Not-Yo-Momma's Meatloaf

Finished meatlof

A lot of people just cringe when they hear "meatloaf." Dry, flavorless, and something to avoid at all costs. I remember not wanting to eat meatloaf as a kid -- tasted like a ketchup-laden slab of dry meat, which never struck me as a huge treat. Personally, I don't think there are too many dishes that, when done properly, can't be enjoyable. So I decided to revisit meatloaf and see if I could come up with a recipe that would make it more moist, flavorful, and generally defy the preconceived notions that a lot of folks have about this dish.

I poked around the internet to find a basic meatloaf recipe to modify. Seemed pretty straight-forward, really -- very similar to putting together your own hamburger patties, except you make more of it and form it all into a loaf.

From the research I did, not many people were adding seasoning to their meatloaf. I really wanted it to be more than a bland log of meat with some peppers and onions in it. I put the basic "mandatory" ingredients into a mixing bowl and added things I thought would work well and compliment each others' flavor, then continued to tweak the recipe until it felt like the right consistency. When all was said and done, this is what I had come up with:

All put together, ready to cook

• 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
• 1/2 lb. Italian-style ground pork sausage
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced (optional)
• 1 cup   2 C. fresh bread crumbs or saltine cracker crumbs
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 1 TBS hot sauce of choice
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• 1 tsp course-ground black pepper
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 handful of dry steak/beef seasoning of choice (McCormicks, Mrs. Dash, Stubbs, whatever you like)
• 1/2 C. ketchup
• 1/2 C Barbecue sauce
• 1/4 C milk

Once that was all mixed together nicely, I formed it into a "loaf" shape using a bread pan, then slid it out into a disposable foil roasting pan. Instead of tossing this little concoction into the oven, as is the status-quo, I opted to put it into my smoker. 

Before I go on, a few optional changes:

You could just as easily put it on a grill, if you wanted -- I just thought it would add another dimension of flavor to get a light wood smoke into the meat, complimenting the BBQ sauce I used in the recipe (a honey smokehouse-type that I made myself). And if you want to avoid the barbecue/smoker angle all together, you could add a half-bottle of "Stubb's Liquid Smoke" to the meatloaf mixture, then put it in the oven.

 So, onto the smoker it went. I guesstimated that it would take around 4 hours at 240* to be done properly. I was shooting for 165* internal temperature and decided to check it once an hour. I also decided to baste the meatloaf with a light coating of BBQ sauce and the drippings in the pan twice during the cooking process to help it keep moist and absorb even more flavor.

Sure enough, as predicted, it took just shy of four hours to reach the desired 165 degree internal temp. I took the pan off the smoker and covered the top with foil for around 15 minutes. Then I transferred it to a serving platter and sliced it up.

My first go-round trying this recipe, the meatloaf was a little loose. It fell apart a bit when I went to slice it up. I changed the amount of bread crumbs from 1 cup to 2 cups -- that caused it to hold together much better. After that minor change, the recipe came out exactly the way I had hoped it would and held together just right. It was very juicy and full of flavor. This recipe totally destroyed the negative image of meatloaf I had for so many years. Tell you what, I'm definitely making this again!