Not to brag, but this smoked meatloaf recipe will be the best you've ever had. Not only is it incredibly flavorful, but it's just an easy meatloaf to make! No matter what you're cooking on, these are sure to be a winner. Let's get to it.
More than half of this magic recipe happens way before you even go near the pit. Blending the right ingredients in the correct order is key - read through this one carefully.
The first thing you want to do is grab the bacon (thick cut works better), and chop it up into little half-inch strips. Grab a skillet, preheat it, then fry the bacon in there. As you most definitely know, there's a lot of fat in bacon already, so you don't need to go overboard with the oil or butter for frying.
Once the bacon is all crisped up, get it out of the skillet and set aside - but keep the bacon grease in the pan! Dice a large yellow onion, and dump it into the bacon grease. Let it saute until it becomes slightly translucent.
Now, combine the bacon and onions in the same bowl (keep the grease too!) and let it cool down slightly. Once it has, add all the wet ingredients: ketchup, mustard, BBQ, and Worcestershire sauce, as well as the maple brown sugar. Mix well, then add the ground beef and breakfast sausage. Do a light mix, and then add the breadcrumbs and crack 3 eggs in, and mix until completely incorporated.
Pro tip: the reason you wanna thrown in the breadcrumbs after the beef, is because you don't want them to soak up all the sauces. By adding the ground beef first, you ensure the sauce goes where it needs to go.
Once that's done, grab 2 or 3 (depending on their size) disposable loaf pans. Line each with saran wrap, to make your life easier when removing later.
Separate the ground beef mix into the loaf pans, and seal the saran wrap on top. Now throw them into the freezer, and set an alarm for at least 12 hours from then (24 hours recommended).
About one to half an hour before you wanna start cooking, bring the meatloaves out of the freezer. You want them to thaw, but only about 1/8th of an inch on the outside - the inside should remain frozen so they hold their shape.
Unwrap, slather with a little bit of mustard, and hit each one with some Dirty Bird rub, or whatever you like!
Bring your pit up to 280ºF (138ºC), with a chunk of pecan wood for smoke. Cook the meatloaf to an internal temperature of 165ºF (74ºC). As long as the cooking temp stays relatively stable, you should be done in no time.
And that's all there is to it! Once you bring the meatloaf off the heat, slather it with your favorite BBQ sauce, rest for 10 minutes, and you're good to go.
Slice and enjoy - and if you want, take a photo of your finished cook, to send us on social media.
Catch you on the next recipe!
Have you worked with Kosmos for a while, and come up with something even better? Many of our recipes are submitted by our wonderful customers, who come up with all sorts of ideas that we could never think of.
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