Meatloaf again

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Negolien

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Hey All,

So last time I made meatloaf I changed a ton of things from my normal meatloaf and it sucked lol. I decided to go back to a basic recipe I use.

4 lbs ground
2 eggs
2/3rd cup of milk
1 medium red onion
3/4ths cup of Italian breadcrumbs
1 and 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
3 garlic cloves
5 tbs ketchup
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

I added some Bear and Burton's fireshire to the top and applied a pretty nice coat of holy cow rub from meat church.

Glaze: ketchup, molasses, garlic salt, onion powder little fireshire, salt and pepper.

I cooked it in a pan this time I usually don't but I put it in to harden and was in a hurry and didn't have time for it to harden so I could get it out.

Only issue was there seamed to be a lot more lost meat that turned into grease than I usually get when I do em not in a pan. I don't know maybe it's just me but for 4 lbs of meat it turned out pretty small. It filled an entire large loaf pan right to the top but lost about 20% of it's mass after cookin. Taste was freakin awesome as usual back to my normal form. Just goes to show that makin small changes is better than huge swings. That way if it sucks you can narrow down what the issue was.
 

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Negolien said:
I cooked it in a pan this time I usually don't but I put it in to harden and was in a hurry and didn't have time for it to harden so I could get it out.
Click to expand...

I'll line a loaf pan with parchment paper then load in the meat. After it's packed in just flip the pan over and it comes out easily.
 
Big George's BBQ said:
I really like meatloaf too. Have not had one in a while. What did you good it on and what Temp
Click to expand...

I did it on my masterbuilt 560 at 350. I wasn't lookin for smoke as I was only using briquettes. I woulda done it in the oven but it heats up the whole damn house lol.

The one brown piece was an end piece after I cut a heal off and ate it /snicker. It was exposed when I stuck it in the fridge for a bit before slicing. I shoulda put plastic wrap over the pan.
 
I've never used a meatloaf pan, except when cooking in oven. I expect it was sitting in the grease during the entirety of the cook, so of course it tasted awesome (lol). The amount of grease should depend on the fat content of the ground beef.

I form a loaf and put it in a grilling pan (the ones with holes in them). I put the loaf in fridge until ready to put on grill, and that helps the loaf keep its shape.
 
Speaking of size loss. What did you cook? Ground what. Beef? Turkey? Sausage?
What ratio of lean/fat? 73/27, 80/20, 85/15, 90/10, 93/7?
While fat equals flavor it also equals grease and size loss.
I prefer to use 90/10 for meatloaf and do my best to avoid anything less than 85/15 lean because of excess grease and size loss.
Because most of it is very fatty, sausage equals grease and size loss too.

Looks good despite your (size) loss.
 
Looks great! Your recipe looks close enough to mine (I don't tend to measure anything). Depending on the ground beef fat %, it can shrink a bit.

No loaf pan, just shape it on top of a cookie sheet rack on a foil lined cookie sheet and cook (in the smoker if I have time, otherwise the oven). That way I get "bark" on all sides (the rack keeps it out of the fat juice).

I recently had an awesome meatloaf that included ground pork along with the ground beef and also had mixed in cheese. My better half doesn't do cheese but I will try adding a bit of ground pork the next time I make meatloafs.

I say "meatloafs" because I usually make up four or five at a time and freeze the ones Im not cooking that night. That makes it easy to pull one out of the freezer the night before we want one.
 
Looks great! My wife usually makes meatloaf in the oven but a few years ago I tried smoking one myself. I decided not to bother following a recipe and just faked it. Managed to make myself a first class smoked meat brick. Since then I’ve followed the recipe was on Hastybake’s website with dramatically better results
 
1MoreFord said:
Speaking of size loss. What did you cook? Ground what. Beef? Turkey? Sausage?
What ratio of lean/fat? 73/27, 80/20, 85/15, 90/10, 93/7?
While fat equals flavor it also equals grease and size loss.
I prefer to use 90/10 for meatloaf and do my best to avoid anything less than 85/15 lean because of excess grease and size loss.
Because most of it is very fatty, sausage equals grease and size loss too.

Looks good despite your (size) loss.
Click to expand...

It was 80/20 and i assume chuck it was from safeway. I poured out the grease about halfway thru but it just filled back up
 
80/20 is fine is cooking in a smoker. Good flavor. Just expect shrinkage.
If cooking direct on a grill expect flare-ups and shrinkage.
Cooking in a pan expect a greasy, soggy product annnddd shrinkage.
 
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