Cole Cooks: Big Green Egg Smoked Meatloaf
Smoking meatloaf adds an entire new level of flavor to a classic dish. This recipe is for smoked meatloaf on a Big Green Egg smoker.
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I have developed my own recipe for meatloaf. When researching smoked meatloaf, I came across a recipe from Oklahoma Joe’s, a smoker and grill website. Their secret is they place a layer of cheese and jalapeno in the center.
My smoked meatloaf takes my traditional meatloaf recipe and adds the cheese, jalapeno center. In addition, I followed some of Oklahoma’s Joe’s tips for wrapping the meatloaf in bacon. Historically, my traditional meatloaf was baked in a loaf pan with the bacon on the top.
My meatloaf uses two pounds of meat. Usually one-pound beef and one-pound pork or a combination of one-pound pork and veal.
We always keep some bread in the freezer to make breadcrumbs. Simply toast the bread until it just starts to turn brown. Process the toasted bread in the food processor for breadcrumbs. If you don’t have breadcrumbs, saltine crackers or oatmeal can work as a substitute.
The flavors of our meatloaf are pretty simple. Sautéed onion, garlics and carrots, 1 egg, milk and soy sauce add moisture. Combined with the breadcrumbs they allow the meat to be formed into a nice log.
Spices are limited to salt, pepper and chili powder. Of course, the smoke adds its own distinct flavor.
However, this recipe can be adapted to almost any meatloaf recipe. Serious Eats has an example of a more sophisticated meatloaf with ingredients like mushrooms, anchovies, Marmite and gelatin. This meatloaf could also be smoked.
Unlike my traditional meatloaf recipe I do not want to cook the meatloaf in a loaf pan. The smoke flavor needs to penetrate as much of the loaf as possible. This means keeping three sides of the loaf exposed and cooking the meatloaf on a baking sheet.
For our Big Green Egg smoked meatloaf, I use the 12 by 12 rimmed baking sheet that comes with our toaster oven. I line the sheet with aluminum foil, place rows of bacon in the middle of the sheet and place the meat mixture in an even level on top of the bacon across the entire sheet.
The cheese and jalapeno is placed in a strip down the middle. At this point it is easy to roll the sides up and form a log. Just make sure you seal both the seam and the sides of the loaf.
For the Big Green Egg temperatures from 250 to 350 were suggested. I settled on 300 degrees. For the smoke flavor I used apple wood chips, but I think any flavor should work nicely.
Our meatloaf was done in only 90 minutes. Some recipes said two hours or more. At this point you add the glaze and let it cook for another 15 minutes. This can either be done in the Big Green Egg or in the oven. I like to do it in the oven so I can close the egg while it finishes.
Once again, the glaze for smoked meatloaf can be adjusted for personal taste. Experiment with different flavors. If you really like glaze you can double the recipe and serve some on the side.
The Big Green Egg is our smoker of choice. However, this recipe should work with any smoker. You can also do this on a regular grill by adding a smoker box.
Go here for general Big Green Egg tips
Big Green Egg Smoked Meatloaf
Ingredients
- wood chips apple or hickory
- 10 strips bacon about 12 ounces
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork or veal
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 carrots roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup dried parsley
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 jalapeno peppers diced
Glaze
- 1 cup ketchup or chili sauce
- 3 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
Instructions
- In a food processor combine onion, carrot and garlic. Pulse until finely chopped. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet. Add onion mixture and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside mixture to cool
- Preheat Big Green Egg to 300 degrees.
- In a bowl combine egg, salt, pepper, soy sauce, chili powder, parsley and milk. Add meat and onion mixture to bowl and stir to blend. Add breadcrumbs and with spoon or hands combine into a solid mixture. Add small amounts of milk or breadcrumbs to get desired consistency.
- Line small baking sheet with aluminum foil. Lay half of bacon slices on foil. Place meat mixture on top of bacon in square shape about 12" by 12". Add shredded cheese and jalapenos to cent of meat, running lengthwise. Roll lengthwise into a log so that cheese and jalapenos are in the center.
- Setup Big Green Egg for indirect cooking. Add a handful of wood chips. Add meatloaf and smoke until internal temperature reaches 155 degrees, about 1 to 2 hours.
- While meat is cooking combine glaze ingredients in a bowl.
- When meatloaf reaches 155 degrees brush meatloaf with glaze and cook for another 15 minutes. Remove meatloaf and let cool for about 15 minutes. Slice and serve.
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