Are fizzy peppers bad?

[QSis]

This week, one of my customers gave me a jar of homemade roasted peppers in oil with garlic and herbs. They weren't processed and he told me to keep them refrigerated.

I just tried one and it feels fizzy, as if there was some seltzer in there.

That means they're bad, right?

Lee

 

[kitchenelf]

YES, they are bad!!!!!!

Fizzy beans are bad too - I, unfortunately, have experienced those!

 

[larry_stewart]

Yeah, sounds like something started to ferment .

 

[jpmcgrew]

Sounds like it's bad also when you took lid of was it kind of bubbling?If so toss it out. Better tell customer to be on the look out as well.

 

[kitchenelf]

Let me also say that "homemade" anything with an oil base and fresh garlic in it is a HUGE risk for botulism growth. You need to advise the customer of this in a way that won't offend them. There's lots of stuff on the internet. It's a disaster waiting to happen!!

 

[Adillo303]

I think the only things that should be fizzy are carbonated beverages, that reminds me, I'm headed for the fridge.

AC

 

[kitchenelf]

I think the only things that should be fizzy are carbonated beverages, that reminds me, I'm headed for the fridge.

AC

Like Champagne!!!!!!

 

[Saphellae]

Time to finish off the bottle I started last night, before Nick gets home tomorrow.....

 

[archiduc]

Let me also say that "homemade" anything with an oil base and fresh garlic in it is a HUGE risk for botulism growth. You need to advise the customer of this in a way that won't offend them. There's lots of stuff on the internet. It's a disaster waiting to happen!!

Hi QSis,
Kitchenelf is right. Whilst there may be a problem with the whole cooking process used by your customer, (and you don`t know what that was!) the chances are that the fault lies with an individual ingredient. IIRC, botulism may result from canning/bottling or, as it is an earth borne organism from using an ingredient which grows in soil such as garlic.

There have been many threads about how to infuse oil with garlic on this board and other food boards, and the consensus is don`t do it as, IIRC, garlic requires heat treatment to detroy any potential, earth borne pathogen.

Now, you have a problem here! Your palatte was able to detect that something was wrong and the general consensus from posters is that there is something wrong with the batch of goodies your customer gave you. "Fizzing" is wrong, even if it doesn`t make someone ill. BUT could you live with yourself if you did not tell your customer about your concerns about their product and someone became ill and had to be hospitalised?

No, I thought not. You need to contact your customer and tell them about the problem and potential problem with their product. At the very least, the "fizzing" will continue to the point where the jars erupt and redecorate their pantry and at worst someone will become ill. Phone them up, invite them for a coffee and tell them the truth, asap.

In the meantime, if you have an opportunity, you might like to check out web sites for your country which give information and advice about home food preservation and recipes. Pull off some information which you can pass on to your customer - an attempt to soften the blow but also to help them! I am loathe to recommend any as here in the UK bottling and canning are seen in the UK as two discrete and very different methods of preservation.

Hope this helps,
Archiduc

 

[jennyema]

This week, one of my customers gave me a jar of homemade roasted peppers in oil with garlic and herbs. They weren't processed and he told me to keep them refrigerated.

I just tried one and it feels fizzy, as if there was some seltzer in there.

That means they're bad, right?

Lee

They are potentially very dangerous. Please tell the customer this and remind them that jarring peppers and garlic in oil is a very bad practice!!

 

[QSis]

Bummer. They looked and smelled so great as I was tossing them down the disposal.

Thanks for the input, folks!

Lee

 

[buckytom]

yup, they're bad.

"fizziness" is the only way to tell if kimchi has gone bad.

 

[TATTRAT]

Throw. Away. NOW.

 

[Adillo303]

Yes Kitchenelf - Champagne, soda tht is added to some other groovy drinks. Things like that.

 

[ronjohn55]

A shame, but yes... pitch it.

Putting on my zymurgist hat for a minute, the "fizz" is coming from the introduction of a gas (likely carbon dioxide) into the container. In a sealed container, that means the gas is being produced by bacterial activity inside the container.

Brewers and Vinters use this to carbonate beverages naturally. Often called "méthode champenoise" in the production of champagne it's simply yeast consuming available sugars and producing ethanol and CO2. In an oil filled jar of peppers and garlic it would be ?? consuming ??? and giving off ????? (Not a combination to experiment with).

 

[archiduc]

Bummer. They looked and smelled so great as I was tossing them down the disposal.

Thanks for the input, folks!

Lee

Hi Lee,
OK, you`ve tossed your batch down the kitchen diposal, good - but the saga does not end here!

You need to advise your friend/customer about the potential danger inherent in their product. There is no easy or soft way to do this. Get your friend/customer (ASAP) into your restaurant and let them know what you have found re. the "fizzing" and about your conversation on this site.

The chances are that your customer/friend may have made more jars and given them to family or friends or neighbours and these (IMHO) need to be recovered and destroyed. S/he needs to get them back.

No one likes to admit that their way of cooking or processing may be at fault and your friend`s/customer`s initial reaction will most likely be predicated on this- upset, concerned, denial, angry etc.. No-one likes to be seen to be at fault and therefore you need to come up with a rational explanation as to why you friend/customer should seek to "retrieve" jars.

You have ditched your gift, rightly so, IMHO, following conversation on this forum. However, your friend/customer is not so lucky. If s/he has given out jars to others or keeping for use in the family, the best solution that I can come up with for him/her to reclaim the jars or destroy them is to argue that s/he has discovered that there is a fault with the jars and get them back!

Alternatively, just get him/her to admit to all that they made a fault when making the preserve and get them to go round and collect all jars given to others!

I know which solution I would go for!

Hope this helps,
Archiduc