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First meat loaf was a success

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jerryb78
jerryb78 Posts: 215
in EggHead Forum
I found myself inspired to try a meat loaf after this recent post by @gatabites .  I was really pleased with the results.  Meat loaf can mean a lot of different things to different people so I started off by staying pretty close to my usual meat loaf recipe.  It's based on the America's Test Kitchen bacon-wrapped meat loaf recipe, minus the bacon wrap.  I'm a lover of bacon and a lover of meat loaf, but I've had bad experiences with trying to combine the two previously so I tend to keep them separated.

Basic recipe is pretty similar to one previously posted by @texanofthenorth:
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic gloves, minced
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp hot sauce
1/2 cup milk
1 lb. ground chuck, 1/2 lb. ground pork and 1/2 lb. ground veal
2/3 cup crushed saltine crackers (add last until you reach the desired consistency for loaf)

Heat oil in skillet and add onion and garlic. Saute until softened and set aside to cool. Mix eggs with s&p, thyme, mustard, worcestershire sauce and milk. Add to meat along with onion and garlic until fully blended.

I set up the egg indirect, legs up with a drip pan under the grid.  I formed the loaf and put it on a cooling rack with the intention of dropping the rack right on to the egg, but it couldn't quite fit.  I wasn't sure how much smoke the loaf was going to take so I decided to do this first one with just lump (no wood) and see what that got me.  I dropped the loaf directly on the grid instead and it held up fine with no significant sticking.  I cooked it at 400 for a little over an hour, glazing it with some leftover barbecue sauce that I made for my last batch of pulled pork during the final 15-20 minutes.  (pictures show pre and post glaze)  The loaf crisped up nicely on the outside and the glaze caramelized a bit, though I probably could've put it on 5-10 minutes sooner.

The first few slices broke a bit primarily due to me being too impatient to let it cool for the necessary amount of time.  Slices cut later on came out beautifully.  The smoke flavor was subtle but easily detectable.  I'll probably throw on a couple chunks of some sort of fruit wood next time around and see if I can get the smoke flavor to be a little stronger.  

Thanks for the inspiration @gatabites!


LBGE
Menasha, WI
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