Two meatloaves (one pictured)

[addicted-to-smoke]

Group cook with a neighbor. Meatloaf. "Want me to cook it?" "No, we'll each do a meatloaf ..."

Only, I wanted to do two different kinds. So I made two and didn't tell her until I showed up to her house. Now we have 3 meatloaves for 6 people. Lunch for a week!

Probably could have fit them both on the 22.5" but wanted different fuels for each meatloaf. These are all the details I can remember. By the time they were on the grills the kitchen was a wreck.

I *think* everything's in this picture:



- 3lbs total of ground chuck, one got 2lbs; the other 1lb + the 1lb of sage sausage

1) pork-free meatloaf:
- 2lbs ground beef
- half jar mild chow chow
- 1 egg, water added, whipped
- 1/4 cup quick oats oatmeal
- cocoa spice rub (from a friend)

smoothed flat on cookie sheet with wax paper
- bunch of raw kale sprinkled on it
- tub of feta cheese

Pull up wax paper on end; meatloaf automatically rolls up. Deposit onto bradley rack or similar.

Cook about an hour indirect with Kingsford Hickory (or hickory smoke wood ...) , then place sautéed mushroom slices on top, drizzle some sriracha mayo on top. (I used "Lee Kum Kee" brand but these days, everyone makes some kinda "sriracha" stuff. By the way, sriracha mayo is also very interesting for shrimp cocktails instead of regular cocktail sauce.)

No pix of the finished product, sorry, my world began to spin out of control fighting a carpenter bee that wanted a kettle.


2) w/ pork meatloaf
- 1lb ground beef
- 1lb sage sausage (like Jimmy Dean sage sausage)
- half bag broccoli slaw, finely chopped in food processor
- 1/4 cup quick oats oatmeal
- 1 egg, water added, whipped
- several portabella mushroom slices, finely chopped in food processor
- 1 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped in food processor
- Herbie's all-purpose seasoning (a local concoction, found @ Ace Hardware)
- wrapped in Jamón serrano (dry-cured Spanish ham, looks like but does not taste like prosciutto)

Cook about an hour indirect with regular charcoal (I used Coshell), then drizzle with some BBQ sauce/1000 Island combo.





and ... the tomato. Forgot to use it.

[addicted-to-smoke]

Notes:

1) Don't make meatloaf on wax paper. The paper disintegrates when you remove the meat from it.
2) The one with the pork/ham was SPICY. Probably the can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.
3) The one with the kale/feta was drier, too dry, despite cooking at a lower temp for a little longer. It didn't have the benefit of the ham wrap to juice it up?
4) Quick-fry the kale in oil prior to mixing with ground beef. It was too dry.
5) Feta couldn't hardly be tasted. This is OK; I thought if anything it'd be overpowering.

Thanks to @Jaronimo, @MacEggs (for two threads in particular) and everyone else who's done meatloaf recently for the inspiration!

[1buckie]

"Probably the can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce."

^^^^ I'll eat raw habanero before I'd get into that stuff,,,,,scares the hell outta me.....

Nice looking loaf(s) ....assuming the other one was comparable & the bee didn't get to it......

If you want an EXTRA juicy meatloaf evey time, finely chop the mushrooms (regular kind work best & don't overpower taste like some types can) & put it right in the mix......also fine chop onion, sweet white is a personal favorite here......those two produce so much moisture that it can't possibly dry out.....

I learned this from standing at least five feet away from the wife & watching whilst she fixed it up....won't let me stand any closer, thinks I'll change something & goof it up.....

Totally wild mixes you got going on there......I applaud your creativity !!!

[addicted-to-smoke]

I'd used that same Embasa can of peppers 'n sauce a month ago in some other cook and it wasn't hot, but that was just the peppers and I think the sauce was discarded. Also, at that time I hadn't chopped up the peppers .... so I suppose all of that did ramp it up, as more capsaicin was released?

re: mushrooms
The one with the pork got them finely chopped but didn't for the other. I was looking for some differentiation. Overall, the goal wasn't extra juicy (I've made those before, usually with more tomato sauces infused) as much as moist.

"won't let me stand any closer, thinks I'll change something"

Gee, can't imagine why she'd think THAT.

references:
MacEggs thread, with rolled up greens: http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/bbq-food-pics/meatloaf-with-a-twist/msg89417/#msg89417

Jaromino thread, with stuffed feta etc: http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/bbq-food-pics/bbq-stuffed-meatloaf-roasted-garlic-twice-baked-potatoes!/msg31521/#msg31521

BBcue-Z thread, showing food processor chopped veggies, mushrooms/drizzled sauce on top, tomatoes

As you can see it wasn't so much creativity as it was an interest to try meatloaf in new ways and so, I COPIED. While somewhat obvious now, I just hadn't fathomed those methods previously.

[1buckie]

Here's my hat in the ring.....you can see the mushroom quotient in some of the pics.....internally, they basically disintegrate into the fluff that is your meatloaf......

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/bbq-food-pics/on-the-meatloaf-bandwagon-or-man-my-pants-are-tight/msg92381/#msg92381

[BBcue-Z]

Looks and sounds good!!
Leftover meatloaf sandwiches for lunch are the best

[WNC]

Fine looking meat loaf there!