BROOKINGS — The newest meat shop in Brookings — Homestead Meats — takes the phrase “keeping it in the family” to all-new heights: It’s run by the Glanzer brothers and their father, with help from their wives.

The shop, found at 2508 Wilbert Court, Suite C (just east of Little Caesar’s Pizza and Tee’d Off Golf), is a family first, local-focused business offering “flavorful and preservative free” products including handcrafted sausage, beef, pork, poultry and smoked meats.

“Our brats have been popular. A lot of them, the recipes, are from our early ancestors going back to (our) Austria-German heritage,” Timothy Glanzer told the Brookings Register in an interview. “We blend them in-house. A lot of them are spices fresh-mixed right here and hand-crafted and made by us right here.”

In addition to Timothy and his wife Karen, the other family members involved are brother Travis Glanzer and his wife Rachel; brother Jonah Glanzer and his wife Jessica; and their father, Tim Glanzer and his wife Lydia.

“The biggest thing we’re trying to do is supply the Brookings area with fresh meats that are not filled with preservatives,” Travis Glanzer said. “(We’re) just trying to meet the local need for fresh meat that’s all made in-house by us. … We’re excited to be here!”

Their father hammered home the importance of excellence that the family holds.

“We specialize in using quality meat,” Tim Glanzer said. “We don’t use trimmings, we don’t cut corners, so that’s why we feel our sausage and our product is one step above most of the people who use trimmings and cut-outs from different parts of the animal.”

The Glanzers arrived in Brookings around a year ago from New York state, where they spent more than 20 years living about 80 miles north of The Big Apple, running a meat store for the majority of that time.

“We all grew up in a butcher shop,” Jonah Glanzer said.

The time came for a change of scenery, though, and so the family decided to return home to South Dakota. Yup, you read that right: Though it spent decades in New York state, the family wasn’t a stranger to South Dakota — after all, the family’s true home stomping grounds are in Delmont, a small town of 150 or so residents just south of Mitchell.

Jonah said the family persevered as several options fell through, for various reasons, before an opportunity presented itself in Brookings via a retail space owned by Den-Wil.

“Brookings seemed like a good place to open a meat shop,” Jonah noted. “Thankfully, Den-Wil was willing to let us renovate it and turn it into a meat shop and do the work we had to do to the place.”

And, thus, Homestead Meats came into being.

“The inspiration (for the name) came from — the name is that we’re out here in the Midwest, so thinking back to the early Midwest, a homestead was where people set up their houses: They’re living, they’re farming, they’re preparing food,” Timothy said.

The family currently sources its meat from northern Iowa, but plans are to source it even closer to the Brookings area as time progresses. The family is looking forward to a lot with this new business venture.

“Expanding the repertoire of businesses in the area that offer a fresh, new and exciting variety of meats — and maybe in the future offering other food items such as bread and other baked goods,” Jonah said. “Just expanding and offering the local community a more healthy and better option than what is existing right now.”

Timothy added, “All our breads in the future that we hope to produce will be also handcrafted right here at our meat shop. Also, using a very clean ingredient label with no preservatives and things of that nature.”

They’ve got the training, expertise and professionalism to back up those plans, too, including teachings from German-born master butcher Hans Sebald, who was a pillar at the Culinary Institute of America before retiring in 2009. Add into that mix seminars from Kansas City-based Koch College, numerous meat conventions, food-safety courses and training focused on meat processing and meat curing, and you’ve got a win-win situation.

“(It) makes us feel like we’re very qualified for doing what we’re doing,” Timothy pointed out. “It’s our passion — it’s what we’re into.”

Homestead Meats has been open for a little under two weeks, and the Glanzers have plans to stick around for a long time to come.

“We want to be here and support the local community and provide a source of clean, fresh meat — they should stop in,” Timothy said.

Travis added, “We’re willing to answer questions when they stop in … and also work with them if they want. Specific cuts of meat or specific types of sausage made, they should just ask. We’re here to support and be a part of the community as best we can.”

Continued learning is also important to the family, and what better source than the community they’re serving?

“We enjoy what we do, but we’re certainly open-minded to learning and providing what the community wants and needs,” Timothy said.

In closing, the family’s patriarch summed things up succinctly.

“We want to thank the whole, wider community for how they have supported us,” Tim said. “They’ve stopped by and picked up stuff, and feedback is appreciated.”

— Contact Mondell Keck at mkeck@brookingsregister.com.