12 replies to this topic

[Seagis]

Because I you, al _Bob.2 pounds ground beef1 pound bratwurst, casings removed and blended with ground beef2 eggs6 saltines1/4 cup barbecue sauce1/4 cup diced onion1/4 cup diced bell pepper4 cloves garlic, minced finely1/2 tbsp ground cumin1/2 tbsp smoked paprikaBlend the ground meats together along with the bell pepper, onion and garlic in a large bowl. Be careful not to overwork it or the end result will be too fine and not give the right consistency.Blend the eggs and the spices together in a separate bowl and blend it into the meat mixture a bit at a time until it is all well incorporated.Crush the crackers in the same bowl you mixed the eggs in (to keep from dirtying up another bowl) until they are all uniform in granularity. I generally look for something that is the approximate consistency of cornmeal. Add it a bit at a time to the mixture until it is well incorporated as well. In the original thread I noted that I doubled up on this and added 12 crackers instead of just 6, but the end result was just a bit drier than I'd have liked it, so start with 6 and adjust it to your liking.Mold the mixture into an evenly shaped rectangle, place it on a piece of tinfoil and place the foil directly on the smoker rack. Smoke at about 250-275 for about 90 minutes or so. I've never bothered to check it for doneness with a meat thermometer. I've always gone by temperature and cook time and I've never had any problems or leftovers. About 30 minutes or so before removing it, brush the top of it with this:1/2 cup tomato sauce1/8 cup yellow mustard3 tsp Sriracha sauce1 tsp balsamic vinegar1 tsp each onion powder and garlic powder1 healthy shake each kosher salt and ground black pepper4. PROFIT!!

[positiveContact]

a couple of questions:what is "tomato sauce"? is this just canned tomato puree?any suggestions for bratwurst replacement? maybe eye-talian sausage?do you use any smokewood? if yes, how much? what kind? etc.i do like a good loaf so this is tempting.

[Seagis]

a couple of questions:what is "tomato sauce"? is this just canned tomato puree?any suggestions for bratwurst replacement? maybe eye-talian sausage?do you use any smokewood? if yes, how much? what kind? etc.i do like a good loaf so this is tempting.

I just used a regular sized can of Hunts tomato sauce:It is essentially tomato puree, yes.As far as substituting for the brats, you can use Italian sausage. That's normally what I use, to be honest. I just switched to brats because that's what I had in the fridge. I was happy enough with the result that I may make that a permanent switch, but Italian sausage works just fine.Smoke wood is a bit vague on my end. I normally get a bag of Cowboy Charcoal and use the minion method with my smoker along with whatever wood I happen to have on hand. I have a huge pile of sugar maple wood that came from the front yard of my old house, but I also get 10 pound bags of oak and hickory from Kroger. They've all worked fine. I'll just intersperse it among the charcoal in the pan. Generally I'll use two large handfuls of wood chunks with the charcoal.

[positiveContact]

do you find the loaf really absorbs a lot of smoke? maple sounds like a good choice. i'd be a little nervous with hickory as it's a little stronger in flavor.

[Seagis]

I think a lot of it depends on the texture. Normally I try not to over work the mixture as I'm blending it together, because this keeps the texture from being too dense. Doing this also allows for more smoke absorption, too, so if you like a denser texture to your meat loaf it won't absorb the smoke quite as much. At least not in my experience. You still wind up with a good smoke flavor, but not one that is overpowering, even when using stronger woods on a less-dense loaf.

[Dave in Indiana]

I did Alton Brown's method and recipe. Tasted great, but meatloaf crumbled and could not be sliced. Any ideas to prevent this?

[Genesee Ted]

More egg

[Seagis]

Honestly, that's not a bad suggestion. When I did this last time I only added the 2 eggs and eyeballed the moisture content from there. Another egg or two certainly couldn't hurt.

[matt6150]

So I made this recipe on Sunday. Was very good! I made a few adjustments though. Sticking with my 1egg/1lb. meat rule, I used 3 eggs. I ended up using 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce, this was an accident I wasn't paying attention. I didn't have saltines so I used bread crumbs. Not sure on the amount, I just kept adding till it look right(probably 1/4-1/2 cup). Also didn't really measure the onion or green pepper, just chopped some up and added. For the sauce the only changes I made was used ketchup instead of the tomato sauce, wanted it a little thicker and sweeter. Used more sriracha too.I smoked with pear and hickory at 225-250 for about 2 hours. Great subtle smoke and not overdone. Here's a shot when I first put it on:Here's when I took it off:Here's the inside money shot:Would highly recommend. Even my wife gave the stamp of approval to make again, Thanks Seagis!

[humdum]

Because I you, al _Bob.2 pounds ground beef1 pound bratwurst, casings removed and blended with ground beef2 eggs6 saltines1/4 cup barbecue sauce1/4 cup diced onion1/4 cup diced bell pepper4 cloves garlic, minced finely1/2 tbsp ground cumin1/2 tbsp smoked paprikaBlend the ground meats together along with the bell pepper, onion and garlic in a large bowl. Be careful not to overwork it or the end result will be too fine and not give the right consistency.Blend the eggs and the spices together in a separate bowl and blend it into the meat mixture a bit at a time until it is all well incorporated.Crush the crackers in the same bowl you mixed the eggs in (to keep from dirtying up another bowl) until they are all uniform in granularity. I generally look for something that is the approximate consistency of cornmeal. Add it a bit at a time to the mixture until it is well incorporated as well. In the original thread I noted that I doubled up on this and added 12 crackers instead of just 6, but the end result was just a bit drier than I'd have liked it, so start with 6 and adjust it to your liking.Mold the mixture into an evenly shaped rectangle, place it on a piece of tinfoil and place the foil directly on the smoker rack. Smoke at about 250-275 for about 90 minutes or so. I've never bothered to check it for doneness with a meat thermometer. I've always gone by temperature and cook time and I've never had any problems or leftovers. About 30 minutes or so before removing it, brush the top of it with this:1/2 cup tomato sauce1/8 cup yellow mustard3 tsp Sriracha sauce1 tsp balsamic vinegar1 tsp each onion powder and garlic powder1 healthy shake each kosher salt and ground black pepper4. PROFIT!!

[Seagis]

What happened to the formatting here? Everything is jumbled up into a single paragraph. Cray-zee.

[humdum]

Thanks Obama!

[Seagis]

*shakes fist at Kenyan usurpers*