BBQ Meatloaf | McCormick (2024)

FAQs

Should you cover meatloaf with foil when baking? ›

Should I cook my meatloaf covered or uncovered? The meatloaf can be cooked uncovered. However, if you are concerned about it burning, you can cover the meatloaf with foil for the first 45 minutes and uncover it for the final 15 minutes to allow the meatloaf to brown on top.

When this happens, it's because you didn't use enough. Next time, try adding in an extra egg and/or some more breadcrumbs. Alternatively, rice, barley, corn flakes, crackers, and dried soup mix can also stand in as binding ingredients as well. Including larger quantities of these items should help solve the problem.

Use Extra Egg: Eggs act as binders and provide moisture. Add one or two eggs per pound of meat for a moist texture. Make Use of Milk: Soak breadcrumbs in milk before adding them to your mixture. This will keep your meatloaf moist during baking.

Milk: Milk adds moisture and flavor to the meatloaf. Egg: Egg acts as a binder for the meatloaf so it doesn't fall apart when sliced, plus it adds flavor, moisture, and richness. Seasoning: This meatloaf is seasoned simply with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

Metal pans are great conductors of heat; in other words, they heat up quickly, but in turn, they also cool down more rapidly once removed from the heat source. Additionally, metal pans can withstand higher temperatures than glass.

If you want to make the best meatloaf possible, a sheet pan is a much better medium. Not only will it be easier to clean, but the meatloaf will hold its shape just fine with the correct ratio of ingredients. Just make sure it's firm enough when it goes into the oven, and it should come out the same way.

The oven temperature is typically set at 350 degrees F for making meatloaf. That's the temperature you want to be sure to use so the meatloaf cooks and doesn't dry out. Too high, and the outer crust will burn before the interior is cooked all the way, too low and you don't get that delicious crust.

Eggs Add Structure

Egg yolks, which are mostly water but contain a good amount of protein and fat, add flavor, richness, and moisture. They also help bind the meat together and get the loaf to set in a stable form without the need to overwork the meat.

Too Much Liquid

Adding broth, milk, or eggs can enhance flavor and moisture, but too much can lead to a soupy consistency. Use these ingredients sparingly, and consider adding breadcrumbs or oats to absorb excess moisture.

What is the best binder for meatloaf? ›

If you don't have any bread, you can substitute it for breadcrumbs, crackers, cereal grains, oatmeal, instant rice, instant barley, or even potato flakes! However, bread is still the best choice of all the potential options.

Let the loaf cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. If you baked the meatloaf in a loaf pan, carefully drain off the liquid fat before transferring the meatloaf to a clean cutting board.

Toward the end of the cooking time (our standard two-pound meatloaf takes about one hour), follow this simple method to know when it's done. Use an instant-read thermometer ($18, Walmart). The meat loaf's internal temperature should register 160°F when the thermometer is inserted into the center.

A neat trick to soak up the grease under your meatloaf is to line the bottom of the pan with bread slices. The bread soaks up the grease as the loaf bakes. When the meatloaf is done, you can either throw out the bread or bake it to make some truly indulgent toast.

However, overmixing can cause meatloaf to become springy, rubbery, and too dense. If that myosin network gets built up too much, it's bad news for the texture of your loaf. So, don't mix it too heavily.

Most of the other ingredients can be switched out, such as oatmeal or crackers instead of breadcrumbs or egg substitute instead of eggs, but without ketchup inside the mixture and as part of the glaze on top, you're missing that touch of sweetness and acidity that balances out the other ingredients.