How do you make meat loaf?

[dbt1949]

I know it involves hamburger and breadcrumbs but that's the extent of my knowledge.

[Kraken]

There are hundreds of variations. I use oatmeal instead of breadcrumbs, for example. Sometimes I mix ground pork with ground beef. Other ingredients include diced onion (or dried minced), red bell pepper (optional), horseradish, mustard, ketchup (both mixed in and spread on top), Worcestershire sauce, garlic or garlic powder, half a cup of beer, an egg...hmm, I think that about covers it. Google some recipes to get the proportions.

[Freyland]

I would add that the ketchup topping is nice as a mixture of ketchup, brown sugar and a couple of tablespoons of yellow mustard.

[hentzau]

I would add that the ketchup topping is nice as a mixture of ketchup, brown sugar and a couple of tablespoons of yellow mustard.

And honey. Helps to give you that nice solid texture of the topping.

[LordMortis]

Heh, I also like to mix in ground pork.

But yeah, Worstershire, diced (and finely, like 1/4" cubes or smaller, no big slimey chunks) onions, egg, (and I was surprised to find out), ketchup, and quite frankly bread crumbs are optional, though I use them because I want my meatloaf to be like giant meatball. I might also season with, garlic, salt, "Italian seasoning", basil, and oregano.

[Smoove_B]

I use a slightly modified version of the Good Eats / Alton Brown recipe. I'll try to dig it out and copy it here. I have it more or less memorized, but I want to verify.

EDIT: Here is Alton's recipe. It's really, really good. I think my biggest variation is on some of the spices and I either use ground turkey or a meatball ground mix, not ground sirloin. No carrots or bell peppers. Glaze uses BBQ sauce, not Worcestershire, mostly because I never have it. But yeah, a honey/ketchup/Frank's Hot Sauce/BBQ sauce glazing.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

From memory so may not be quite right:
1 lb ground beef
1 cup oats
chopped onion (optional)
1 cup ketchup
1 egg
couple of dashes of Worcestershire sauce

Combine everything and mix it well. Shape into a loaf or emoji. Top with ketchup. Bake for 35 - 45 minutes at 350.

[Fretmute]

I sous vide damn near everything now, but I think meatloaf is one of the things I would never attempt it on.

[gilraen]

My meatloaf recipe is pretty close to this one: https://www.thewholesomedish.com/the-be ... -meatloaf/
Except I usually skip the diced onions, or use minced onion flakes, because I don't like the onion crunch.

[Max Peck]

I use this Jamie Oliver recipe, although I usually skip the bacon and tomato sauce. I also use the same recipe for making hamburger patties.

[Kraken]

My burger patty recipe is basically the same as my meat loaf minus the egg and liquids.

[Jeff V]

My burger patty recipe is basically the same as my meat loaf minus the egg and liquids.

That makes all the difference in the world. I like burgers just fine, but growing up, meatloaf was one of my mom's favorite things to make and boy did it suck.

I do not add fillers like bread crumbs into burgers though.

[Kraken]

My burger patty recipe is basically the same as my meat loaf minus the egg and liquids.

That makes all the difference in the world. I like burgers just fine, but growing up, meatloaf was one of my mom's favorite things to make and boy did it suck.

I do not add fillers like bread crumbs into burgers though.

Oatmeal (rolled oats) binds the grease and makes them juicier while contributing a slight chewiness that I really like. Don't knock it until you've tried it.

[pr0ner]

I sous vide damn near everything now, but I think meatloaf is one of the things I would never attempt it on.

I'm not even sure how the logistics of trying to sous vide meatloaf would work.

[Fretmute]

I sous vide damn near everything now, but I think meatloaf is one of the things I would never attempt it on.

I'm not even sure how the logistics of trying to sous vide meatloaf would work.

Well, the logistics are pretty much always the same. I'm just daunted by the "make it look appetizing" step.

[Captain Caveman]

From memory so may not be quite right:
1 lb ground beef
1 cup oats
chopped onion (optional)
1 cup ketchup
1 egg
couple of dashes of Worcestershire sauce

Combine everything and mix it well. Shape into a loaf or emoji. Top with ketchup. Bake for 35 - 45 minutes at 350.

You didn't even cite mom, you shameless plagiarist.

[tgb]

I assumed at dbt's age your meat was always loafing.

[dbt1949]

Hmmm, more to it than I thought. I'll definitely be making it based on some of your ideas.

Thanks!

[dbt1949]

I assumed at dbt's age your meat was always loafing.

That took longer than I thought. You just get out of bed?

[tgb]

Busy working.

[gameoverman]

Meatloaf, like mac and cheese, is one of those standard American dishes that we never had in my family for some reason. We certainly had ground beef, made in any number of ways, but no meatloaf. It would pop up in the school lunches occasionally and each time I'd look at it and think "WTF?". Just thought I'd share that.

[Madmarcus]

None of you guys use chili sause on the top? Much better than catsup.

[Z-Corn]

I use a slightly modified version of the Good Eats / Alton Brown recipe. I'll try to dig it out and copy it here. I have it more or less memorized, but I want to verify.

EDIT: Here is Alton's recipe. It's really, really good. I think my biggest variation is on some of the spices and I either use ground turkey or a meatball ground mix, not ground sirloin. No carrots or bell peppers. Glaze uses BBQ sauce, not Worcestershire, mostly because I never have it. But yeah, a honey/ketchup/Frank's Hot Sauce/BBQ sauce glazing.

I use Alton's recipe as well, exactly as written. I think the carrot and red bell pepper give it a nice moistness without getting too juicy.

[Daehawk]

I make meatloaf about once a month or there bouts. Its wonderful. Mine is simple, easy to make, cheap, and doesn't have that yucky super sweet ketchup topping. nasty.

2 lbs 80/20 ground chuck
1 onion soup mix packet
1 small sweet onion chopped
2 eggs
8-12 saltine crackers - crushed fine
2 tblsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 pack shredded cheese mix of your choice

OPTIONAL
1/2 cup milk
1 can condensed mushroom soup

I do not use the option but perhaps once every 5 times. Changes it up a bit.

Preheat oven to 360 degrees and cook for 80 minutes.

PLZ do NOT overmix the loaf. Gently fold over and over and run fingers through a few times. If you overmix it it will be very dense and hard to eat. Mix it together and add to your cooking dish in loaf shaped form. Bake as above.

One extra step I take personally that makes a big difference is take the chopped onion and saute it in butter for a few minutes before adding and mixing it into the rest.

[Isgrimnur]

Age it eighteen years and tell it to get a job.

[mori]

Some options that I have tried with success:
I like ground pork in mine (my market mix is 33% hamburger, 33% ground pork, 33% ground chuck)
Use Cheez-Its instead of breadcrumbs
I cook the diced onion before adding it to the meat mixture so I do not have raw onion texture and flavor in the finish. Plus the loaf stays together better while slicing.
Worcestershire Sauce I think is mandatory for something containing this much meat and little else. Need some fish squeezings in there.
Since I am that kind of guy, I put crushed red pepper and hot sauce in mine.

[Kasey Chang]

Would you do Asian meatloaf? It's steamed pork, basically.

https://thehakkacookbook.com/tag/steamed-meatloaf/

Once the meat's prepared (marinated) you can leave it in the fridge for when it's time to be steamed. Then basically bring out the steamer insert of your rice cooker (or improvise with an inverted bowl or such) and cook rice. Both will be ready together.

Or you can improvise a steamer with a wok pretty easily with an inverted dish as the "holder"

[Smoove_B]

Or you could cook it in your dishwasher, like Fret apparently does.

[Z-Corn]

Freakin' Vincent Price over there...

[MHS]

Badly.

[em2nought]

Why eat meatloaf when you can have "Shipwreck" instead https://www.5dollardinners.com/shipwrec ... ge-recipe/

[dbt1949]

Well, I fixed me some today. Too many onions and need to cook it 5 minutes longer and it would have been perfect!

[Fretmute]

Or you could cook it in your dishwasher, like Fret apparently does.

Well, I'm single, so I only have the one plate. It makes sense to do it all at once.

[Smoove_B]

It took Bruce Lee decades to come up with Jeet Kune Do and the philosophy behind "economy of motion". You're way ahead of curve!

[RuperT]

Let me sleep on it...

[ImLawBoy]

I need to know right now.

[chefofyourlife]

Spam...it's what the cool spammed are eating

[Kasey Chang]

Is it me or does that feel like spam? (the last message, necro'ed this topic)

[TheMix]

Is it me or does that feel like spam? (the last message, necro'ed this topic)

Considering that the "poster" created an account just to post the same exact thing in two different threads, I don't think there is any doubt.

Edit: Well, not exactly the same post. But same picture, and (I assume) same link.

[hentzau]

Thanks Kasey. Now I want to try and make Spam meatloaf.