Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

WildFireEric

Senior Cook
Joined
Jun 18, 2007
Messages
292
Location
Sterling, VA
Hi. Thought I'd smoke this on the day after Son-of-Ida left town. Amy challenged me (I absolutely HATE meatloaf) and went along with adding bacon and smoke. Thus, this might change my perception and dislike for meatloaf. If this comes out the way it looks, this will be the only way I'll eat one going forward.




Getting ready to check on it. Will post an updated picture soon.
 
If that tastes as good as it looks, it should be great. Post pics of done cook. I'm not a fan of meatloaf either, but that looks good
 
Results of My First Ever Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

Here's the results. First pic here is after I poked holes in the aluminum to drain the bacon fat and carried into the house in an All-Clad roaster. The bits of meatloaf that sat in the fat were awesome. Nothing like smoke and rub to turn a (ground turkey) meatloaf into something memorable.



Note the lack of a smoke ring. The bacon received all the smoke on this. But the bacon did add flavor to the meatloaf. The funny thing is that this was some old Costco bacon that was past its prime just sitting in the freezer. But the rub and smoke more than made it tasty again.



I smoked this ground turkey meatloaf for about 90 minutes at 290 degrees with water in the pan and using 4 or 5 small black cherry wood chunks and regular Kingsford charcoal. We did not let the meatloaf rest. It was hacked up immediately and wolfed down with no side dishes. I couldn't wait to cook anything else. I was actually shocked that it would be ready so fast.

Props to Ina Garten of Food Network for the recipe that Amy hacked and props to Amy for trusting the flavor profile I gave it/changed by adding bacon and rub.

While I pulled this out of the smoker late (187 degrees internal temp), the meat was overdone, but was still quite moist. Either the bacon or the bacon fat or the fact that Amy put too much broth in the raw meat were the things that saved it. Anyways, it was really good. If anything, every other bite had bacon in it, so I couldn't go wrong with that. :)
 
My wife doesn't like meat loaf either, but when I've smoked it the same way you did she really liked it. Nice work!
 
Shores said:
My wife doesn't like meat loaf either, but when I've smoked it the same way you did she really liked it. Nice work!

Thanks Chris. I'm thinking the next time I try this, I'll smoke the meatloaf without the bacon for an unknown amount of time and then add the bacon and finish it up. The reason being the meatloaf has no smoke ring and I miss that. I don't know if anyone has experience with that and I don't know if I'd have to increase the pit temp in order for the bacon to get reasonably cooked in a shorter time frame. Maybe start on the WSM and finish on my kettle grill? Any suggestions are appreciated. Also, the next one will likely be stuffed with eggs or cheese or something.
 
The absolute best part of a meatloaf is the meatloaf sandwich from the leftovers. Whole wheat bread,salt an pepper, and salad dressing.UMMMMM
 
Trekr said:
The absolute best part of a meatloaf is the meatloaf sandwich from the leftovers. Whole wheat bread,salt an pepper, and salad dressing.UMMMMM

Thanks. That sounds delicious. But so far no sandwhiches. We ate half of it as is. Almost like it was bacon and eggs. The rest of it will be devoured with Spanish rice and another combination yet thought of. Maybe we'll simply top it with guacomale and salsa. Not sure.
 
Back
Top Bottom