Meatloaf

Here's a favorite of ours...

Not Your Mother’s Meatloaf

The original recipe was gleaned from one made at a Texas Eggfest in 2004 though I have made several modifications to it over the years to our satisfaction. The most recent is the addition of anchovies! Ron Pratt, Dunlap, IL

Ingredients:

1 pound 80/20 ground chuck

½ pound ground pork

4 strips of bacon

4 anchovies 

1 T oil from the anchovies tin

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped green pepper

½ cup Panko bread crumbs – Parmesan herb style

1 T Worcestershire

4 cloves diced garlic

1 raw egg

2 tea Gochujang

1 tea ground black pepper

½ tea kosher salt

½ tea Tabasco

¼ tea ground cumin

¼ cup beef stock

In large skillet slow fry 4 strips of bacon to semi-cooked, but still limp. Remove bacon and set aside. Add 1 T of the oil to the bacon grease and add anchovies, onion, green pepper and sauté all the while stirring and mashing the anchovies into a paste and thoroughly mixing.  As it simmers add the ground pepper, salt, cumin, garlic and continue cooking until veggies are softened. 

Meanwhile slice and dice the bacon strips into small pieces. Don’t worry if they are undercooked to your liking as they will finish cooking inside the meatloaf. Besides if the bacon is crisp to start with they will become hardened, unpleasant surprise nuggets inside the loaf!

Pour the skillet contents into a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix and mix well with your hands by squeezing repeatedly through your fingers. (HINT: wear disposable plastic gloves!) Then form your loaf. Trust me - with the bread crumbs and egg binder this will be a solid loaf when thoroughly mixed! Place the loaf on top of waxed paper which is sitting on a cutting board. That way you will be able to coat the ends, sides and one top with a favorite rub such as Dizzy Pig Cow Lick. You can then flip the loaf and coat the final side.

I use a wire meatloaf basket, which allows smoke to reach it on all sides, but you may want to use a small oven proof flat pan or even a “pizza pan” which has holes.

Set up your BGE to cook indirect by using the plate setter with legs up and grate on top. I also foil my PS to keep the grease from getting the PS too dirty. Shoot for a 330° dome temp and cook to an internal temp of 160°. Typically this will take about 90 minutes. BTW I prefer the taste of cherry wood chunks as that smoke seems to “honor” this loaf!

ENJOY!

Revised…again…7-16-18

Our favorite meatloaf recipe is from Lea & Perrin's.  It's simple to throw together and the kids love it, so we continue to keep this in rotation.  The only change I make is to saute the onions first in a little olive oil, just enough to soften them up some.  Also, about half way into the cook, we spread ketchup on top of the loaf. 

http://www.leaperrins.com/Recipes/Lea amp Perrins Meatloaf

 

BuzzandRenegade said:

So... I am wondering about the refrigerating/par freeze prior to cooking. Is that to get somewhat of a crust on the outside? The chorizo sounds really good.

the quickly formed crust helps hold it together when cooking right on the grill

I did @RRP recipe last week and got great reviews from friends.  I did substitute Hot Italian sausage in place of the ground pork.  I always take a bread pan and put saran wrap in it and form the meatloaf and place in the fridge for two (2) hours.  Works great!

There there are a million and one meatloaf variations out there but I like to start with a 2lbs of 80/20 and add in about 3/4lb of bulk unseasoned sausage.  I use instant mashed potatoes as a binder not bread crumbs. We use 1egg and season with a mix of slat pepper onion garlic ancho and last but not least Worcestershire sauce.    

 We always bacon weave our meatloaf and cook low and slow 225/250 this gives the bacon time to render and for us to get a nice smoke flavor.  

Last but but not least we glaze it with ancho, hot honey and a little of my wife’s favorite bbq sauce.  That’s it nothing fancy comes out perfect each and every time.   

Make sure to use a drip drip pan under it, makes clean up much much easier.

This meatloaf is sitting on a pizza screen elevated in the pan.  

@RRP you won’t need to use as much as you would with breadcrumbs I would say it’s about a 1/3ish. 

ryantt said:

There there are a million and one meatloaf variations out there but I like to start with a 2lbs of 80/20 and add in about 3/4lb of bulk unseasoned sausage.  I use instant mashed potatoes as a binder not bread crumbs. We use 1egg and season with a mix of slat pepper onion garlic ancho and last but not least Worcestershire sauce.    

 We always bacon weave our meatloaf and cook low and slow 225/250 this gives the bacon time to render and for us to get a nice smoke flavor.  

Last but but not least we glaze it with ancho, hot honey and a little of my wife’s favorite bbq sauce.  That’s it nothing fancy comes out perfect each and every time.   

Make sure to use a drip drip pan under it, makes clean up much much easier.

This meatloaf is sitting on a pizza screen elevated in the pan.  

Spying the Mac and cheese on the second layer and the pans 

Almost done...  glazed since the pic - another half hour or so.

@Dobie it’s a smoke staxx pan, one of the companies that sponcers Norah Grace.  They are made locally to us in Amish country.  They are cast aluminum and are seasoned like cast iron.   They are nice but kind of expensive.   

Tyler Florence ultimate meatloaf with a tomato red peper relish.