First meat loaf.

Disco's using Bran Flakes, would that be considered a binder or an "un"binder?

Foamheart said:

We make meatballs called porky-pine eggs with rice in ground meat.

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Was usually one of our first night hikes meals in Boy Scouts, porky pine meatballs!! That or steak fingers! After that it was freeze dried whatever ya packed!!!!!

Dang!  Nice job on the meatloaf C Farmer!  Seeing one always makes me want to make one.  Pure comfort food!  Ketchup, BTW, is essential for life.......and meatloaf!

I use both Ritz crackers and any seasoned stuffing mix I have in the cabinet as a binder.  Pretty much my go-to binder mix on any meatloaf I make.  Run 'em in the food processed or put them in a Ziplock and smash. Boxed seasoned rice mixes work well too but only if I don't have the Ritz crackers and seasoned stuffing.   

Depending what flavor profile I'm going for I've used everything from red wine to milk to apple cider for moisture.  I just throw everything in a stand mixer, add liquid get the moisture content I want, and let it mix 10 minutes until the meat, binders, spices, onions, veggies, liquid, and everything is blended.  Dump it in a loaf pan for a small meatloaf, a 9x13 roaster for a large one (3-4 lbs of meat - what I usually make), leaving about 1/2" space around all sides.  If you leave the space around the sides there's no need to poke holes in the pan. Makes it a little taller.  Just use a stiff spatula to shape it.  Then I coat the top of the meatloaf with a mixture of tomato paste, canned diced tomatoes, and a little sugar, our standard meat loaf icing.  Pop it in the smoker or oven at 325-350 until IT is 165. Usually done in 90 minutes or a little less.

Hickory, apple, pecan, and cherry all work nicely.  Tried mesquite once because that's all I had on hand and it had a flavor that just didn't work with the Italian meatball meatloaf I was making.  I knew better but tried it anyway.  We still ate every molecule.

BTW, my wife and I will go through that 3-4 lb meatloaf in two, two and a half days because we eat sandwiches for lunch (always with ketchup) and slices for dinner. I'd never even thought about smoking one until I saw them here in SMF.  I've done 6-8 in the last six months.  Two ended up in the oven because I didn't have time in the evening to fire up the smoker, but the rest were smoked on weekends.       

How fun!!! It's great that you created such a clever pan/way to make it work!! Great job!! Cheers! - Leah

Good looking meatloaf you have there and like the smoker's attire.
I use rolled oats as well, a guy at work uses corn flakes. I like to run my veggies, peppers, onions, celery, carrots through the ninja chopper to almost liquify them, it seems to help make for a moist meatloaf. I also use eggs but I love eggs.