Meatloaf help?

[daddyzaring]

I am assuming this will be one of those meats that;s cooked by temp and not time.  What temp should it reach to be completely done?  How long do they take, in general to cook?

Thank you

Jeff Z

 

[eman]

I take mine to 170 -180  it's a lil high but w/ buying commercial ground chuck i just don't want to take a chance of getting sick. If i was grinding it myself and knew where the meat came from and how it was handled id go 160 or less.

 

[bmudd14474]

Id take it to 160˚-165˚

 

[pineywoods]

160 is what they say is safe for ground meat but I usually take mine to 165 and it seems to work fine

 

[daddyzaring]

160 would done all the way through?

 

[pineywoods]

160 internal in the center is what the USDA says I do 165 so that if I'm not dead center I should still be over 160 in all of it and it has enough fat content so as to not dry out so no worries there

 

[daddyzaring]

Well I got it done okay.  Did my first smoked meatloafs tonight (sorry no qview), won't be baking another meat loaf in the oven, if I can help it.  Man that was the best dang meatloaf I ever ate.  I did a great big tube of Jimmy Dean too, saving it for breakfast over the next couple days.  Plan on slice off a little like patties, and chopping the rest for gravy to have with biscuits.  I can't wait for that. lol 

I have a feeling I am not using my thermometer correctly, or something, because it was getting late, so I pulled it off at 159, and figured I'd just finish off in the oven for 15-30 minutes.  Well after about 10-15 minutes I stuck a meat probe in, and it read a little over 200.  Si I am not sure what the deal is ther.

 

[tom37]

Glad it turned out for ya.

I often take ground beef and flatten it out on the cutting board and mix my rib rub in to the beef really good. Then scrunch it up like a giant sausage or meatloaf. It will taste nothing like the rub you are used to tasting on the ribs. The kids love it, it never makes it to the table since they gobble it up as snacks.

The thermometer shouldnt be to hard to set up. As long as you sync both units together, all you should have to do is stick the meat. Remember most all food will continue to cook after it comes off the smoker, to some extent. Just like when you wrap in a towel and place in a cooler.