Meatloaf Tip

[Boomhauer]

This is Less about the recipe and more about technique.

If you pour the grease off a meatloaf every 15 minutes it completely changes the texture and makes it much better tasting. Learned it from my father in law.

[zxcvbob]

Do you save the grease and fry taters in it?    You can also bake it on a rack.

[MillCreek]

Do you save the grease and fry taters in it?    You can also bake it on a rack.

The rack is what I do: I shape it into a mound and put in on a rack set into a sheet pan. 

[RocketMan]

SWMBO does not like meatloaf, no way, no how.  She makes it for me once in a while because I do like it.  The last time she made it, she used a recipe that switched out the usual ketchup for BBQ sauce.  Darn tasty, better than the ketchup version.  And she uses 93% lean hamburger in the meat loaf so there is very little grease to pour off.

[K Frame]

It sounds like you're cooking your meatloaf in a loaf pan...

Not the best way to do it. Even with draining the grease/liquid, you still end up mostly stewing your meatloaf.

I cook my meatloaf on a piece of parchment on the bottom of a roasting pan. That way any liquid simply runs away from the loaf instead of stewing it and you get a very nice crust on the outside.

[Boomhauer]

SWMBO does not like meatloaf, no way, no how.  She makes it for me once in a while because I do like it.  The last time she made it, she used a recipe that switched out the usual ketchup for BBQ sauce.  Darn tasty, better than the ketchup version.  And she uses 93% lean hamburger in the meat loaf so there is very little grease to pour off.

I’ve never used plain ketchup, never have liked it on meatloaf. I put either BBQ sauce or I wisk some Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and A1 into a glaze and broil it for five minutes after the main cooking is done.


 No I don’t use a loaf pan (my Mom always did hers in a loaf pan and I don’t really care for it as much). I just lay a sheet of aluminum foil in the bottom of a 13x9 Pyrex dish and pour it off that way. Enough grease retained to be moist but not stew in it and develops the crust

[Boomhauer]

Do you save the grease and fry taters in it?    You can also bake it on a rack.

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[Brad Johnson]

You can also bake it on a rack.

Have always used the rack method. Works, and works well.

One trick I learned was toasted sesame oil. A few drops in the mix imparts a nice bacon-ey flavor. Be sparing, it's easy to use too much.

Also works for cornbread.

Brad