Canning peppers -- food safety issue?

Newbie to canning..found a recipe for pickled peppers..did the jars..lids..made the vinegar mix etc etc...now im in a small space and have a little burner type stove and the water got bubbling but NOT a rolling boil..even after 40 min..now the lids DID seal...but do you think these are safe? like safe to eat safe?

never doing these again as the vinegar smell permeated the whole place..eww...and my nose..please let me know becasue I was going to sell these but cant if they will harm people

thanks

ohh..and it was water canning...not pressure

With pickled vegetables, which have a reliably low pH, you have quite a margin for error. I would eat them, as long as the seal holds. Having said that, I would try to use them up fast and would surely not sell them.

ok.. ive been wondering..i asked a canning group on facebook and they thought it would be ok..guess i shouldnt test it right?

stacey rosbury wrote:..guess i shouldnt test it right?

I would test it and probably eat it, but not sell it. I can asses the risk for myself, which I think is very low, but I wouldn't make this decision for others.

yes thank you

How full did you fill your jars? Were they exactly to the ring? Also do you live at high altitude?  

When you water bath your jars, how full you fill is an exact thing and can vary depending on what you are processing. Too little space at the top can result in the food being forced out the lid into your water. Too much space and air can remain to discolor or contaminate the food.

Also if you live above 3000ft water has a much lower boiling temp due to decreased surface pressure/atmospheric pressure and never really achieves a rolling boil, all cook times should be adjusted accordingly.

If you can find a copy try the book "Putting Food By" authors Hertzerg, Vaughan, and Greene. Mine was printed in 1974. It has all the background how's and why's of canning, plus other preserving methods.

I would not sell them just to be overly cautious. I would however eat them & not even worry about it. Tiny bubbles is still boiling. The vinegar alone will prevent almost anything bad from growing for quite a while. With the proper headspace & as long as the jar sealed properly they should be perfectly safe.

Most pickled pepper brine recipes are for refrigerator pickles NOT for water bath canning. You said you found a recipe, was it for canning? Difference is refrigerator pickles are well...kept in the refrigerator and people are very casual about the amount of vinegar. I made a dozen jars of pickled Pepperoncini this year and just used a 50/50 vinegar and water brine with some salt but I would not use that same recipe for water bath canning.

When water bath canning you need to make sure you have a high enough acidity to keep the cans safe. The jars sold in stores have vinegar and ascorbic acid to get the acidity high enough without using too strong of a vinegar solution.

IMO putting those jars in the refrigerator would probably be a good idea. I hope you also used pickle crisp, from my experience peppers get really mushy if canned without it.

I just ate the first jar of the fermented peppers from 5 days ago. (Water, a bit of whey and 2 tsp. salt / 1l.)
They are still crisp and taste great. Just the right amount of acidity and salt.

Maybe that would be an alternative to canning?