Old Fashion Meatloaf Recipe?

[crazelion]

Here is the recipe from Cook's Country, part of the America's Test Kitchen group. ATK's cooks will make dozens of variations of meatloaf until they come up with one that tastes great and is foolproof. Notice that it is a freeform meatloaf. Meatloaf pans hold the grease and juices, making your meatloaf soggy, plus only the top can brown since it is the only part that is exposed. Do yourself a favor and save the pan for breads.

Glazed Meatloaf

Over the years, meatloaves have been dressed up and down every which way. Our goal was to make meat loaf special again. Here’s what we discovered:

Test Kitchen Discoveries

Cutting ground beef with an equal portion of sweet ground pork balances the beefy flavor. We flavored the loaf with traditional seasonings: salt, pepper, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, parsley, sautéed onion, and garlic.

To add moisture and structure, we used a panade of milk and saltines (rather than bread), which provided a mild saltiness. Two whole eggs, plus an extra yolk for added richness, proved the perfect binder to hold the loaf together.

Combining the panade in a food processor and then pulsing it with the meat gave the loaf the most cohesive, tender structure.

To evaporate the surface moisture that was inhibiting the formation of a crust, we broiled the meat loaf prior to baking and glazing with brown sugar and ketchup. This worked beautifully, and the browned crust gave the glaze—applied twice for extra effect—something to hang onto.


Glazed Meatloaf

Both ground sirloin and ground chuck work well here, but avoid ground round—it is gristly and bland.

Serves 6 to 8

Glaze

1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

Meatloaf

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 onion , chopped fine
2 garlic cloves , minced
2/3 cup Saltine crackers , crushed (about 17 crackers)
1/3 cup whole milk
1 pound 90-percent lean ground beef (see note)
1 pound ground pork
2 large eggs plus 1 large yolk
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper


1. MAKE GLAZE Whisk all ingredients in saucepan until sugar dissolves. Reserve ¼ cup glaze mixture, then simmer remaining glaze over medium heat until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Cover and keep warm.

2. COOK VEGETABLES Line rimmed baking sheet with foil and coat lightly with cooking spray. Heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Cook onion until golden, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to large bowl.

3. PROCESS MEAT Process saltines and milk in food processor until smooth. Add beef and pork and pulse until well combined, about ten 1-second pulses. Transfer meat mixture to bowl with cooled onion mixture. Add eggs and yolk, mustard, Worcestershire, thyme, parsley, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¾ teaspoon pepper to bowl and mix with hands until combined.

4. BROIL Adjust oven racks to upper (about 4 inches away from broiler element) and middle positions and heat broiler. Transfer meat mixture to prepared baking sheet and shape into 9- by 5-inch loaf. Broil on upper rack until well browned, about 5 minutes. Brush 2 tablespoons uncooked glaze over top and sides of loaf and then return to oven and broil until glaze begins to brown, about 2 minutes.

5. BAKE Transfer meatloaf to middle rack and brush with remaining uncooked glaze. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake until meat loaf registers 160 degrees, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer to carving board, tent with foil, and let rest 20 minutes. Slice and serve, passing cooked glaze at table.

WOW that is most confusing recipe that ever seen for meat loaf. That is behind my skills.

 

[2Tiggers]

We love barbeque sauce in ours!

I don't measure when I make it, so I will quess.

1lb. or so of ground beef
1/2 cup or so seasoned bread crumbs
1 egg beaten
1/2cup ketchup
1/2 cup barbeque sauce
1tsp. onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

glaze
Mix ketchup and Barbeque sauce together (however thick you want it)

Bake 350 for 1 - 1&1/2 hr.

My family loves it!

 

[Purseval]

WOW that is most confusing recipe that ever seen for meat loaf. That is behind my skills.

Actually you've already got the hardest part figured out since you learned enough in school to read it. If you tried it you would find out that it doesn't take any longer than any other meatloaf recipe but you will notice a huge difference when you eat it. The only thing that might be different from a normal recipe is their recommending a food processor but you can mix the ingredients in a bowl, it would just take a bit longer.

Most of the critics of America's Test Kitchen never knock their recipes or their results. The main complaint is that it takes all of their creativity out of the process. Since I don't have as much time as the ATK cooks do to mess around with variation after variation until I get it right that's a criticism I can live with.

 

[tlbwriter]

WOW that is most confusing recipe that ever seen for meat loaf.

ATK recipes tend to be like that - they do extensive experiments to address every failing a recipe might have. Usually they are too complicated for me to bother to recreate at home, but sometimes they are genius.

 

[mrudman]

Never thought of making meatloaf in muffins tins before.. so made it last night, and wow, was it easy!

Just made my normal meatloaf recipe, then put approx 1/4 cup of the mixture into each of the muffin tins, cooked for about 25 minutes, and it was done.

Mine usually takes about 90 minutes to cook in loaves, so much much faster!

Think I'm gonna have to make it this way more often.. dh and dd's loved it.

But it did get a tad done on the bottom, so next time, think I'd turn down the heat just a bit, and cook it a few minutes longer.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[mhsjax]

I do pretty much the ususal, ground beef, bread crumbs, some onion and bell pepper( smashed to bits. love the flavor hate the crunch) But I don't like plain ketchup on top. I use a mixute of Ketshup, mustand and brown sugar, or you can use speghetti sauce.

Sorry about spelling, DH just woke up and demanded a hug. lol

 

[mumto3girls]

I use the lipton beefy onion recipe.

1 envelope Lipton® Recipe Secrets® Onion Soup Mix
2 lbs. ground beef
3/4 cup plain dry bread crumbs*
2 eggs
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup ketchup
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Combine all ingredients in large bowl.
2. Shape into loaf in 13 x 9-inch baking or roasting pan.
3. Bake uncovered 1 hour or until done. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

*Substitution: Use 1-1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs or 5 slices fresh bread, cubed.

SLOW COOKER METHOD: In slow cooker, arrange meat loaf. Cook covered on LOW 6 to 8 hours or HIGH 4 hours. (HELPFUL HINT...Place meat loaf on a piece of cheesecloth, then on a rack to help hold meat loaf together while lifting in and out of slow cooker.)


For the slow cooker I put it in frozen. I make several at a time and freeze them. I also split the meatloaf and only use one pd for just the three of us. My DS6 says I make the best meatloaf ever! haha. Anyway I put potatoes and carrots under the meatloaf and cook it in the crockpot everytime. I never use the oven method or the cheesecloth that they mention above.

This is the recipe I use. I do typically substitute ground turkey for half of the ground beef and no one ever notices the difference.

 

[maslex]

I don't really use a recipe, but combine the following:

Ground beef
Salt and Pepper
Chopped onion
Egg
cubed bread (soft)
Ketchup

Squish it all in my hands, form loaves (usually 2 1.5 lb loaves), and then spread with ketchup. Bake an hour at 350. Never measured, never had a bad one yet.

Be sure to let the meat settle a bit before cutting, or you'll end up with meat loaf rubble instead of slices.

OOOHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYY, THIS is what my problem has been forever!!!! I've never understood why my meatloaf has always tasted good but never the consistency that I wanted. You're right, it's always meatloaf crumbles instead of slices. Now I can't wait to make meatloaf again and letting it rest this time. THANK YOU!!!

 

[Purseval]

ATK recipes tend to be like that - they do extensive experiments to address every failing a recipe might have. Usually they are too complicated for me to bother to recreate at home, but sometimes they are genius.

ATK actually has 2 magazines and websites, Cooks Illustrated and Cooks Country. Cooks Illustrated is geared mainly towards gourmet cooking and cooks with advanced skills. Cooks Country is more about "comfort" foods -- meatloaf, skillet fried chicken, tunnel of fudge cake, lasagna, etc. I subscribe to Cooks Country and learn something new or better to do every issue. They also have a cooking show on the Public TV channels if you want to get an idea about how they operate.

 

[BuzzPrincessMom]

I never measure

Hamburger (usually around 3 pounds)
2 eggs beaten
Ground garlic and onion
Bread crumbs to get the consistency you like

Mix all up - put on broiler pan so the fat drips away. I top mine with Grey Poupon! My Mom uses Salsa to top.

 

[angwill]

The recipie everyone in my family loves is very simple.
1-2 lbs of ground beef
1 box of stuffing mix (savory herb is our favorite)
1 egg per lb of beef
1 cup of favorite bbq sauce or ketchup if you prefer.

You can mix in anything else you want like cheese, onion, garlic that your family likes in it. HTH