Smoked Meatloaf


 
B

Barry LaZar

TVWBB Member
The weather forecast for Maryland today was mild and sunny. So, I decided to smoke a meatloaf as I needed something to eat and something to do. I had found a recipe that looked really simple, simpler than the one I had used before. The source was Recipe4Living and it's listed as Mom's Meatloaf. The recipe is:

2 lb 85% fat hamburger
1 C oatmeal
1 pkg Lipton onion soup
2 eggs
1 small jar salsa
salt and pepper to taste.

This recipe called to have the meatloaf cooked in an oven at 400 degrees for about an hour.

I used 2 lb 80/20 ground beef as that was all that was available this afternoon and a 16 oz jar of chunky salsa. I glazed the meatloaf with Sweet Baby Ray's at 145 degrees. I cooked the meatloaf in my OTP for 2 1/2 hours at 260-300 degrees using one peach chunk and some apple chips.

In general, it looked fabulous, smelled great, and stayed together. However, I don't think I would use salt again if I use chunky salsa again. I liked the taste, but there was definitely more salt than needed. I also over smoked it a bit. Now having said all that, I will do it again because it was too easy not to and the flavor was certainly there. I froze what I didn't eat tonight so that I'd have something when I was too tired to at a later time, meaning I really did like it.
 
How was the texture ? I've found that the meatloaf and ground meats I've cooked around 225-250, have turned out rubbery. Bumping the temp to 350 solved the problem.
 
Welton F. said:
How was the texture ? I've found that the meatloaf and ground meats I've cooked around 225-250, have turned out rubbery. Bumping the temp to 350 solved the problem.
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It wasn't bad. The temperature bounced around, but I guess the average was about 280.
 
Yeh ground meat takes on smoke like nothing else and maybe the next time use a bacon weave around the loaf.
 
I've done several smoked meatloaves so far, so I'll share what I liked/didn't like. I'm not going to act like the below ideas are mine, I got the ideas from sites like this one.

Form the meatloaf in a meatloaf pan, then place it on an upside down cupcake pan so the meatloaf isn't sitting in it's own fat while cooking. Just make sure it's a pan you can dedicate to smoking becasue it will get nastified afterwards.
I cut the ground beef with ground italian sausage, nice flavor.
Sometimes I'll pack the middle with a bunch of sliced cheddar cheese, I like the "cheddar core"
Mess around with your seasonings, see what you like/don't like.
I throw in big chunks of onion & green pepper. That makes it hard to form, but tastes good & presents well when cut up.
I glaze with bbq sauce last 20-30 minutes.
Bacon weave, no offense to those who like them. I've tried them a few times, presentation is nice, but the bacon is anything but crispy due to the lower temps in the smoker. I'm going to try it 1 more time on my new performer at higher temps. However, if it doesn't crisp up, I think I'll call it quits on wrapping my meatloaves with bacon. Besides the meatloaf is great without it.
I like to use sliced meatloaf as a sandwich for leftovers.
 
Tim--- cook your bacon a bit in the microwave leaving it limber. This will give it a head start to crispness. A higher temp helps also......
 
After you pull it off the smoker, try topping it with either some cheddar cheese or pepper jack. The temp of the meat will melt the cheese by itself
 
I put the mixture in a loaf pan lined with parchment paper and put it in the refrigerator for at least an hour. When the smoker is ready I invert the pan and put the loaf directly on the grate. And then remove the parchment paper. The loaf will hold its' shape during the cook.
 
In general, it looked fabulous, smelled great, and stayed together. However, I don't think I would use salt again if I use chunky salsa again. I liked the taste, but there was definitely more salt than needed. I also over smoked it a bit. Now having said all that, I will do it again because it was too easy not to and the flavor was certainly there. I froze what I didn't eat tonight so that I'd have something when I was too tired to at a later time, meaning I really did like it.[/QUOTE]

Barry, I think you may find the majority of the salt was in the onion soup mix. They tend to carry a fairly high percentage of salt. Salt also acts as a binder making the meat congeal which of course helps it stay together if it's not in a pan.

I've had great success with bacon weaves done on the kettle at higher temps. I just use a regular cut of bacon, not the thicker varieties and no pre cooking. You could easily smoke a meat loaf indirect on a kettle too. That may give you the flavor you are looking for just not quite as strong.
 
Gary S said:
In general, it looked fabulous, smelled great, and stayed together. However, I don't think I would use salt again if I use chunky salsa again. I liked the taste, but there was definitely more salt than needed. I also over smoked it a bit. Now having said all that, I will do it again because it was too easy not to and the flavor was certainly there. I froze what I didn't eat tonight so that I'd have something when I was too tired to at a later time, meaning I really did like it.
Click to expand...

Barry, I think you may find the majority of the salt was in the onion soup mix. They tend to carry a fairly high percentage of salt. Salt also acts as a binder making the meat congeal which of course helps it stay together if it's not in a pan.

I've had great success with bacon weaves done on the kettle at higher temps. I just use a regular cut of bacon, not the thicker varieties and no pre cooking. You could easily smoke a meat loaf indirect on a kettle too. That may give you the flavor you are looking for just not quite as strong.[/QUOTE]



I put the salt in as every recipe Ive ever seen said put a little in, so I did. I hadn't thought that the soup mix was was the source. It does make sense. However, I don't know what to use as a substitute. It adds both onion and beef flavors. I guess a little onion powder and beef bullion concentrate might work.
 
We make meatloaf and use salsa most of the time. I really like it because I can kick it up depending on the heat range of the salsa. If you want to use the onion soup mix go ahead just don't add more salt or use less than a full package of the mix depending on how much meat you are putting in it. You could also simply add diced cooking onion for more of the onion flavor although I would probably saute it first. Marjoram is also an excellent herb to mix with onion.
The beef bullion or chicken for that matter also contains a fair bit of salt.
Another little trick I do is put the oatmeal in my magic bullet and turn it into fine powder. That way you don't see the large flakes and it tightens up the mixture better.
 
Gary S said:
We make meatloaf and use salsa most of the time. I really like it because I can kick it up depending on the heat range of the salsa. If you want to use the onion soup mix go ahead just don't add more salt or use less than a full package of the mix depending on how much meat you are putting in it. You could also simply add diced cooking onion for more of the onion flavor although I would probably saute it first. Marjoram is also an excellent herb to mix with onion.
The beef bullion or chicken for that matter also contains a fair bit of salt.
Another little trick I do is put the oatmeal in my magic bullet and turn it into fine powder. That way you don't see the large flakes and it tightens up the mixture better.
Click to expand...


Great points and suggestions. I'll give them a go when the weather improves a bit and I run out of previous experiments. Thanks.
 
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