EggHead "Yuppie"

j_smith7

Yep. That's what I am. I've had my large for a month, only two months longer than I've had my wife!

Question 1:

Today, I made a meatloaf on the egg. 2 lbs 93/7 (that's where I messed up), 1/2 lb mild Italian sausage, and 1/2 lb basic pork sausage (it's Jimmy Dean in Mississippi). Cooked 350 for about an hour/lb. The lean beef almost dried it out. I used chopped sweet yellow onion, bread crumbs, and a rub mix I made up when I first got the Egg. I basted it at hour 2 and on the third hour with a Worcester/bbq/ketchup mix. My question is, what did I do wrong to dry it out?  

Thanks for for all of your eggknowledgement. 

Question 2:

I have not ventured out to the fish realm. Yet. My wife wants me to do some tilapia, and I'm game; however, I don't know my options other than cooking it over direct heat on a big iron skillet. Help me out with some of your experiences, if you don't mind. 

3, 2, 1, EGGCITE ME!

lousubcap

"I've had my large for a month, only two months longer than I've had my wife!"

Gotta admit that the above calendar math confuses me...hopefully the eggsperts will be along regarding your above questions.

nolaegghead

Welcome to the forum!

Meatloaf - use about 20-25% fat in your meat, but there are some tricks to go low fat.  Or you can add some half and half and you'll want an egg or two as a binder.  Onions also add moisture, which is good.  The biggest trick is to pull when the internal temp is about 155F.  It will rise up over 160F.  Egg yolk takes higher heat to set.  The bread crumbs will trap fat and add to the "moisture".

Tilapia - Cooks in just a few minutes.  Problem is you need to put a lot of heat on it so it "releases" from the grate.  So to cook without grossly overcooking, get it REAL hot, put some mayo or oil on the fish and/or grate and it will cook in two minutes, flip may not be necessary and do that at your own risk.  Thicker fish cooks slower and you can cook a bit lower temp wise. 

Easiest would be use a pan for thin fish like Tilapia.  You're not going to pick up much smoke because it cooks so fast, so consider pan frying.

nolaegghead

lousubcap said:

"I've had my large for a month, only two months longer than I've had my wife!"

Gotta admit that the above calendar math confuses me...hopefully the eggsperts will be along regarding your above questions.

I noticed that too

SmokingPiney

Tilapia? Try it on cedar planks. I like to cook salmon that way.

Darby_Crenshaw

dry meat is always overcooked.  even exceptionally lean meat can be moist (not necessarily 'juicey').  forget timing your cooks. 

those days are over.  get a thermometer to take the temp of large cuts.  and you can use it too for steaks etc, wlthough you can probably do those by touch.

fat DOES help add juiciness, because fat holds water, but you can dry out marbled meat too by overcooking. 

you can do meatloaf to 150-155 or so.  two hours sounds long to me

theyolksonyou

On the meatloaf, cook to temp not time. Cook to 160 for done and you'll be pleased. My guess is you over cooked. 

On the fish, you can get a cheap pizza screen or cook on foil, in a foil packet, in a paper pouch. The options  are endless. Try the search function or google with eggheadforum.com in the keywords. 

Finally, welcome to the forum. 

theyolksonyou

Wow! We all posted at the same time. 

henapple

Welcome... Try different seafood. Tilapia is Mt least favorite. If that's what the misses want throw a chunk of salmon oror swordfish on for yourself. 
When using that lean of beef for ml you might consider skipping the bread crumbs. IMHO. Again, welcome 

jabam

j_smith7 said:

Yep. That's what I am. I've had my large for a month, only two months longer than I've had my wife!

Question 1:

Today, I made a meatloaf on the egg. 2 lbs 93/7 (that's where I messed up), 1/2 lb mild Italian sausage, and 1/2 lb basic pork sausage (it's Jimmy Dean in Mississippi). Cooked 350 for about an hour/lb. The lean beef almost dried it out. I used chopped sweet yellow onion, bread crumbs, and a rub mix I made up when I first got the Egg. I basted it at hour 2 and on the third hour with a Worcester/bbq/ketchup mix. My question is, what did I do wrong to dry it out?  

Thanks for for all of your eggknowledgement. 

Question 2:

I have not ventured out to the fish realm. Yet. My wife wants me to do some tilapia, and I'm game; however, I don't know my options other than cooking it over direct heat on a big iron skillet. Help me out with some of your experiences, if you don't mind. 

3, 2, 1, EGGCITE ME!

First of all you overbooked it, 350 indirect, shouldn't need more than an hour and half to cook 3lb meat loaf. I always cook my meat loafs to 155 IT and then wrap with an let rest for 30 min, comes out just right. And I always use 80/20. 

Lit

I add heavy cream to meatloaf and cook to temp. At 350 you should have been about done in an hour or maybe less.

j_smith7

As much as I want to clarify my screw up, I will first say THANK YOU. All of you. I'm grateful and honored to be Christened to the Forum by receiving your feedback. 

2nd - good Lord. What was I saying??  Idk. But it's worse. I was thinking I'd only been married for three months, but it's four....nobody tell my wife!  Still, tho, only an Egghead for a month now. 

Theophan

j_smith7 said:

... Today, I made a meatloaf on the egg. 2 lbs 93/7 (that's where I messed up), ... Cooked 350 ... I basted it at hour 2 and on the third hour with a Worcester/bbq/ketchup mix...

I agree that super lean beef isn't what I'd have used, and I do think the ingredients can make a loaf dry.  But I also agree with those who said it was almost certainly overcooked.  I just cooked a meatloaf this evening (I just posted the cook, if you're interested), 2 lbs of meat (50:50 beef/pork), cooked it at 275-300 and it was done in a little over 2 hours.  So if you were cooking at a higher temp, and you cooked it 3 hours or more, probably too much.  Like the others were saying, I cooked to temp, taking it out when it was 160 degrees.

People here disagree about practically everything, but practically everybody raves about Thermapens.  It's an expensive thermometer, but it's so FAST that it just makes taking temps nice.  Easy.  Quick.  Worth thinking about, anyway.

blind99

Who wants to eat a loaf of meat? Damn I'm still scarred from childhood. 

Try salmon. Set up the egg for direct cooking and get it to 400.  Brush the flesh side with olive oil and your favorite seasoning. Grill flesh down about 8 minutes then flip and grill another 4. You'll know the first side is done because the fish releases, no sticking. I cook the fish to around 140 in the thickest - a little overdone but the wife/kids like it cooked through. 

welcome! Have a beer and stop in Friday night, it gets interesting!

Wolfpack

Biggest lesson to learn- get a maverick or something similar that you can measure internal temp while cooking.  Don't cook by time- only by temp.

nola was spot on about carry over- the higher the heat and the bigger the item cooking the more carryover you can expect. 

SmokeyPitt

I agree with all the comments on the meatloaf- it was simply overcooked. 

For the tilapia if you iron skillet fits in the egg you can always use that.  If you throw in a handful of chips and keep the dome closed you will get a mild smoke flavor.  You can also cook it indirect and basically bake it in the oven for more smoke flavor.  

Ladeback69

First welcome, and what everyone has said about cook to temp not time.   If you want more Smokey flavor. Cook it below 350, in a normal omen a 2 pound meatloaf. Should be done in about an hour and half at the most.   Also don't go so lean on the meat, add an egg and milk.  Go indirect to cook or raised grid if you are going direct.

As for Tilapia i have tried it once and didn't like the outcome.   If you do it make sure it is thick like salmon and use a plank or salt block.  I like salmon on the egg.  There are a lot of good recopies on here.   

Good luck and happy egging. 

Fred19Flintstone

Welcome!  It looks like you have plenty of good advice.

Eggaroo

I've never tried a meatloaf on the Egg yet… that's on the must do list, but I usually do tilapia about once a week. We like it because it is a mild tasting fish. The key to keeping it from sticking is to oil the fish and grate and cook at a medium high temperature (450-500). My favorite way to cook it though is 'blackened' in a cast iron pan or griddle. Dip the fish in melted butter and then season. I use Zatarain's Blackened Seasoning. Put back in the refrigerator and get it cold. In the meantime get the pan in the Egg as hot as you can. When you add the fish to the pan it will sizzle. Cook for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes per side until done. Enjoy!

NDG

Welcome!  
1) great tips already about meatloaf
2) tilapia is GROSS.  I promise promise promise you salmon w/ nice maple glaze on the BGE will be a game-changer for you.  It wont be too fishy tasting and it is actually a fish you want to eat.  Tilapia doesnt even have omega fatty goodness - so its like a nasty chicken that lives underwater and eats feces all day . . usually this underwater gross chicke lives in china.  I digress . . but Tilapia is gross.

I have done Salmon with this maple glaze liste below for ultra picky non-fish lovers and it goes over very well.  Try it!
http://dizzypigbbq.com/portfolio/raging-river-maplebutter-crusted-salmon/

Hotch

I have cook tilapia before, yes my wife also asked for it.

Did not have any flavor except for the lemon slices I used.

I would try a simple recipe to follow like this one:

http://www.chow.com/recipes/29870-grilled-blackened-catfish-with-creole-mustard-butter

Should have a great flavor profile and is simple to make.

And welcome to the herd.

fishlessman

with the tilapia the flavor is disappointing, but it takes on flavor nicely try googling tilapia en papillote. you will need parchment paper and a stapler makes it simple. with the meatloaf, dont let anyone talk you into 93 percent lean and get that loaf off the grill at 150 internal. ive never put sausage into a meatloaf either

j_smith7

Good morning & thanks, everyone!!

fishlessman

i just seen you were still cooking 3 hours into this cook, yikes   we mostly cook to temp here, a thermapen or thermapop needs to be in your hands

Griffin

Like everybody has said, you overcooked it. Invest in a thermometer.

Advice for tilapia: if you are going to eat it, never do any research on it. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. I personally wouldn't feed it to my dogs. Maybe my neighbor's dog but I hate that 24/7 barking annoyance.

NDG

YES @griffin . . . my thoughts on tilapia exactly.  Yuck.
I am starting to get Mad about it actually - like when you see it on a decent menu as a $18 sandwich . . . a real scam.

nolaegghead

Tilapia isn't that bad.  There's been a media frenzy about it mostly based on an FDA report that was misinterpreted about animal feces.  I would avoid the Chinese tilapia because it can have antibiotics and chemicals like malachite green.  But it does have omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, is low in fat and high in protein.  Overall, much healthier than most of the land animals we cook on our eggs.

fishlessman

nolaegghead said:

Tilapia isn't that bad.  There's been a media frenzy about it mostly based on an FDA report that was misinterpreted about animal feces.  I would avoid the Chinese tilapia because it can have antibiotics and chemicals like malachite green.  But it does have omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, is low in fat and high in protein.  Overall, much healthier than most of the land animals we cook on our eggs.

i just dont know where the hype to buy it came from a few years back. i seen a sign for fresh caught right off the boat haddock last week for 2.99 a pound and yet there are people up here passing it by for outsourced tilapia, maybe people just like saying tilapia   ill take the haddock please

NDG

@nolaegghead . . I am aware that you know seafood (edit) and I do not doubt you . . . but I recently read that tilapia has virtually no omega 3 / 6 fatty acids.  Came from this book - which I found to be interesting read. 

http://www.amazon.com/American-Catch-Fight-Local-Seafood/dp/1594204489

At the very least, we can agree that it is far too popular and there are much better choices. 

Acn

fishlessman said:

nolaegghead said:

Tilapia isn't that bad.  There's been a media frenzy about it mostly based on an FDA report that was misinterpreted about animal feces.  I would avoid the Chinese tilapia because it can have antibiotics and chemicals like malachite green.  But it does have omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, is low in fat and high in protein.  Overall, much healthier than most of the land animals we cook on our eggs.

i just dont know where the hype to buy it came from a few years back. i seen a sign for fresh caught right off the boat haddock last week for 2.99 a pound and yet there are people up here passing it by for outsourced tilapia, maybe people just like saying tilapia   ill take the haddock please

Damn, that's better than my parents do, they have to pony $4.99/lb from a coworker's kid.

nolaegghead

@NDG yep.  Not a lot of omega 3 and 6 but a lot more than haddock, sole and flounder.  And a lot more than beef, for example.