I've made rumtopf pretty much all my life, alongside my grandmother and mother- now with my own children. The only time ours was put in the refrigerator was when we lived in a hot climate and I had no cool spot to store the crock in. As long as the fruit is entirely covered by the alcohol/sugar mixture, it should be fine. The process that creates one traditionally would extend over an entire spring and summer, with the crock being kept in a root cellar or basement, until the last fruits were added in at the end of the summer. At that point it would be closed up and left to ferment until Christmas, which was when you expected to open and enjoy it over the remainder of the winter. It should last until the next spring, when of course- fresh fruit would be arriving and it would be time to create a new rumtopf. All of that presumes you used a strong alcohol, of at least 50-55% , or roughly 100-110 proof. I use a good quality dark rum for mine, supplemented with a bit of brandy on the odd occasion. In an older 'topf, the fruit will darken, and get rather soft- but as long as it has stayed submerged, and closed the rumtopf should preserve itself. That is, if you followed the correct percentages to balance fruit, alcohol and sugar. After 9 months , that ought to be some potent stuff you have there, and while perhaps not so suitable for consumption by children, it would definitely make adults happy.
Lori - I've only made rumtopf a few times, don't have the depth of family experience you describe, so your comments about long storage ok if fruit is fully covered with high percentage alcohol are reassuring. But/and wondering if you ever saw any where the fruit was exposed to air and can report the results (taste, texture, etc). TIA, Nancy
We always weigh down the fruit with a small plate, so the fruit is held down under the surface. You could also use a ziplock baggie filled with water. However, I have seen what happens if fruit does stick out. It will usually mold. If that happens, you have to toss out the entire batch. You also do need to consider the temperature for storage, because if it gets too warm it will ferment. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it will get too stout for eating purposes. :) Fermented rumtopf fruit isn't fit to eat, it's mushy and disintegrates- but isn't dangerous, per se, well- it is a serious threat to sobriety. The liquid in that case would just have a higher concentration of alcohol. Your own personal fruit-shine, of sorts. After a year of marinating, the fruit isn't really that pleasant to eat for texture reasons, as well as being pretty stoutly alcoholic. My grandmother and mother would separate out the old fruit, and pass the liquid through a cleaned and sterilized cheesecloth. That got bottled up as an adult drink, mostly, though occasionally dosed medicinally for coughs, colds, teething infants, "female complaints" (as grandma put it), etc.
Various recipes say one month open st room temp, then 3 months maximum in fridge. Yours may be in trouble or may be great! Open and inspect. if there is a bad smell or sight, discard on safety grounds. If not, put in fridge and use up in a few months.
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I've only made rumtopf a few times, don't have the depth of family experience you describe, so your comments about long storage ok if fruit is fully covered with high percentage alcohol are reassuring.
But/and wondering if you ever saw any where the fruit was exposed to air and can report the results (taste, texture, etc).
TIA,
Nancy
Yours may be in trouble or may be great!
Open and inspect. if there is a bad smell or sight, discard on safety grounds. If not, put in fridge and use up in a few months.