Fischzucht Brunner

Information

The fish farm Brunner Kili in Kohlenbachtal at Schwendt
As a school of fish they swim in a circle and shine in a bright silver tone: the annual rainbow trout in the fish pond of Nikolaus Brunner. For the breeder, the behavior of his fish is a good sign. By the color of the skin one can recognize, whether the individual animals have enough space. The trout adapt their drawing to the environment, explains Nikolaus Brunner: If too many fish live in the pond, they would be almost black, because they cast shadows over each other. But Nikolaus Brunner makes sure that his animals can move in the water. Quality is top priority for him: Only when the animals are well, the outstanding quality of the final product is guaranteed.

A business with history
The fish breeding in the coal brook valley at Schwendt was created by master butcher Andreas Widmoser from St. Johann, when in the early sixties he discovered an increased demand for fresh fish from local breeding. He was looking for a suitable property with clean springs and was in Schwendt. The fish farming was put into operation in 1963, making it the oldest fish farm in the community Schwendt. After the death of Andreas Widmoser, Nikolaus Brunner and his wife Maria Kili acquired the property in 1993 from his widow. At the time, Nikolaus Brunner worked as a chef in Kitzbühel. The fish farming was rebuilt alongside - from the previous customers of Andreas Widmoser were regular customers of fish farming Brunner Kili. It was not until 2006 that Nikolaus Brunner decided to give up his profession in order to focus entirely on fish farming.

Fish of the best quality
The conditions for an outstanding fish quality are given in the coal valley at Schwendt: On the extensive property at the edge of the forest there are a total of six fish ponds with a water surface of 2000 square meters. For fish farming, several fish ponds are needed because the fish are kept separate according to their type and age. Thus, Nikolaus Brunner always keeps track of the number of his animals: he sells some of the fish at a young age. The majority of the animals are reared over three years in the fishponds in the Kohlenbachtal.
 The water from the seven in-house springs flows in the summer with a temperature of 8 degrees Celsius into the fish ponds. While it slowly flows through the fish farming, it only heats up by one degree and leaves the terrain at nine degrees Celsius. According to Nikolaus Brunner, this is a very good sign. Due to the cold, clear water, the rainbow and brown trout, the salmon trout and char grow very slowly and therefore develop a particularly tasty, solid meat.

Sales and processing
Nikolaus Brunner sells his fish to the catering trade, nursing homes and private individuals. Crucial is the absolute freshness of the fish. They are taken out of the water just before delivery and killed with a quick slap on the head. If you order fresh fish from Nikolaus Brunner, you can get it both whole and filleted: Nikolaus Brunner separates the fillets from the backbone of the fish with skilled hands. The fillets are vacuumed and stored refrigerated.
 Part of the fish is smoked as a whole to keep it longer. The smoker is heated on the grounds of the fish farm Brunner-Kili about twice a week. The oven holds one hundred trout and is powered by gas. The smoking always follows the same principle: the fish are salted and then hung up to dry. If the surface is dry, cooking can begin. The temperature of the oven should rise slowly and reach a temperature of over 90 degrees for a few minutes. The heat kills any existing germs. After about half an hour, the fish are cooked through. Now you can start refining the fish: Classic beechwood is used to smoke trout. The spicy aroma of the beech smoke sets in the tender flesh of the fish. At about 50 degrees, the fish are smoked for one hour - the longer they stay in the smokehouse, the more intense the taste.