Meatloaf

I made mini meat loaves last night and wanted to see what meat you all use...I bought from the butcher a ground sirloin but i do not know that fat content. What do you all use? I like a nice crispy crust all over the little loaves.
My ingredients were chopped onion, worstechire sauce, ketchup, salt pepper, an egg and glazed the top of each with a little heinz organic ketchup.
And cut small fingerling potatoes in half and roasted along side the meat...nice flavor

I like a mixture of ground turkey and regular ground beef..plus dry stuffing mix for the filler.

I don't like turkey...I have tried just the white meat and than a combo and I just figure go all out and do the meat...it does taste good.

I use 80-85 percent lean ground beef (usually chuck) and an equal amount of ground pork. I mix in grated onion, crushed garlic, pepper, Worchestershire sauce, Pickapeppa sauce, an egg and bread crumbs. If needed for moisture I'll add a bit of water or milk.

does the pork change the flavor?? Do you use it for its fat content?

My local Market, Nob Hill Foods in San Jose sells a meatloaf mix already packaged neatly in 1/3 pork, 1/3 beef, 1/3 veal......... great stuff and sells for $1.99 Lbs.

Meatloaf is one of my favorite all-time things to make at home.

I use ground round and ground chuck (always trying to cut a bit of the fat)

I've had good success with ground turkey, alhough the texture is quite a bit looser. Healthier, though, I think.

I like oatmeal or crushed crackers for the filler.

One of the best loaves I made, though, included about 2 pounds of ground round, plus a pound of bulk country pork sausage.

quote:

Originally posted by shen

does the pork change the flavor?? Do you use it for its fat content?

Yes, the pork adds flavor, and no, I do not use pork for its fat content.

I use whatever is on sale for the week.. Always comes out tasty! But I add Italian bread crumbs to my mix.. some have suggested adding sausage to the meat mix... Maybe someday... But why fix something thats not broken?

Ohhh.. And finely chopped green pepper and garlic also goes into my mix..

I found a turkey meat loaf recipe that has replaced the beef one I used to use. It is a new favorite at my house. Great fresh and as leftovers.

80% ground chuck and fresh garlic, onion and bell pepper, fresh eggs, tomato sauce or tomato juice, salt, pepper, and oats. And a squiggle of ketchup on top of the loaf.

That's the way my Mom made it, and that's the way I want it, no ups, no extras. The smell of it cooking and wafting through the house brings a great childhood all back to me.

quote:

Originally posted by tsores

I found a turkey meat loaf recipe that has replaced the beef one I used to use. It is a new favorite at my house. Great fresh and as leftovers.

Until yesterday I'd never tasted any ground turkey product. I cooked up some Italian sausage yesterday that was made of turkey. I found the texture disgusting, and I tossed it out.

I did not use a filler like bread crumbs and I did notice it fell apart rather easily...is that why?
And I glazed the top with ketchup...YUM!
I am through with all turkey products...give me the real things.

I haven't been able to face meatloaf since that night with Brad and Janet at Dr. Frank N. Furter's place.

I use a mix of ground beef and hot italian sausage, peppers onions, worcheshire sauce, A1, eggs, for the binder... what evers handy, crushed croutons, crumbled ritz crackers, corn flakes, toasted white bread... I don't use a "loaf" pan, but instead make a mound in the center of a large casserole dish, surround with cubed or sliced potatoes (soaks up excess flavoring juices) brush a glaze of ketchup, barBq sauce and mustard over the top. as a variation I stuff the middle of the loaf with cheddar cheese..

For moisture I add about 1 cup of cottage cheese.

I personally prefer a high fat content of beef along with a breakfast sausage mix. I use a spice mix for meatloaf that is sold by the local grocer along with lots of onions, garlic, tomato paste, filler, eggs and whatever.

I put some additional tomato paste on top and bake until it is crispy on top.

I think the sausage adds a lot to the flavor as well as mega amounts of onions.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

so is mine falling apart because i dont use a filler? What do you all think is the best filler...crackers, breadcrumbs, homemade bread crumbs??? let me know!

I have used crumbled crackers and homemade breadcrumbs and they both work very well. I have never used store bought breadcrumbs, but i feel like they are so finely crumbled you might what to just make them yourself witht some stale bread and run them through a blender or food processor.

Shen---i dont use filler often---and i was wonderinging---do you use eggs?---that should bind it well.

Yes. Think what happens to a big huge, thick hamburger patty on the grill or in the pan. I use oats as an extender/filler. Bread is to slimy feeling for me.

EDIT: This was in answer to Shen's question.

I did use an egg...and in the ground sirloin i added chopped onion, worstechire, ketchup, salt, pepper.

I made "mini loaves" and each one browned and crunched up nicely. But they fell apart easily when we ate them. I also used onion that prob could have been chopped smaller.

How much filler do I add???

80/20 ground beef, an egg, onion and garlic powder and a cup or two of ground tortilla chips. Mix then roll out on plastic wrap, layer with shredded cheese and dollops of your favorite salsa. Roll up jellyroll style and seal well.
Take a piece of aluminum foil and fold into a rectangle slightly larger than the loaf. Set up your weber grill with about twenty coals on either side, place a drip pan in the center. Mount your loaf on the foil and place carefully in the center of the grill. Cover. Usually takes about 45 min to an hour, and you can remove the foil after about 30 minutes (carefully).
Came up with this in response to my SO informing me that you can't grill a meatloaf. Great flavor, usually even comes out with a genuine bbq style smoke ring.

Vayo con Queso

I add 3/4 cup of oats to 1.5 pounds of ground beef.

do the oats change the flavor?? What do you all think is best..breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs. We are having mini loaves again on sunday night...people in my apt are looking forward!

Well yes, they ad an.... oatier flavor whereas the crumbs add a crumbier flavor. Try this: make a full batch up until the addition of the extender. Divide that into thirds and add the 3 dry ingredients to their own 1/3 of a batch. To ID them make a ketchup O, B, or C on the top.

Then you can make up your mind right then and there.

I'm going to use dreamzpainter's suggestion of mounding the loaf in a casserole dish and surrounding with potatoes. Clever.

good idea about trying the different fillers. I took baby fingerling potatoes and placed them in the pan next to the mini loaves..they got all crunchy and tasty from the fat dripping off the loaves.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

quote:

Originally posted by tsores

I found a turkey meat loaf recipe that has replaced the beef one I used to use. It is a new favorite at my house. Great fresh and as leftovers.

Until yesterday I'd never tasted any ground turkey product. I cooked up some Italian sausage yesterday that was made of turkey. I found the texture disgusting, and I tossed it out.

My future DIL is a vegan? who will only eat poultry. Meals at my sons are interesting adventures to say the least (we do grill/Q with red meats and pork) with enough seasoning/spices ground turkey can be very tasty.. cracking meatloaf... try turning down the heat, every oven is slightly differentas for eggs/filler I use a cupNhalf of filler and 2eggs with aprox 2lbs meat but as with most recipes nothing is set in stone and varies with the "feel" of the mixture.

quote:

Originally posted by dreamzpainter

I use a mix of ground beef and hot italian sausage, peppers onions, worcheshire sauce, A1, eggs, for the binder... what evers handy, crushed croutons, crumbled ritz crackers, corn flakes, toasted white bread... I don't use a "loaf" pan, but instead make a mound in the center of a large casserole dish, surround with cubed or sliced potatoes (soaks up excess flavoring juices) brush a glaze of ketchup, barBq sauce and mustard over the top. as a variation I stuff the middle of the loaf with cheddar cheese..

Wow, some excellent ideas here. I will use whatever is handy in my meatloaf mix. I've ground up pretzels and potato chips at times. I also will put a hard boiled egg in the middle of the loaf sometimes. I really like the casserole dish with the potatoes around it!