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Ask Alton Brown, what's the best meaty thing he could make, and smoked meatloaf is likely to be his first answer.
Meatloaf is such a tasty, simple and satisfying dish, it's easy to understand why it's one of America's all-time classics. But it can be made even greater, says Brown, by smoking it.
With that in mind, we've rounded up three different recipes for making meatloaf, from a smoked meatloaf given a magic makeover in the hands of Alton Brown, to Traeger-smoked meatloaf, and an irresistible smoked meatloaf wrapped in bacon.
What is Smoked Meatloaf?
Meatloaf is America’s classic comfort food, made with simple ingredients like a mixture of beef and pork meat ground with some bread, egg, a few vegetables, aromatics and spices.
To increase the flavour profile of a meatloaf, you can try smoking it, by cooking it in a smoker or simply wrapping it in juicy bacon layers, then smoking.
If you want to try to make a smoked meatloaf, Alton Brown is the chef to get you started.
Smoked Meatloaf Recipe Ingredients
For Alton Brown's smoked meatloaf recipe you'll need the following ingredients:
- ketchup
- tomato paste
- 2chipotle peppers in adobo
- cocoa powder
- kettle-style barbecue potato chips
- garlic
- carrot,
- Fresno chile
- onion
- olive oil
- dried sage
- kosher salt
- ground chuck
- ground sirloin
- ground pork
- large eggs
Alton Brown's Smoked Meatloaf Recipe
Learn how to make smoked meatloaf with Alton Brown, and watch as the self-confessed meatloaf lover elevates his favourite ground meat dish to smokey heights in the video recipe below.
First he makes a glaze, which goes both into the mix and on top of the meatloaf, before revealing his secret ingredient - BBQ potato chips blended until they resemble heavy breadcrumbs.
The meaty mix gets bound together in a large bowl before being shaped and wrapped in tin foil and placed into an outdoor smoker. Brown describes the end result as tangy, herbaceous, smokey and spicy. What's not to like?
If you liked that, you might want to watch Alton Brown deep-fry a turkey.
Traeger Smoked Meatloaf Recipe
Next up, cooking meatloaf in a Traeger wood pellet grill. These mini meatloaves come packed with blue cheese and bacon, and can be cooked inside a muffin tray to make individual portions. They're ready in no time, with just 25 minutes inside the grill. You can even top them off with a creamy mashed potato once they're cooked, for a comforting snack for one.
Smoked Meatloaf Wrapped in Bacon
And finally, one for all you devout bacon lovers. You can add yet more flavour to your beloved meatloaf by not only smoking it, but by first wrapping it in a blanket of bacon. For the ultimate flavour explosion, smoke it over your favourite wood pellets in the smoker, slice and serve.
How to Make a Bacon Weave
Not sure where to start with a bacon blanket? Then you need to master how to bacon weave. Check out how easy it is in the step-by-step guide below to give your smoked bacon loaf the bacon blanket it deserves:
