SMOKE AND SPICE'S "AIN'T YOUR MOMMA'S MEATLOAF" I give them 100% of the credit. Here is the recipe. I used pecan and have used maple, but I am spoiled and can't get away from either of these.
I used an aluminum cheapo throw away pan to start it in and then just cut the end on each side, fold down the end and slide the meatloaf onto the jerky racks so that I don't worry it will break apart because of its own weight. Just the way I do it, you can experiment!!
I don't saute my onions and the other things they say to do. I am lazy and it tastes fine to me. But, just in case you have to follow to a T, take a T of veg. oil and saute all the ingredients up to the ground beef. I MODIFIED IT by doing 1 lb of ground beef and 1 lb of sausage. This takes care of the amount of bread crumbs it calls for and it being dry.
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 green or red bell pepper finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 t freshly ground black pepper
1 t coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
1/2 t ground cumin
1 1/4 pounds of ground beef
1/4 pound of ground pork
1 1/2 cups dry bread crumbs
3 T sour cream
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 large egg
1/4 cup stock, preferably beef
1 t Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce to taste
Put smoker to 200 degrees. Mix everything together and make into a mound and put into a smoke-proof pan. Smoke it for about 45 minutes (I think this is to firm it up so it won't break apart on a rack) and then transfer it to your rack and then cook it for another 1 1/2.
Now, I never get off that easy with the time, so, I just put the probe in it and cooked until it was between 160-165 degrees. AND, because I hate food poisoning, I probe it several different places before I pull it out.
I do a rack of bacon above it to keep it moist. Your preference though.
Allow it to sit for 10 minutes before slicing.
They say to apply the bbq sauce with 30 minutes left to go on top of the meat loaf. I DIDN'T do that with either of the loaves I did and they were fantastic. I guess I didn't read that far down.
Have at it boys!!
2018 UPDATE
It originally calls for 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef and 1/4 pound of sausage, but I use 1 pound of ground beef AND 1 pound of sausage. I still use the same amount for breadcrumbs. Several posts on the thread said they thought it was too dry and they cut back on the breadcrumbs, but after about 2-3 times of making it, I just adjusted the amount of sausage and the loaf was bigger.
I pretty much stayed with the same amounts of the spices even though I added more meat but I just added a little more hot sauce to adjust.
Since there are many gluten-free people out there, I have used a gluten-free flour to make this. My daughter loves this recipe but is gluten-free now. It does NOT turn out well using that type of flour. It was definitely an entirely different texture and the meat loaf oozed (I use this word as descriptively as I can) a sort of slime-like something that was a good 1/8 inch thick all over the meatloaf. It was pretty disgusting to me, but I did not say anything so she would eat it.
Hope you find the recipe or the variations of it in these threads a good find. Still smoking this recipe today!!!
