Meatloaf ideas

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Here's my recipe for meatloaf I recently shared
Retro Recipe - My mom's meatloaf
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Usually when I make meatloaf, it's a half-pound of ground beef, and a quarter-pound each of pork and veal. It's a common enough blend that most of the butchers around here (except Kroger, go figure) sell "meatloaf mix" bundled up that way.
 
TastyReuben said:
Usually when I make meatloaf, it's a half-pound of ground beef, and a quarter-pound each of pork and veal. It's a common enough blend that most of the butchers around here (except Kroger, go figure) sell "meatloaf mix" bundled up that way.
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Interesting that they add veal. Here typical meatloaf mix is just beef and pork. I guess because veal is more expensive, and Dutch people are tight
 
caseydog said:
As for ideas, other than smoking the loaf, I always use a 50/50 blend of ground beef (chuck) and ground pork. I've seen a lot of recipes that use ground/bulk breakfast sausage instead of ground pork. I've never tried that. I would probably choose bulk sweet Italian sausage, myself.
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I use 1lb each, ground Beef, Veal and Sweet Italian Sausage, a big handful of homemade bread crumbs, an egg, a good slash of milk and seasonings to taste suit our table.

meatballs1.jpg


And as I mentioned earlier, most of the mix, about 2/3 of the bowl, is made into Meatballs on a tray and frozen for later use.

caseydog said:
I also free form my meatloaf, instead of using a loaf pan. On the smoker, I put it right on the grate, and put a drip pan below it. I freeform the loaf, and put it in the fridge for an hour or two to firm up.
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caseydog how long do you smoke the meatloaf for? I got that A-Maze-N Smoker expandable Tube and a 20lb. bag of Hickory Wood Pellets :bravo:

caseydog said:
Some people do a bacon wrap. I don't do that for smoked meatloaf, because the bacon layer keeps the smoke from fully penetrating the meat loaf.

Going back to the beef/Italian sausage blend, making a NYC Italian "sausage and peppers" meatloaf might be interesting. Mix the meat, and put some lightly sautéed onions and bell peppers in the mix.

If you use the right kind of meat, you don't really NEED a sauce or gravy. It won't be dry. But another idea would be to use a ground steak cut of meat, and make a traditional peppercorn sauce, like you would use for steak au poivre.

CD
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Interesting ideas dawg!
 
kaneohegirlinaz said:
I use 1lb each, ground Beef, Veal and Sweet Italian Sausage, a big handful of homemade bread crumbs, an egg, a good slash of milk and seasonings to taste suit our table.

View attachment 80120

And as I mentioned earlier, most of the mix, about 2/3 of the bowl, is made into Meatballs on a tray and frozen for later use.


caseydog how long do you smoke the meatloaf for? I got that A-Maze-N Smoker expandable Tube and a 20lb. bag of Hickory Wood Pellets :bravo:


Interesting ideas dawg!
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I use a probe thermometer, and smoke the meatloaf until it reaches an internal temperature of 160F. It takes about an hour. Ground beef takes on smoke faster than solid cuts of beef, so you can go with a higher temperature on the grill. I cook at about 300F to 350F.

CD
 
TastyReuben said:
Usually when I make meatloaf, it's a half-pound of ground beef, and a quarter-pound each of pork and veal. It's a common enough blend that most of the butchers around here (except Kroger, go figure) sell "meatloaf mix" bundled up that way.
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We call that meatball mix here.
 
DH loves meatloaf. Never make it as he is the only one who likes it.
 
KitKat said:
DH loves meatloaf. Never make it as he is the only one who likes it.
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I never make it either. I haven't eaten meatloaf since I was about 12. My mother's wasn't very good, obviously. I can't bring myself to try it now.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
Apparently your mama knew how to cook.
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My mom was never a great cook, or even a good one. She didn't have a big repertoire, but given half a chance, she could do all right with those kinds of things, like pork chops, chicken and dumplings, and meatloaf.

Her problem was that she she's chronically disorganized and always rushing to make up lost time, so she'd burn things trying to rush it along. We ate a lot of burnt food growing up.

My MIL? In her prime, I'd take her cooking over anyone else's on the planet. She was a good ol' Iowa farm girl, from a big family, so that woman was trained in the line of fire, so to speak, and could turn out the finest fried chicken, country fried steak, and pork roast I've ever had in my life, and it was always so...effortless for her.

We went down to visit them years ago, and she made my wife's favorite meal in celebration, pork and sauerkraut, and...burned it beyond saving, and I kid you not, I got a little lump in my throat, because I knew it was a further progression of her then-undiagnosed-but-fairly-obvious dementia.

She was so angry with herself. I don't think she got over it the whole time we were there.
 
TastyReuben said:
My mom was never a great cook, or even a good one. She didn't have a big repertoire, but given half a chance, she could do all right with those kinds of things, like pork chops, chicken and dumplings, and meatloaf.

Her problem was that she she's chronically disorganized and always rushing to make up lost time, so she'd burn things trying to rush it along. We ate a lot of burnt food growing up.
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That's about all I ate growing up 😧
She'd tell us kids that "charcoal is good for your teeth!"
My Mother is/was a horrible cook, which I still don't get ... she was raised by her maternal Grandmother who was the Head "Cafeteria Lady" for the entire county!
I did not learn to cook/bake/grill etc. from Mom!

TastyReuben said:
My MIL? In her prime, I'd take her cooking over anyone else's on the planet. She was a good ol' Iowa farm girl, from a big family, so that woman was trained in the line of fire, so to speak, and could turn out the finest fried chicken, country fried steak, and pork roast I've ever had in my life, and it was always so...effortless for her.

We went down to visit them years ago, and she made my wife's favorite meal in celebration, pork and sauerkraut, and...burned it beyond saving, and I kid you not, I got a little lump in my throat, because I knew it was a further progression of her then-undiagnosed-but-fairly-obvious dementia.

She was so angry with herself. I don't think she got over it the whole time we were there.
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The best way to learn I think!
 
caseydog said:
I use a probe thermometer, and smoke the meatloaf until it reaches an internal temperature of 160F. It takes about an hour. Ground beef takes on smoke faster than solid cuts of beef, so you can go with a higher temperature on the grill. I cook at about 300F to 350F.

CD
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I'm going to try this!
How much Wood Pellets would you guess-timate caseydog for a one hour smoke?
 
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kaneohegirlinaz said:
That's about all I ate growing up 😧
She'd tell us kids that "charcoal is good for your teeth!"
My Mother is/was a horrible cook, which I still don't get ... she was raised by her maternal Grandmother who was the Head "Cafeteria Lady" for the entire county!
I did not learn to cook/bake/grill etc. from Mom!


The best way to learn I think!
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I have to whole-heartedly agree. I learned to cook when I was 12 out of necessity. My older brother and I would have starved as we were the only ones still living at home by then.
 
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