BigButzBBQ
is Blowin Smoke!
Recently I cooked up some meatloaf and posted the recipe over on my blog. Deep in the Sauce Blog I didn't get the chance to cook this on the smoker like I had hoped to but, I figured some might be interested to hear about it so, here is the posting.
Nothing says home cooking like a big slab of meatloaf. Whether it be fresh from the oven, off the grill, or out of the smoker, you know it spells delicious. Meat loaf, no matter how much of an American institution it has become, can still give people trouble making it or having it come out the way they want it to. The great thing about meatloaf though is that once you have a great base recipe to start with, the creative possibilities are limitless! The base recipe I like to use is as follows:
Standard Meatloaf:
1lb Lean Ground Meat
1/2cup Dry stuffing mix
1 Egg
1/4cup BBQ Sauce
1Tbs of whatever blend of spices and seasonings you like. (I like a little seasoning salt, basil, thyme, and oregano.)
(Of course one pound of meat does not make for a very large loaf so you may want to double or triple the portions on this recipe.)
I decided that I wanted one of my favorite variations of meatloaf where it ends up looking like a spiral when you cut into it which I've dubbed Hypno Meatloaf! To make this I doubled the recipe using 1lb of lean ground beef and 1lb on ground chicken.
Each was then dropped into it's own mixing bowl.
1/2 cup of stuffing mix was tossed into each.
Followed by, 1 farm fresh egg in each.
Then 1/4 cup of BBQ Sauce in each, I went with Original flavor this time.
1 Tbs of seasonings including seasoning salt, thyme, and basil went in and it was all mixed up!
Next it was time to get out a loaf pan and spray it down with some non-stick spray.
I laid out a piece of cling wrap next to the pan, this is going to be the big key to giving the loaf it's spiral and also by keeping the pan next to it, you will have a better idea of exactly how wide your loaf can be.
The ground beef was a bit firmer in texture than the chicken so, I started by dumping that one onto the cling wrap first.
The beef was spread out to form a sheet slightly less than a half inch thick, keeping in mind to not let it get any wider than the loaf pan.
The chicken went on top of the beef and was gently spread out, we want to create layers, not blend.
Now comes the tricky part, you start by picking up the cling wrap and rolling the meat onto itself, once it gets started you continue to pull up on the cling wrap and it will roll up upon itself. don't force it though. if you try to wrap it tightly you'll end up smooshing the layers together.
To get the loaf into the pan, pick up both side of the cling wrap, bring it over to the pan and drop the shorter side of the cling wrap into the pan and pull it free from the loaf by pulling the longer side away.
From there it goes into an oven set at 375 for 45min-1hr.
There are a couple of ways to be able to tell when a meatloaf is done. First the top should have browned and the sides may have pulled away from the pan. Second, you can use a thermometer and check to make sure it has reached the ideal doneness temp for the meat being used, usually 160-170. Or, third, some believe that, like bread, you can take a tooth pick and pierce the center of the loaf with it, if the loaf doesn't grab at the toothpick and it comes out clean, the meatloaf is done. I think the third method should only be used by those who have had experience with it before and don't recommend it for a beginner.
Once the loaf is done, I will spread 1/4 cup of BBQ Sauce on the top and stick it back in the oven for another 5 mins until it had glossed over nicely and looks like this.
The only thing left to do is slice it up and serve!
If your spiral doesn't come out perfect, don't sweat it, call it Marbled Meat Loaf! Besides, half the fun of this one is just making it over and over again. Thanks for looking!
Nothing says home cooking like a big slab of meatloaf. Whether it be fresh from the oven, off the grill, or out of the smoker, you know it spells delicious. Meat loaf, no matter how much of an American institution it has become, can still give people trouble making it or having it come out the way they want it to. The great thing about meatloaf though is that once you have a great base recipe to start with, the creative possibilities are limitless! The base recipe I like to use is as follows:
Standard Meatloaf:
1lb Lean Ground Meat
1/2cup Dry stuffing mix
1 Egg
1/4cup BBQ Sauce
1Tbs of whatever blend of spices and seasonings you like. (I like a little seasoning salt, basil, thyme, and oregano.)
(Of course one pound of meat does not make for a very large loaf so you may want to double or triple the portions on this recipe.)
I decided that I wanted one of my favorite variations of meatloaf where it ends up looking like a spiral when you cut into it which I've dubbed Hypno Meatloaf! To make this I doubled the recipe using 1lb of lean ground beef and 1lb on ground chicken.
Each was then dropped into it's own mixing bowl.
1/2 cup of stuffing mix was tossed into each.
Followed by, 1 farm fresh egg in each.
Then 1/4 cup of BBQ Sauce in each, I went with Original flavor this time.
1 Tbs of seasonings including seasoning salt, thyme, and basil went in and it was all mixed up!
Next it was time to get out a loaf pan and spray it down with some non-stick spray.
I laid out a piece of cling wrap next to the pan, this is going to be the big key to giving the loaf it's spiral and also by keeping the pan next to it, you will have a better idea of exactly how wide your loaf can be.
The ground beef was a bit firmer in texture than the chicken so, I started by dumping that one onto the cling wrap first.
The beef was spread out to form a sheet slightly less than a half inch thick, keeping in mind to not let it get any wider than the loaf pan.
The chicken went on top of the beef and was gently spread out, we want to create layers, not blend.
Now comes the tricky part, you start by picking up the cling wrap and rolling the meat onto itself, once it gets started you continue to pull up on the cling wrap and it will roll up upon itself. don't force it though. if you try to wrap it tightly you'll end up smooshing the layers together.
To get the loaf into the pan, pick up both side of the cling wrap, bring it over to the pan and drop the shorter side of the cling wrap into the pan and pull it free from the loaf by pulling the longer side away.
From there it goes into an oven set at 375 for 45min-1hr.
There are a couple of ways to be able to tell when a meatloaf is done. First the top should have browned and the sides may have pulled away from the pan. Second, you can use a thermometer and check to make sure it has reached the ideal doneness temp for the meat being used, usually 160-170. Or, third, some believe that, like bread, you can take a tooth pick and pierce the center of the loaf with it, if the loaf doesn't grab at the toothpick and it comes out clean, the meatloaf is done. I think the third method should only be used by those who have had experience with it before and don't recommend it for a beginner.
Once the loaf is done, I will spread 1/4 cup of BBQ Sauce on the top and stick it back in the oven for another 5 mins until it had glossed over nicely and looks like this.
The only thing left to do is slice it up and serve!
If your spiral doesn't come out perfect, don't sweat it, call it Marbled Meat Loaf! Besides, half the fun of this one is just making it over and over again. Thanks for looking!
