Meatloaf with a kick redux

Okay, I know I posted this cook a few weeks ago, but believe it or not, it actually got better!!! First, and most important, as many of you already know, I am the proud owner of a new meat grinder! For those of you who don’t own one – do yourself a favor – BUY ONE! It is really *that* good. I cannot believe the burgers I have been cooking from the beef I have ground. Anyway, on to the meatloaf. Here are the participants



We have 2 lbs of fresh ground round and 1 lb of fresh made hot Italian sausage, some oats, eggs, onion, red pepper, green pepper, double secret steak rub, pepper jack, cheddar, onion soup mix, and sadly… the last brandy eggnog of the season. Dice the onion and peppers and cut the cheese into small cubes. Mix it all together in a bowl. I don’t have shots of this as it is pretty much the same as the last post. One change for this time was to make the loaf flatter and wider. That gives more room for the sauce and smoke to penetrate. Put the loaf on the Memphis at 285 until IT of 110. Then get started on the sauce – the characters..



Two kinds of BBQ sauce from the store, brown sugar, lemon and molasses. Then at IT of 130 slather on the first layer of sauce. Sauce again at 140 and then 150. Pull at 160 and tent for a rest



I served it up with left over taters from the night before – ooo la la, momma was happy tonight!!



So the big difference was fresh meat – NEVER again will I buy ground *anything* in the store! Also, the flatter, wider loaf was another upgrade. All in all, improved on a recipe that I thought was awesome the first time!!

That looks good

That looks yummy! Great photo's.

Smokinman88 said:

That looks yummy! Great photo's.

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Thanks Chris!

Yummmmm!!!!!!

Good looking meat loaf!

Nice looking meat loaf. The only thing I see missing there is a little grated carrot. Fresh ground meat makes all the difference. Once you try a medium rare fresh ground burger you can never go back!

RickB said:

Nice looking meat loaf. The only thing I see missing there is a little grated carrot. Fresh ground meat makes all the difference. Once you try a medium rare fresh ground burger you can never go back!

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Amen to that Rick! I actually got the idea from an episode of America's Test Kitchen - they did a taste test and *everyone* chose the fresh ground beef hands down. So I said to myself "self, you need to look into this". The more I researched and found out about that stuff in the store, the more interested I became. Then I made some and ate it and I am hooked for life!

Kite said:

Amen to that Rick! I actually got the idea from an episode of America's Test Kitchen - they did a taste test and *everyone* chose the fresh ground beef hands down. So I said to myself "self, you need to look into this". The more I researched and found out about that stuff in the store, the more interested I became. Then I made some and ate it and I am hooked for life!

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I think I missed the post. What meat grinder are you using?

Pappy - it is part of my Vacuum Sealer thread - I bought a LEM #22. I was a bit concerned when I bought it because it does not have a reverse.. but this thing is a BEAST and I seriously doubt I will ever need a reverse. If you look at the pic I posted yesterday of the roll around cart you will see it on the second shelf. The cart is intended to be a mobile meat packaging station - the sealer bags are on the bottom shelf. And not to worry - I will have the hickory endgrain cutting board on very soon - it is in glue up right now.

Kite said:

Pappy - it is part of my Vacuum Sealer thread - I bought a LEM #22. I was a bit concerned when I bought it because it does not have a reverse.. but this thing is a BEAST and I seriously doubt I will ever need a reverse. If you look at the pic I posted yesterday of the roll around cart you will see it on the second shelf. The cart is intended to be a mobile meat packaging station - the sealer bags are on the bottom shelf. And not to worry - I will have the hickory endgrain cutting board on very soon - it is in glue up right now.

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Thank you sir. Looking forward to seeing your new cutting board!

I bought a meat grinder for my Kitchen aid mixer over the holidays.. Haven't used it yet but you have given me inspiration to get some use out of it.

51Phantom said:

I bought a meat grinder for my Kitchen aid mixer over the holidays.. Haven't used it yet but you have given me inspiration to get some use out of it.

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I have this as well. Saw recently that some people use a ziplock bag with a hole in it as a shield as you do end up wearing on your shirt some of what you grind. I haven't tried it yet, but it makes sense to me.

Thanks for the tip!