Comments on: German Rumtopf (aka Rumpot)

By: bigger

bigger — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:59:44 +0000

I’m late, but, you should not add dark berries to the rumtopf. I was stationed in Germany in the 80s; and lived there as a child–altogether for more than 12 years of my life. Since then, I have made a rumtopf nearly every year. So, I fancy myself a minor expert. I was also trained by the best!!!

I tasted my rumtopf for the first time today that I started back in May. It’s not the best I ever had, but, it will cause us to have a good ole time, anyway!!! You should have used 151 Rum to help preserve your fruit, but, be careful not to over-do it. (This recommendation is more for next year’s rather than now). Also, you should only use light or bright colored fruits with a meaty texture–like pineapples, strawberries, grapes. If you use blueberries, and other dark berry type fruits, they will make your rumtopt a “muddy” unappealing color; and they will fall apart / breakdown. So, use whatever fruits you want, but, try to stay away from the things that will “de-color” your final product; and that will naturally collapse.

If you want an authentic rumtopf container, google it, and you will find a few that you can order. I brought mine back from Germany with me–but, this year I had to wrap it in cellophane since I noticed the container had crackled and I’m getting sippage. By the by, I usually put a piece of cellophane over the top of the container, secured with a rubber band, then I place the cover on top of that. I usually make a drip point in the cellophane by placing a heavy object in the center (like a few beans or something) before securing with the rubberband. Of course I remove the beans after I have created the drip point. The pot is really decorative, so it had normally sat in the dining room atop a buffet (kind of out of the way, cool place). After discovering the leak, I have placed it on the kitchen counter top (granite).

By: Deb Weyrich-Cody

Deb Weyrich-Cody — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:04:48 +0000

Your beautiful rumtopf has a lip in the top rim which is designed to hold water. This provides a seal to keep airborne bacteria out & prevent spoilage.
There are similar crocks for making sauerkraut.
Enjoy!

By: Allen

Allen — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:21:04 +0000

Ian — I don’t know what you should do as this is only my first time attempting rumpot. If you find a solution, please let me know!

Serena — I weighted the contents down with a plate based on other comments I had seen when looking at other recipes online. There’s always the chance that fruit exposed to air will begin to rot, so it’s weighted down in order to keep it fully covered by the rum/sugar mix. Since this is my first time making rumpot, I decided to weight it down to make sure nothing spoiled.

By: Serena

Serena — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:23:20 +0000

Hi, I have a rumpot which was given to me & I have followed the recipe which came with it, however I note that you have a plate or something to put on top of the fruit to keep it under rum, I only have the lid to put on top of the rumpot but I have put clingfilm under this in order to avoid evaporation of the alcohol, do you think this will be ok? Its the first time I have tried it and would hate to lose the contents, if you can advise me at all I would appreciate it, kind regards Serena

By: Ian

Ian — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:50:53 +0000

I have been making rum pot for years, but this year, when I added plums last week, it started to ferment. I lifted off the top fruit, but it started fermenting again. I have lifted the top fruit off again to-day. Any ideas how I can save the pot?

By: Sonia

Sonia — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:40:12 +0000

Hello!

I made one years ago…it is the most anticipated Christmas gift! Everyone loved it. Fun to make!! Question: There are now certain family & friends who canot have liquor….what could replace the rum for these guests….(I plan to make one alcoholic and one not to make everyone happy.
Thanks in advance.
Sonia

By: Hélène

Hélène — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 05:44:33 +0000

So glad you enjoyed the cruise. I can’t wait to do another one. There is so many great places to see. I did not take pictures of my food either on the ship.

By: Bschmidt

Bschmidt — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 00:22:00 +0000

My grandmother always had rumpot! What memories! As a child I didn’t care for it, but would watch my dad and other relatives go crazy for it! (I acquired a taste for it when I got older!) Although we are German, Grandma added to it every monthand when ever we were all together we had it on icecream or cake. She kept hers in an air-tight glass container.

Although I like the idea of the crock, as a child I would always look for the colorful contents in the glass crock on her kitchen shelf! Thanks for bringing back some great memories – and good luck with you rumtopf!

By: Allen

Allen — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:35:49 +0000

Tiffany – I would be cautious of trying this without sugar as it is one the preservation agents (in addition to the rum). It’s likely that you’d face spoilage if you omit the sugar entirely.

We’ve been getting the most beautiful, sweet blueberries up here — I can’t get enough of them!

By: Tiffany S.

Tiffany S. — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:09:13 +0000

Yum! I’m staying away from white sugar but I think it might still work without it (sugar in rum doesn’t count). Hope you are getting fabulous blueberries this time of year like we are in Seattle. I never even liked them until this year but they’re smaller and sweeter, unlike any blueberry I’ve had before. Can’t wait to check back to see how your creation went.

The pot itself is beautiful and worth the lugging around for sure!