It is a matter of particular concern to us to process our juices gently and naturally. We opted for naturally cloudy juice. Like that, we can preserve as many nutrients as possible.
The juices are carefully pasteurized between 72 and 75 degrees. It is exactly the limit that is necessary to kill yeast fermentation so that there is no fermentation and the risk of a bottle explosion. The moment of heating is only for a short moment to ensure that as much nutrients as possible are preserved. The pasteurization oven is fired with our own wood, which means that we do not use any fossil fuels such as gas or oil.
It gives me a special pleasure to create new variations over and over again.
We regularly make these juices on the farm:
Apple juice Topaz
Apple juice Perner Rose
Apple juice Kronprinz Rudolf
Pear juice
Apple-bear-juice ("Roarbirn" and "grüner Winterstediner")
Apple juice with 5% carrot
Apple juice with 5% beetroot
Apple juice (Perner Rose) with 5% carrot and 1% ginger
Apple juice (Perner Rose) with 10% elderflower juice
Apple juice (Perner Rose) with 5% beetroot and 5% elderflower juice
The alchemy of distilling schnapps is one of the most complex forms of processing and an integral part of our alpine culture. The selection of ripe, healthy and untreated fruits is of highest importance for the quality of the schnapps.
The mash is fermenting in the barrel for about six weeks cleanly by added yeast bacteria. During this process, the alcohol content increases to 20%, which causes the yeast bacteria to die.
After that, the distillation process is necessary to produce high percentage alcohol. The mash is heated in the cauldron. At 78 degrees, the fine ethereal substances evaporate and the first step is to separate the harmful methyl alcohol, using a sensitive taste and odor process. Now the so-called "Herzstück", which forms the basis for the fine spirit, begins to flow. At about 50 degrees, it is cut off again. In this phase, fluff is already distilled, which can be filtered out by adding charcoal and then burned a third time.
By adding soft distilled water, the fine brandy is reduced to a pleasant drinking quality of 38% -42%.
A guarantee for high quality alcohol is the fine taste of the aromatic substances at room temperature.
This is the way we bake our bread at the farmhouse. We always prepare bigger quantities, so that is a recipe for 8 loaves (or 8 kg of flour). Of course, you can easily calculate it down to your desired quantitiy.
8 kg of flour (rye, spelled or wheat flour) + some flour for sprinkling
2 packs yeast (+ a little lukewarm water)
8 tablespoons salt
Grind 8 tablespoons of ground spices (fenugreek, caraway, anise) with the spice grinder if necessary
4-5l of warm water (50-60 ° C)
Nuts (such as walnuts), seeds (e.g., pumpkin seeds), etc., as desired.
Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water and mix with some flour to form a kind of liquid pulp.
Let it rest a bit so that the yeast bacteria can develop. This can be recognized by the bubbles that form.
Put the flour, salt and spices in the bread mixer. Mix briefly.
Add yeast and again knead briefly.
Add water in portions. Knead after each addition to check for consistency. Depending on the type of flour, slightly different amounts of water are needed.
Knead for about 15 minutes until it becomes a homogeneous dough.
In the meantime, the work area can be well prepared: If necessary, clean the bread kneading board, the bread slider and the bread oven. The board, the breadboard, dusting the flour, the baskets and possibly other ingredients such as nuts, seeds, etc. depending on your needs.
Scrape the dough from the edge of the kneading machine and let it rest in the bread mixer for about 1 hour in a warm place (preferably next to the heater).
After the dough has risen well (about 1/3 of volume has increased) scrape the dough out of the machine and divide it in the middle. Divide one half again so that you get 4 portions of about the same size.
Let the other half rest covered.
Knead the portions well and if necessary add nuts etc.
Moisten the basket well. Shape the loaves and place them in the cups with the drill upwards.
Turn on the oven (turn all three switches to level 3).
Leave the loaves in the cups well covered again for about 1 hour.
After 1 hour, the temperature of the oven should be about 210 ° Celsius.
Drop the loaves on the breadboard and put in the oven). First rear right, then rear left, then front right last left front.
Now take the second half of the dough and divide it into 4 equal portions again. Knead the portions well again (see 12.), shape and place in the basket (see 14.).
Switch the oven back to level 2.
After about 20 - 25 minutes, turn the loaves 180 degrees. Put on gloves and carefully reach into the oven. Cave! Oven heats more outside than inside
Switch the oven back to level 1 and bake the bread in the oven for another 30 minutes. The time varies according to the size of the loaf When the bread is finished, it sounds hollow.
Remove the loaves from the oven and let them cool on the board.
Now set the oven back to level 3 and wait until it has a temperature of 200 ° Celsius.
Put the other loaves in the oven and repeat steps 13 to 14 after 10 minutes.
Beware of hungry mouths, the smell of bread fills the whole house and attracts all sorts of hungry folks.
The milk is heated to 95 degrees in a pot on the stove and stirred well (the milk should not be boiling). When it has reached 95 degrees, remove the pot from the stove and let it cool down to 45 degrees. The quickest way to do this is to put the pot in a sink filled with cold water. When the milk has cooled down to 45 degrees, the natural yoghurt is stirred in thoroughly.
The mixture is then poured into the sterile jars and these are sealed and placed on a baking sheet in the 50 degree oven. The glasses should stand in the oven for 12 hours at a constant temperature of 50 degrees. However, it must be ensured that the oven does not get hotter than 50 degrees, otherwise the bacteria in the yoghurt will die. After 12 hours, the stove is switched off. The jars with the yoghurt can still be left inside to mature. When the yogurt has the desired consistency, the jars can be removed from the oven and be placed in the refrigerator.
Cottage cheese is a special dairy product. You might also know it as curd or quark. In Austria, we call it "Topfen" and use it as ingredient for various sweet dishes. This is how we process it at the farmhouse:
During the year, our orchard and the rectangular hedge provide many delicacies. To ensure that we can benefit from the for a long time, we process them to fine jam.
Time required: 1 hour
10 empty jam jars (212 ml),
Label template in Word for 10 labels to print out,
saucepan of 4l
Wooden spoon,
Special funnel for jams,
Soup ladle,
Kitchen scales,
two small plates,
sponge,
2 kitchen towels,
Bowl,
Cutting board,
Knife,
Biovegan gelling agent,
an organic lemon,
Citrus press,
Organic brown sugar,
Masking tape,
Permanent marker
Open the jam jars and heat with the lid in the steamer for 10 minutes. Remove the baking dish with the glasses and place it away from the stove.
Place the two plates near the pot and put two glasses plus the funnel on top.
Now cut the fruits in pieces and extract seedlings etc.
1 kg are mixed with 500 grams of cane sugar and 22 grams of gelling agent and 4 tablespoons of lemon juice in a saucepan and heated. When it begins to boil, stir for four minutes to avoid burning.
From the second minute onwards, some of the fruits are mixed with a hand blender
After 4 minutes, do the gelling test. Put the hot jam on a plate with a wooden spoon, let it cool down briefly, put the plate at an angle and see whether the jam is still running or has already gelled. If it still too fluid, let it boil for another minute.
Take the pot off the stove and immediately use the scoop to pour the jam into the warm glasses. Full them to the brim, close, turn over and place them on a towel.
Let them cool and after 3 minutes turn over again and place on the tray. Remove the jam residues with a sponge.
When the jars are dry, write on them, use labels or, if it has to be done quickly, a masking tape and permanent marker (type of jam, month, year)
Line a place in the pantry with newspaper and store the glasses.
We are currently 6 members of a solidarity agriculture community: Vegetables have been grown on the Kleewein family's farm for many years. At 800 meters above sea level, field vegetables are plowed on over 1000 m².
The work is very exhilarating because the group gets along very well and exchanges a lot of experiences and wisdom. The landscape impresses with its uniqueness: surrounded by herds of cows and in close proximity to the Grimming (local mountain) you feel like in paradise. On very hot days, work does not start until the late afternoon, when the sun is no longer so strong.
After work, people eat together in the courtyard garden or have a joint coffee and cake.
To know more about wwoofing:
Sonnenhof Seebacher, Aich 16, 8943, Aigen im Ennstal TEL: 00436767340490 Email: sonnenhofseebacher@gmail.com