Pasture Grown Beef and Pork
This letter is an introduction to Sand Hill Farm.
You should find it useful for details of how we raise and sell our animals.
Our Goals
To humanely raise and harvest our animals,
To be good stewards of our land,
To grow delicious healthy meat,
To sell that meat at a fair price.
The Sand Hill Farm.
The Farm consists of 80 acres located in the center of Sherburne County.
We are 50 miles northwest of Minneapolis and 20 miles east of St. Cloud.
The Farm is a mixture of open pasture, native prairie, oak savannah, wooded pasture, wet meadow, and lowland marsh. An extraordinary diversity of wildlife and birds, including Sandhill Cranes live and raise their young in our pastures.
We practice rotational grazing and work continuously to improve our soil, land and wildlife habitat.
We rotate our herds through a series of pastures to meet our land and livestock management goals. Adequate rest strengthens and improves pastures.
Animals we raise.
We keep only as many animals as our grazing land can handle.
We currently raise beef cattle and hogs.
We raise animals only for direct sale to consumer families.
In 2023, we intend to harvest and sell 12 beef and a select number of hogs.
We keep five horses, two awesome farm dogs and a small flock of laying hens for family use.
All of our animals live in a natural environment. The animals are in herds that meet their social needs.
Our cattle eat grass and grass hay, the hogs eat a mixed diet of locally produced grains, supplemented with pasture.
Our animals have plenty of space at all times.
A typical pasture has both high and low ground and shade trees.
Our animals are relaxed and healthy. They grow slowly and are lean compared to grain-fed or feedlot-fed animals.
How and when we Harvest.
Beef will be pasture harvested August through October based on your demand and condition of animals. We only harvest animals when they are in peak health and condition. They are pastured harvested in a stress-free process by professionals from Quality Meats.
Hogs are harvested between late August and late November.
Our beef and hogs are processed by Quality Meats in Foley; Quality Meats is a family owned, state licensed facility. We choose to work with Quality Meats for many reasons, including their integrity and strong desire to serve you well.
How we sell our Meat. –
We sell beef by the quarter for cuts and by the 1/8 for ground beef.
We sell hogs by the half for cuts.
We price our meat based on hanging weight. Hanging weight is the weight of the carcass after the animal is butchered but before the meat is cut, ground, and wrapped.
The folks at Quality Meats in Foley determine the hanging weight on their calibrated scale.
Beef quarters vary from animal to animal, we expect an average of 120 -150 pounds per quarter this year.
All quarters are mixed. That means all quarters from a given animal are equal. No front or hindquarters.
Hog halves are expected to average 80-120 pounds.
You tell Quality meats how you want your meat cut and wrapped.
How you pay for your meat.
We do not require a deposit, just your honest intention to purchase the meat.
We will email an invoice to you immediately after your animal is harvested.
You should pay that amount to us via check upon receipt of the invoice. Please plan to do so.
The folks at Quality Meats are very helpful and easy to work with.
They will process and package your meat according to your instructions.
You pay Sand Hill Farm for the meat and you pay Quality Meats for the processing.
We work to make this easy and simple for you.
You are welcome and encouraged to visit the farm, feel free to contact us directly to schedule a visit.
There is no penalty for changing or cancelling your order but please tell us of a change before we harvest your animal.
We will email a processing instruction form to you before your animal is harvested.
The processing form makes it simple and easy for you to tell the folks at Quality Meats exactly how you want your meat processed and packaged.
Do not be anxious if this is your first time buying meat this way. We are committed to making this easy for you.
A quarter of beef will require about three cubic feet of freezer space. It will fit easily into a small chest freezer.
If necessary, we can help with delivery of your meat. A majority of our customers pick up their packaged meat directly from Quality meats in Foley. We will deliver to you at mutually convenient locations whenever necessary and possible. Saul and Hazel enjoy the opportunity to meet you and visit about our farm.
Prices (per hanging weight). A note about 2023 prices: We are accepting orders at the below prices. If inflation becomes a major issue and we need to adjust prices you will be notified in early June and will have the opportunity to cancel an order, no obligation.
Beef price anticipated at $3.10 pound. You can purchase 1/8 of a beef animal, however 1/8’s can only be processed as ground meat.
Pork is $2.50 per pound.
The end weight of your packaged meat will be significantly less than the pounds hanging as large bones and other inedible tissue are removed. Expect a yield of 55%-65% from hanging weight to packaged meat. You will find that our meat is competitively priced based on the overall quality.
To order or request additional information, simply email. skortmansky@gmail.com
Thank you for your interest. We take great joy in raising these animals for you and your families.
Best Regards and thank you for your interest.
The Kortmansky Family
Sand Hill Farm
Sarah Barthel and Jordan Kortmansky
4746 175 Ave
Becker, MN 55308 952-358-0235 skortmansky@gmail.com
Pasture Grown Beef, Lamb, Pork and Turkeys
This letter is an introduction to Sand Hill Farm.
You should find it useful for details of how we raise and sell our animals.
Our Goals
To humanely raise and harvest our animals,
To be good stewards of our land,
To grow delicious healthy meat,
To sell that meat at a fair price.
The Sand Hill Farm.
The Farm consists of 80 acres located in the center of Sherburne County.
We are 50 miles northwest of Minneapolis and 20 miles east of St. Cloud.
The Farm is a mixture of open pasture, native prairie, oak savannah, wooded pasture, wet meadow, and lowland marsh. After being abandoned for farming in the mid 20th century, our farm was used as hunting land until 2008. The land was brutally logged by previous owner, we utilize managed grazing to restore the land to pre-settlement savannah and prairie. An extraordinary diversity of wildlife and birds, including Sandhill Cranes live and raise their young in our pastures.
We practice rotational grazing and work continuously to improve our soil, land and wildlife habitat.
We rotate our herds through a series of pastures to meet our land and livestock management goals. Adequate rest strengthens and improves pastures.
Animals we raise.
We keep only as many animals as our grazing land can handle.
We currently raise beef cattle, lambs, hogs and turkeys for sale.
We raise animals only for direct sale to consumer families.
In 2016, we intend to harvest and sell 10 beef, 25 lambs, 20 turkeys and a few hogs.
We keep four horses, the best farm dog and a small flock of laying hens for family use. We have not yet scaled up to sell chickens and other poultry but will likely do so in future years.
All of our animals live in a natural environment. The animals are in herds that meet their social needs.
Our beef and lamb eat only grass and grass hay, the hogs and turkeys a mixed diet of locally produced grains, supplemented with pasture.
We have no feedlots or handling pens. Our animals have plenty of space at all times.
A typical pasture has both high and low ground and shade trees.
Our animals are relaxed and healthy. They grow slowly and are lean compared to grain-fed or feedlot-fed animals.
How and when we Harvest.
Beef will be harvested July through October based on your demand and condition of animals. We only harvest animals when they are in peak health and condition.
Lambs and hogs are harvested late October, and turkeys in early November.
Our beef, hog and lamb are processed by Quality Meats in Foley; Quality Meats is a family owned, state licensed facility. We choose to work with Quality Meats for many reasons, including their integrity and strong desire to serve you well.
The turkeys are processed by Nelson-Shine, a state licensed facility in Brainerd.
How we sell our Meat.
We sell beef by the quarter for cuts and by the 1/8 for ground beef.
We sell lambs by the half for cuts.
We sell hogs by the half for cuts.
We price our meat based on hanging weight. Hanging weight is the weight of the carcass after the animal is butchered but before the meat is cut, ground, and wrapped.
The folks at Quality Meats in Foley determine the hanging weight on their calibrated scale.
Beef quarters vary from animal to animal, we expect an average of 120 -140 pounds per quarter this year.
All quarters are mixed. That means all quarters from a given animal are equal. No front or hindquarters.
Hog halves are expected to average 120-150 pounds.
Lamb halves range in size from 20-35 pounds.
Turkeys are sold whole, skin-on, frozen and range in size from 20-30 pounds. They are impressive.
You tell Quality meats how you want your meat cut and wrapped.
How you pay for your meat.
We do not require a deposit, just your honest intention to purchase the meat.
We will email an invoice to you immediately after your animal is harvested.
You should pay that amount to us via check upon receipt of the invoice. Please plan to do so.
The folks at Quality Meats are very helpful and easy to work with.
They will process and package your meat according to your instructions.
You pay Sand Hill Farm for the meat and you pay Quality Meats for the processing.
We work to make this easy and simple for you.
You are welcome and encouraged to visit the farm, feel free to contact us directly to schedule a visit.
There is no penalty for changing or cancelling your order but please tell us of a change before we harvest your animal.
We will email a processing instruction form to you before your animal is harvested.
The processing form makes it simple and easy for you to tell the folks at Quality Meats exactly how you want your meat processed and packaged.
Do not be anxious if this is your first time buying meat this way. We are committed to making this easy for you.
A quarter of beef will require about three cubic feet of freezer space. It will fit easily into a small chest freezer, the kind that sells for around $200.
If necessary, we can help with delivery of your meat. A majority of our customers pick up their packaged meat directly from Quality meats in Foley. We will deliver to you at mutually convenient locations whenever necessary and possible. Saul and Hazel enjoy the opportunity to meet you and visit about our farm.
Our 2016 Prices, (per hanging weight).
Beef by the ¼ for cuts is $2.65 per pound. You can purchase 1/8 of a beef animal, however 1/8’s can only be processed as ground meat. We often have our summer 1/8 of ground meat processed into all beef hot dogs or summer sausage.
Lamb is $6 per pound.
Turkey is $6 per pound.
Pork is $2.15 per pound.
The end weight of your packaged meat will be significantly less that the pounds hanging as large bones and other inedible tissue are removed. Expect a yield of 55%-65% from hanging weight to packaged meat. You will find that our meat is competitively priced based on the overall quality.
To order or request additional information, simply email. skortmansky@gmail.com
Thank you for your interest. We take great joy in raising these animals for you and your families.
Our Blog for all recipes, customer letters etc. www.sandhillfarmsarah.wordpress.com
Best Regards and thank you for your interest.
Sarah Barthel and Jordan Kortmansky, Saul and Hazel
Save your Prime Rib Roast for a special day.
I am a huge advocate of crock pot cooking, but putting a Prime Rib Roast in a crock pot would be a tragically missed opportunity for something extraordinary.
This is how we cook our Prime Rib Roast.
It is Jordan’s absolute favorite, a treat for your best friends.
It is easy to prepare provided you have faith, self-control and plan ahead.
DEFROST Meat in Fridge, perhaps 2 days.
Unwrap from paper and weigh the cut. Ours are normally in the 3 pound range.
Make several slits all around the exterior of the meat. Just stab it an inch or so deep with the blade of a steak knife.
OPTIONAL: insert peeled cloves of garlic into the slits.
Set meat, fat side up in a casserole dish large enough so none of the roast touches the side of the pan.
Rub the meat with some additional fat and seasoning. I prefer bacon dripping or lard with Pink Himalayan Sea Salt and Herbs de Provence. You could use butter, olive, oil or some other fat and another spice. Just do something that will compliment, not overpower the meat and be sure the fat side ends up on top.
Loosely cover and allow to warm to room temperature, approximately 2-3 hours.
PREHEAT Oven to 550.
Put broth or water and bay-leaf in bottom of casserole, to half-way up side of the meat.
Place uncovered into the oven.
The oven stay shut for over 2 hours, NO EXCEPTIONS. So, if you want to bake a squash, potatoes or anything else that can be abandoned for that much time, plan ahead. Tossing a few baked potatoes in ahead of time is easy.
COOK at 550, 5 minutes per pound, so a 3 pound roast cooks 15 minutes. Do the math and get the time right. It is critical.
TURN off Oven and leave inside, door shut for two hours.
Remove from oven. Slice against the grain (same direction as the string wrapping the roast together).
This is meant to be medium rare. If you’d like a lilt more done, after slicing, stack meat back on top of each other in the casserole. The thinner slices will cook through in a few minutes, without getting tough or dry, just from contact with each other and the au jus.
Any leftovers can be gently re-warmed, or enjoyed cold with the best bread and butter you can find.
Sand Hill Farm is now accepting orders for 2016 lambs.
This year we plan to raise the same number of lambs as last year, approximately 25 lambs. Each year we have sold out of lambs by the late spring, please place your order now for 2016.
Our lambs are grassfed, rotating through a series of oak savannah pastures on our 80 acre farm.
They will be harvested in late October or early November at 7-10 months of age.
We are offering the lambs for sale at $6 per pound hanging weight. This is the same price as in 2015. Lambs are offered by the ½ or whole animal.
We expect the average hanging weight of a whole lamb of 50 pounds (25 per half). A half of lamb cost an average of $150. This yields about 15-18 lbs of packaged meat, for an estimated cost of $8-$10/pound prior to processing.
You will pay an additional processing fee direct to Quality Meats in Foley, same as with any animals you may purchase from Snake River Farm. Processing is typically about $1/pound, with sausage, smoking or other highly processed meats costing more. Ask Quality Meats when you give them processing directions in the fall. As in the past, we will provide you with an informational sheet on processing choices closer to harvest.
No down payment is required with your order. Simply order my sending an email. If at some point you need to cancel, we understand. No explanation required. However, please keep in mind that cancellations, especially late fall cancellations, complicate matters for us and waitlist customers.
Thank you for trusting us to raise food for your family.
Sarah, Jordan, Saul and Hazel
4746 175 Ave
Becker, MN 55308
952-358-0235
We serve tens of dozens of this classic cake-style potato doughnuts at the Snake River Farm winter parties.
You can make them at home, a winter treat to make guests feel special.
This recipe makes 5 Dozen Doughnuts, but could be easily divide in half or even third.
In a large bowl sift together:
6 cups flour
7 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
In a separate bowl beat:
3 eggs
then mix in 2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c mashed potatoes (no butter or milk)
6 tablespoons melted lard
Stir in 3/4 c. milk
Add dry ingredients.
The dough will be tacky. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour. Gail usually refrigerates overnight.
Roll out dough to 1/2″ thick and cut with doughnut cutter.
Fry in lard, approximately 350 degrees for approximately 1 minute per side.
Serve plain, with powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar or your favorite glaze.
This cookie is perfect with a glass of milk. Even my finicky Saul gladly eats this whole wheat, peanut butter and oatmeal cookie. The lard makes them tender yet crisp.
Preheat oven to 375.
Cream together:
1 cup butter
1 cup lard
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 c. brown sugar
then blend in 1 1/4 cup peanut butter
Stir in
2 c. rolled oats
4 c. whole wheat flour
2 c. chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
roll into balls and bake until slightly golden.
This recipe makes a flavorful bread. It’s a grilled cheese favorite.
Scald then slightly cool 1 cup buttermilk
Add 3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup softened lard.
Stir until lard is fully combined.
In large mixing bowl, stir 2 1/2 teaspoons yeast (1 packet) into 1 cup warm water.
Once yeast is fully dissolved, stir in the buttermilk mixture.
Add 1/4 teaspoons baking soda and 3 cups flour. Beat with electric mixer until smooth. Mix in another 2-2 1/2 cups flour until workable dough is formed.
Knead for 10 minutes.
Cover dough with damp dishtowel, greased plastic wrap or a proofing bowl cover if you have one and let rise until double. This takes anywhere from 1 to 3 hours in my house depending on weather.
Grease two bread pans with lard.
Divide into two and shape into loaves. Place in pans and cover.
Allow to rise until double again.
Preheat oven to 350.
Bake until golden brown. About 38 minutes in my oven.
Seven year Saul is my photographer and the mastermind behind this bread tower.
Remove from oven, allow to cool. I cover my loaves with a clean, dry towel while cooling to make a soft crust.
Many of you have asked if homemade beef tallow soap was suitable for laundry detergent.
Over the last few years I’ve experimented with a few different recipes. Our family has been using this simple recipe for over 6 months. It is easy to make, cleans farm-dirty clothes and is kind on even the most sensitive skin.
Grind soap bars, crumbs shavings, etc. superfine.
I use a hand crank cheese grater with the superfine parmesan wheel. It’s a little more work than a larger grater or food processor, but is worth the effort.
Combine the following
2 cups grated soap
2 cups washing soda
2 cups borax
4 cups oxi-clean
Stir to mix thoroughly.
I store in glass jars.
Ready to use Landry Detergent.
We have a high-efficiency machine and put 1-2 tablespoons in bottom of washing drum before laundry.
That’s it.
The extra effort to make a liquid detergent just didn’t make any sense. It’s a lot more work and much messier to use than this simple powder.
Flank is a fairly humble cut of beef, but when well prepared, it is surprisingly good.
We served last night with broccoli, roasted sweet potatoes and brown rice.
In the morning, I took a frozen Flank Steak from the freezer.
It was perhaps an inch thick, and 4″ by 8″
Serves four.
Place the frozen Flank Steak in casserole dish.
Marinate in the following:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup cooking sherry, or red wine
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1-2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger.
Leave meat marinating and defrosting at room temperature.
Turn occasionally throughout the day. Perhaps every 1-2 hours.
The meat should be fully defrosted right around dinnertime.
Preheat your grill on medium high for several minutes.
Reserve the marinade, it is a tasty sauce for vegetables or rice.
Grill flank steak, 2 minutes per side and turn three times, for a total of about 8 minutes cooking. Jordan has learned to determine doneness by the feel of the meat with his cooking fork. You do not want this cut to be overcooked, it will go from succulent to shoe leather in a few short minutes. Cooked perfectly, it will be pink and tender in the center.
Remove from grill.
Allow to cool a few minute. It will continue cooking as it cools.
Slice in thin strips AGAINST the grain. If you cut with the grain, you will be very disappointed.
ENJOY.
Turkey Brine Recipe
Brining is a process similar to marinating in which poultry is soaked in brine before cooking. The amount
of time needed to brine depends on the size of the meat. More time is needed for a large turkey
compared to a broiler fryer chicken.
Brining makes cooked meat moister by hydrating the cells of muscle tissue before cooking. That
allows the cells to hold water while they are cooked. This helps prevent the meat from drying out
resulting in moister more tender meat.
Brining is a strongly recommended for heritage or free range turkeys. Do not brine a
commercial turkey. Commercial, store bought turkeys have already been injected with water
and salt. Brining will make them too salty.
Brine for a 17 lb turkey:
One gallon water
1 1/4 cup salt
3/4 cup sugar
3 bay leaves
3 lemons, quartered and squeezed into water, throw quarters in pot too.
Heat water to a pre-boil to dissolve sugar and salt. Add ice in to cool, enough to equal about a
gallon and half of water, total for a 17 pound bird.
Soak a 17 pound turkey in brine for at least 6 hours in fridge, but no more than 12 hours. Use
shorter or longer times for smaller or larger birds.
Soaking for too long will cause the turkey to be too salty.
Cook:
Rub turkey with olive oil, cover.
Follow cooking directions.
Absolutely use a meat thermometer and be careful to NOT overcook.
Should turn out juicy, and wonderfully flavorful! A different texture than store bought, but by
no means tough.
Will make a phenomenal Thanksgiving turkey. Just watch the over cooking! Probably the best
turkey I have ever had…..
The good life at Sand Hill Farm 