first meat loaf so so

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johno

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Jan 30, 2007
126
10
texas , queensland
did my first meat loaf yesterday, not over impressed by it . found it a bit dry and could of been spicyer, the recipe was for 16 pound of meat and i was only using 4 and a bit pound so had to scale everything down , i think it was a bit to much bread crumbs and not enough fat in the meat that made it a bit dry , i rubbed it with mustard and my rib rub befor it went in , put it in at 3 pm and took it out at 6.10 pm internal was170, i had the smoker sitting on about 275 most of the time , used some bits of peach wood for the smoke . the meat i used was beef mince about 900 gram i think and pork mince about 400 gram , anyway when all mixed up with the other stuff it was just over 4 pound in your lingo .i realy thought the pork mince would of made it plenty fatty enough, the beef was very lean though.
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Sorry to hear your meatloaf was less than fantastic Johno. Like Debi said too high temp to long....shoot for closer to 225* smoker temp and pull it when it reaches 160* internal temp and maybe also try basting it half way through the smoke.
 
Looked like a good meatloaf from here Johno
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. Maybe if you put a little ketchup or some kind of steak sauce maybe it would have kicked it up a bit?


edit - great pic of the "thin blue" coming off the Weber:>)
 
thanks for the replys you guys , yes i think maybe it was a bit over done , which would of dried it out some , but i did have some ketchup in it , i rekon it needed more fat more spice less breadcrumbs and less heat ,ahh well we learn by our mistakes ( hopefully )
 
he he, just a thought...maybe you needed more BEER.......but yes, probably a tad overdone...personally I do not care for the ketchup or catsup (depending on region....) thing.....but a good amount of garlic and maybe some sausage gravy to boot........and beer....don't forget the beer......
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If I were you Johno, I make a very small meatloaf, and cook it the same way you did this one. I'd also throw on a brisket, tri-tip, or steak along w/it. Give the meatloaf to the dog and eat the brisket, tri-tip or steak. I never have eaten a meatloaf that I liked. Can only think of 2 times that I've actually HAD meatloaf.

Any beef that you have to add ketchup to is bad. If you see someone using ketchup on a steak, walk over and slap them and their mama!

Ketchup is for movies(fake blood), and that is it.

What got me on ketchup anyway? Why am I ask'n myself, I don't frigg'n know!
 
What percentage of fat to meat did you have? I only ever get the 80/20. I also slather it with ketchup towards the end. The ketchup gets a little glaze on it.
 
hey bigal , i totaly agree with you on the ketchup thing , i remember when my two boys were just kids and i would spend hours cooking some exotic dish with all the flavours and spice and stuff that adds the flavour , or even just a nice pepper steak or nice piece of fish and the kids would cover the whole lot with sauce , i allways said whats the point i could serve them old cardboard or newspaper and they could cover that with sauce all they ever tasted was sauce anyway.just thought i would try the meatloaf because so many on these forum rave about how good they are .
 
Smoked Meatloaf is really good, if its done right!
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No one should put plain ketchup on top of meatloaf--mix half ketchup, half brown sugar, and brush it on in the last 15 minutes of cooking time.

Basic Meatloaf recipe:

2 lbs. ground beef
1 c. italian bread crumbs
3 eggs
1 onion chopped
1/2 c. ketchup (or so)
1/4 c. worcestershire
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. pepper
1.5 tsp. salt

Mix it with your hands...only way to do it right!
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Like the others said--it's very important not to overcook it. Give it another try, and use hickory or mesquite next time.
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I personally think that meatloaf is one of those things best done simply...and I don't like sausage in it, but to each their own.

(In our house, I mix the meatloaf, and Jeff smokes it...we all eat it!) ...makes great sandwiches the next day.
 
abigail , just thought i would let would let you know i didnt put ketchup on the meat loaf only in it when i mixed it ( with my hands )i made up some spiced apple sauce to put on the loaf . your recipe has a lot more egg in it than the recipe i used , it only had one egg and it was 4 pounds of meat .maybe i will try another recipe when i get tired of ribs , that could be quite a while though .
 
Sorry, johno...I was referring to BigAl's post when I mentioned the plain ketchup!
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You don't have to put anything on top...and my kids like it with BBQ sauce instead of ketchup.
 
Notice the bosses wife said Italian bread crumbs? LOL

I seems we make our meatloaf pretty much the same except I use less egg and I gotta have some canjun spice - of course!

Actually I like some sort of tomato product in my meatloaf. Could be sliced/diced tomato, could be tomato gravy or it could be just ketsup and mustard.

BTW Beer goes good in meatloaf to then of course you have to try the beer first to make sure it did't get skunky or something. Then another one for the meatloaf but you don't need to use the whole bottle so you have to drink the rest and ....
 
ok i will give meatloaf another try , more spice more onion ( love onion ) more egg less breadcrubs , lower and slower cook . try it next week after i have been to the city for supplies
 
Ketchup is good for you guys, inny waze. You need to eat fresh tomatoes AND ketchup (or tomato sauces) on a regular basis.
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Debi,

I never woulda thought of putting beer in meatloaf...I'll have to give it a try.
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Abigail -

I think ketsup might be the only vegtable some of these guys eat! As far as the beer in meatloaf - I have to admit the first time I did it, it was an accident but it stays really moist!

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gals n guys ,beer in the meatloaf sounds goooooooooood ,try mixin 1 part ketchup with 1 part maple syrup for a nice glaze at the end .
 
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