Meatloaf Help

Without knowing your recipe, it's kind of hard to suggest anything. I form mine in the pan, refrigerate it, and then cook it out of the pan. It takes a firm mix, though.

Try this, it worked great for me:


This is what I kinda invented.

2 lbs ground meat (I used 80%/20%)
1 lb ground pork
1/2 yellow bell pepper and 1/2 green bell pepper (that's what I already had)
1/2 sweet onion
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup milk 2 eggs
1/2 cup of bread crumbs ( next time I'm going to used 2-3 slices of bread torn into pieces and mixed in the milk - Candy read something that said this will keep the meatloaf more moist)

I sautéed the onion, bell pepper and garlic until wilted then set aside to cool.
I mixed the rest of the stuff together and after the veggies cooled added them and mixed. Don't work the meat mixture too much - that's suppose to dry it out a lot.
I think next time I might add some rub before I put it in the pan. I didn't this time and had to flip it out on some wax paper to dust it with rub then put it back in the pan. I refrigerated it over night to let it firm up in the pan.

While the coals were lighting I took it out of the pan and put it on some parchment paper then draped bacon slices over it and added a little more rub. I had some BB King's Memphis style rub. Trimmed the paper to roughly the size of the loaf. Poke holes in the middle if you use a bunds pan so the grease won't pool in it.

Put it on the grill at 290 and got the temp up to 315-320 for 1 1/2 hours until the internal temp was 165. About 10 minutes before pulling I brushed it with some Shed BBQ sauce.

I think next time I'll pull the paper out after about 1/2 hour. I read somewhere that would add some bark or. Crust to the bottom. I might also add som Worchester sauce to the mix.

First smoked meatloaf was using my oven recipe a few years ago.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/38580489@N02/

Came out pretty good but was lacking something. Later decided I would add sauteed jalapenos to the mix next time to add a little heat to the smoke.

Still have not done it but it's now on my to-do list this summer.

My wife has a good simple recipe. She takes 2 pounds ground meat (we do either beef or Turkey, we use 80/20 or 90/10 for our beef and any ground turkey) 2 eggsoupd half a package of Bear Creek creamy potato soup mix it up and top with bacon. If you use turkey add about a table spoon Worcester sauce. My wife won a contest at Bear Creek and got one of every product they sold at the time.

I don't do anything fancy to meatloaf. I've had my fair share of "interesting" meatloaf for meatloaf night growing up....

I mix up 3 eggs, 2-2.5lb ground meat, finely diced green peppers, onions, crushed saltine crackers, mix in some salt, pepper, garlic then do the layer of ketchup.

I will mold it into a meatloaf and cook it on a double sheet of foil, I'll cut the excess foil so it can get plenty of smoke. Guess you can put it in a pan if you want to.

Here's my cookthread on my meatloaf. http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=230216

I keep mine real simple, I've seen people add things like tomato's, sauces, and other ingredients and I just doesn't taste right.

Nothing tricky about meatloaf, here's a bacon cheeseburger one I did a while back. Pretty simple, anything you want, egg, ketchup and mustard with some breadcrumbs and you are good to go, this is just ground beef.

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2/3 ground beef, 1/3 sausage. The sausage seems to help firm it up, and of course gives it great flavor. You can use anything from Italian sausage to breakfast sausage. All depends on your preferences. I agree with refrigerating it for a bit (couple hours to overnight) to firm it up and let whatever binder (breadcrumbs, crackers, oatmeal, etc.) soak up some moisture and help hold everything in place.

Here are a couple of ceramic cooker cookbooks with meatloaf recipes.
http://www.nakedwhiz.com/wiseoneceramicgrillstartercookbook.pdf
http://www.wessb.com/Recipes/bge_recipes03172007.pdf

I normally do the old Anne Landers recipe. No complaints yet...

I already bought the stuff and plan to loosely follow Alton Brown's recipe the next nice day that I have time. Probably this weekend.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-meat-loaf-recipe.html

This is mine
1 lb ea 80/20 & ground pork
1 cup rolled oats( not the quick cook kind)
1 cup Butttermilk
1 package Lipton onion & mushroom soup mix
Salt &pepper to taste
1 Tbl Worchestershire
1/4 cup ketchup or BBQ sauce
2 Large eggs
about 2/3 cup of seasoned bread crumbs ( I never measure just add until it's no longer sticky)

Glaze
1/3 cup ketchup
2 Tbl Balsamic vinegar

Take a big bowl add the oats & the Buttermilk and let stand for 20 min
Add everything except the bread crumbs and give it a good mix
Add enough bread crumb so it holds together & is no longer sticking to your hands.
Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap and press the meat into the pan, refrigerate while you light the pit & get it stable
Turn the meat loaf out on to a small piece of foil & brush it with the glaze. Glaze every 20 min during the cook.
Place it on the pit coo to 165 IT

x2 On the Lipton onion soup mix. My wife uses a strainer to sift out the onion pieces, I don't bother. I don't really do much else than that. Maybe stuff some cheese in the middle, maybe wrap it in bacon. I've never even dreamed about adding oats, lol. I'm going to have to step up my meatloaf game.

A few other things came to mind about meatloaf, a couple of which might seem bizarre. It's all personal preference.

Make venison burgers occasionally, mixing in hot Italian sausage to add fat and a little kick (roughly 3:1 ratio). My kids love them. Venison meatloaf is starting to sound good to me, maybe using regular ground pork instead of the sausage. Or a buffalo-pork mix? Elk-pork, etc?

Kind of a garlic fanatic. Use it in just about everything. Meatloaf is one of my exceptions. Adding garlic to meatloaf sorta turns it into a giant meatball. NTTAWWT but sometimes my taste buds need a garlic break.

Not a ketchup fan. Ketchup or other sugary BBQ sauce glazes on meatloaf do not excite me. Sure as hell will never use ketchup in a meatloaf mix.

I never order meatloaf out because of the glaze restaurants feel compelled to put on it.

food4thot said:

A few other things came to mind about meatloaf, a couple of which might seem bizarre. It's all personal preference.

Make venison burgers occasionally, mixing in hot Italian sausage to add fat and a little kick (roughly 3:1 ratio). My kids love them. Venison meatloaf is starting to sound good to me, maybe using regular ground pork instead of the sausage. Or a buffalo-pork mix? Elk-pork, etc?

Kind of a garlic fanatic. Use it in just about everything. Meatloaf is one of my exceptions. Adding garlic to meatloaf sorta turns it into a giant meatball. NTTAWWT but sometimes my taste buds need a garlic break.

Not a ketchup fan. Ketchup or other sugary BBQ sauce glazes on meatloaf do not excite me. Sure as hell will never use ketchup in a meatloaf mix.

I never order meatloaf out because of the glaze restaurants feel compelled to put on it.

Click to expand...

I also do not like glazes on meatloaf.

I make Griff loaf, Then press it onto a half sheet pan lined with foil coated with Pam. Then I put cooked bacon, and sharp shredded cheddar cheese leaving 1/2 inch bare arrond eth edges. I then roll it up like a jelly roll, and press the edges to seal.

Griff Loaf
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup onions finely diced
½ red pepper finely diced
3 cloves of garlic minced
½ cup grated parmesan
½ cup seasoned bread crumbs
¼ cup milk
1large egg lightly beaten
5 or6 dashes of Worcestershire
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1.5 lbs ground beef
1 lbs sausage
Mix everything together and form into loaf. I smoke at 300-350* until the loaf hits 165*. Sauce can be added the last 15 minutes.