Almost done.

nice job john. how did you keep the shape? i usually have it in some sort of pan

Not to speak for him, but hand-formed works pretty well, and you get more surface area of crusty parts

You can hand-form, and just cook it.

Or, if a little too wet, you can hand form, then put in fridge or freezer for a bit.

Lastly, some people put a plastic wrap ‘sling’ in a loaf pan, and spray it with oil. Then, pour in mixture, tap bottom on counter a few times to get air bubbles out, and then slowly pull out sling, and put loaf on pan.

Again, if too ‘liquidy’, refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.

It was a bit soft at first so i did what NWG said, i put it in the fridge for about an hour and it held it's shape with no issues.

The end result. Sides were fried brussel sprouts with bacon and mashed potatoes.

I guess if you put it that way meat loaf, meatball, hamburger hell I'd have to make a triangle and call it a trimeat



I just drooled a little, perfect dinner.

I'm a big believer in the saran-wrap-in-the-loaf-pan method --- it makes it 'easier' to try and make two equal sized loafs and manage it until its firmed up enough to handle. Once its firmed up, its easy to get rub on all six sides well.

I made two loaves on the last one and put one in the freezer --- thinking I'm gonna try putting that one on while still partially frozen (like I've seen in some vids) to try and build up an awesome bark!
I'm not a big fan of using a pan underneath --- rather have a rack or perf sheet to allow smoke in and grease out... I saw some nice crisscross racks down at the Chef store that look to be about right and nice and sturdy that I've been eyeing up...

What kind of smoke did you throw in the kettle John? Or did you just roll with charcoal?

I used a couple chunks of Mesquite. As is typical of that wood, the smoke was pretty strong. My son and I liked it, but the smoke was too strong for the wife.

I strayed from never using the Mesquite, but i figured a couple chunks on the Charcoal would be Ok. I won't do that again. I should have just used the Smoker that was loaded with Oak, but it was in the garage behind my Blackstone with crap on top of it so i fired the Weber.

That pan....it was actually perforated, not solid. Normally I would just put them on the grates, but these Loaves we're a bit softer.

I do like the Smoked Meatloaf though!

stepped it up a little cornmeal stuffed crust mozz, hawaiian barbque chicken with bacon yellow pepper and spinach with light cheddar

Oh hell yeah! I would be on that like a Pitbull on a Porkchop!!

Details Man! I want to make that.

Wow, Chris! That looks amazing!

I dunno...is that really chicken?





J/k - looks good!

Today I turned an 8-pound bone-in pork butt into 9 pounds of super hot sausage.

I'm still working on the math, but I think it has something to do with cayenne pepper and beer.