the wormy bits, assuming that there's enough good fruit to make it worth it.

However, I wouldn't use fruit from the ground. I seem to remember that not a good idea--more bacteria or something like that. Also, are the worm holes appearing on the fruit after it's on the ground, or while they're still in the tree?

If you make your jam without commercial pectin, it's actually preferable to mis in some slightly underripe fruit because fruit has less pectin as it ripens.

[number572]

yes. Plus, chances are that even a storebought jar of jam contains fruit that had a worm or two in it.