An Introduction to Meatloaf
Meatloaf is a pretty basic dish to make. You take some ground meat, mix it with some ingredients like spices, seasonings and some sort of stabilizing grain, then toss it in either the oven or a smoker. While the two main ways to cook meatloaf are baking or smoking it, we prefer smoking if only to impart those specific flavors you can only really give a smoked dish. Smoking your meatloaf also means you free up your oven for side dishes to go with the meatloaf.
A Step-By-Step Recipe for Smoked Meatloaf
Meatloaf is such a basic culinary concept that it can offers a lot of creativity. It is with this creativity in mind that we present several different approaches to making your own signature meatloaf with smoked meat. Even if none of these recipes calls to you, you should find more than enough inspiration for your own approach to meatloaf.
Basic Smoked Meatloaf
Ingredients
- Beef, ground, lean, 2 lbs
- Onion, 1, minced
- Pepper, red, 1, minced
- Cloves, garlic, 3, minced
- Egg, 1, slightly beaten
- Your favorite BBQ sauce, 2/3 cup (divided)
- Bread crumbs, 1/2 cup
- Salt, 1 tsp
- Pepper, black, 1/2 tsp
- Pepper, cayenne, 1/4 tsp
- Your favorite BBQ rub, 3 tbsp
Directions
- Use a large bowl to store all of the ingredients with the exception of the BBQ sauce and the rub;only use 1/3 of the BBQ sauce at this time. You will not be using the rub at all in this step.
- Knead the meat with your hands until everything is in a well-combined mix.
- Shape the meat into a log or loaf and give it a sprinkle of BBQ rub.
- Start your smoker and bring it up to 250°F. While you can use whatever type of wood you like, we favor hickory.
- Go ahead and put the meatloaf into the smoker once it reaches 250°F.
- After smoking for two hours, brush the meatloaf with your leftover BBQ sauce.
- The meatloaf is done once it reaches an internal temperature of 160°F.
Basic Smoked Meatloaf
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Beef, ground, lean
- 1 Minced onion
- 1 Minced red pepper
- 3 Minced garlic cloves
- 1 Slightly beaten egg
- 2/3 cup Your favorite BBQ sauce
- 1/2 cup Bread crumbs
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp Black pepper
- 1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
- 3 tbsp Your favorite BBQ rub
Instructions
-
Use a large bowl to store all of the ingredients with the exception of the BBQ sauce and the rub;only use 1/3 of the BBQ sauce at this time. You will not be using the rub at all in this step.
-
Knead the meat with your hands until everything is in a well-combined mix.
-
Shape the meat into a log or loaf and give it a sprinkle of BBQ rub.
-
Start your smoker and bring it up to 250°F. While you can use whatever type of wood you like, we favor hickory.
-
Go ahead and put the meatloaf into the smoker once it reaches 250°F.
-
After smoking for two hours, brush the meatloaf with your leftover BBQ sauce.
-
The meatloaf is done once it reaches an internal temperature of 160°F.
Nutrition
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Jacked Meatloaf
Ingredients for the Loaf
- Beef, ground, 2 lbs
- Bread crumbs, panko, 1/2 cup
- Onion, red, medium, 1/2, grated
- Cloves, garlic, 2, minced
- Eggs, 2, lightly beaten
- Worcestershire sauce, 1 tbsp
- Whiskey, Jack Daniels, 2 tbsp
- Your favorite steak rub, 1 tbsp
- Milk, 1/4 cup
- Cheese, pepper jack, 6 oz, cut into strips
Ingredients for the Sauce
- Ketchup, 1/2 cup
- Sugar, brown
- Whiskey, Jack Daniels, 1/4 cup
- Your favorite steak rub, 1 tbsp
- Pepper, red, flakes, 2 tsp, crushed
Directions
- Preheat the smoker for indirect smoking at 225°F. Use either hickory or oak.
- Gently combine all of the meatloaf ingredients but the cheese with your hands. Overworking the meat will yield a tough, chewy brick.
- Spread half the meatloaf mix along the bottom of a grill basket, cover it with cheese, leaving 1" of space for the meatloaf uncovered along each side. Cover with the other meatloaf half and press the halves together to seal in the cheese.
- Combine the sauce ingredients and pour the mixture over the loaf, letting it trickle down the sides.
- Insert the meatloaf into your smoker, shut the lid and leave it for either 4 hours or the point it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Give the loaf a few minutes to rest and settle before slicing and plating.
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Easy Smoked Meatloaf
Ingredients
- Beef, chuck, ground, 1.25 lbs
- Turkey, ground, 1.25 lbs
- Pork, ground, 1 lb
- Peppers, bell, red, 2, roasted
- Bread crumbs, fresh, 3/4 cup
- Onion, 1/3 cup, finely chopped
- Cloves, garlic, fresh, 4, minced
- Eggs, 2, beaten
- Oregano, dried, 1 tbsp
- Salt, kosher, 1 tsp
- Pepper, black, 1/2 tsp
- Your favorite BBQ sauce, 1.5 cups
Directions
- Use a large bowl to combine all of your ingredients with the exception of the BBQ sauce, you only need to add 1/2 a cup for now. Mix everything until you have a thorough, even mixture.
- Line a small baking sheet with aluminum foil or a foil pan. Fill the foil pan with your meatloaf mix and set it aside to start your smoker.
- Prep your smoker by setting it to 225°F. With this particular recipe, you should consider using a fruity hardwood like apple or cherry.
- Pour the remaining cup of BBQ sauce over the top of the meatloaf.
- Place your meatloaf pan directly onto the rack of your indirect heat source and allow it to smoke 3-4 hours, just long enough for the core of the meatloaf to hit 165°F.
- Take the meatloaf out of the smoker and give it a few minutes to cool within the pan.
- Remove the meatloaf from the pan. Break out a sharp knife, ideally a serrated one, slice the loaf and serve post-haste.
Note: If you have any leftovers, feel free to freeze it. Just wrap your sliced or whole meatloaf remnants in freezer butcher paper or some plastic wrap and then put the wrapped meat within a freezer bag.
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Smoked Meatloaf with Apple-BBQ Glaze
Ingredients
- Beef, ground, 2 lbs
- Sausage, ground, 1/4 lb
- Bread crumbs, 1 cup
- Milk, 1 cup
- Onion, chopped 2 tbsp
- Sage, ground, 1/2 tsp
- Salt, 2 tsp
- Eggs, 2, beaten
- Your favorite BBQ sauce, 1 cup
- Juice, apple, 1/2 cup
Directions
- Once you are ready to begin cooking, preheat your smoker to 225℉ and leave the lid closed for 15 minutes.
- Combine your breadcrumbs, milk, onion, sage, salt, eggs and ground meat until you have a thorough mixture.
- Shape your mixture into a loaf, packing it tightly.
- Lay your meatloaf directly onto the grate of your grill and allow it to cook 2 hours or until such point that its internal temperature rises to 160℉.
- In the last 20 minutes of cooking, mix the BBQ sauce and apple juice and use this mixture to glaze the meat.
- Give the meatloaf between 5 and 10 minutes before cutting into it.
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Freeform Cheesy BBQ Smoked Meatloaf
Ingredients
- Meat, ground, 2 lbs (use whichever ground meat or combination of ground meats you feel like using)
- Your favorite BBQ bean seasoning, 2 cups
- Bread crumbs, panko, 1 cup
- Egg, 1
- Onion, 1/2 cup, minced
- Cheese, Parmesan, grated, 1/2 cup
- Cheese, mozzarella, diced, 1/2 cup
- Your favorite beef BBQ rub
Directions
- Preheat your smoker to 250℉.
- Combine the ground meat, bread crumbs, egg, onion, cheeses and 1 cup of the BBQ bean seasoning into a large bowl and give it a thorough mixing with your hands.
- Transfer the mass to a work surface and shape it into a load.
- Season the mass with as much of your beef rub as you like.
- Place the meatloaf on the second shelf of your smoker and cook it for 45 minutes, just until it hits a core temperature of 100ºF.
- Raise the temperature up to 350ºF and glaze it with the remaining amount of BBQ bean seasoning.
- Cook until the meatloaf reaches a core temperature of 160ºF.
- Remove the meat from the grill. Give it a few minutes to settle.
- Slice and serve.
Download This Recipe
Save this recipe in your Cave Tools BBQ app or download other recipes from the community recipes exchange!
In Conclusion
As you can see, there really is not that much to making a quality meatloaf in the smoker. Find a type of ground meat you like, add as many flavors, spices and herbs as your like, grab some sort of stabilizer like bread crumbs or even crackers, mix it all together and smoke it for a few hours. Meatloaf is simple to make, easy to smoke and delicious to eat. Try one of these recipes or use them as inspiration to do your own thing.
The post Smoked Meatloaf – Quick Recipe At Home appeared first on Grill Master University.
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