Earlier this year when Tim and I were on our cruise, we met Rick and Nancy, a wonderful couple from Canada. When discussing things we do in our spare time, we discovered both Rick and Tim liked to BBQ with their smokers. We shared one of our favorite recipes,
Smoked Mac and Cheese. Rick shared their recipe for this Smoked Meatloaf.
One of the nice things about the smoker is most recipes are pretty simple, glaze or rub the meats and place them on the smoker. This recipe, not so much. It requires lots of steps but the end result is well worth the effort. I'm going to share the
link to the original post which goes into detail on how to prepare the meatloaf for smoking. Needless to say, this is moist and delicious!!!
SMOKED HONEY BOURBON-GLAZED MEATLOAF with a BACON WEAVE
PREP TIME: 15 minutes
COOK TIME: 1 hour 45 minutes
RECOMMENDED PELLETS: Hickory or Oak
SERVES: 6 to 8
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 lbs ground beef (80/20)
1 carrot, peeled and diced or grated
1 stalk celery, finely diced
4 oz. mushrooms, finely diced
1/2 red onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, grated or diced
Olive oil
3 to 4 fresh sprigs of thyme, leaves only
1 egg, beaten
6-8 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
1 cup bread crumbs
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup condensed tomato soup
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 lb thick-cut bacon
Traeger Honey Bourbon Sauce or favorite barbecue sauce
PREPARATION
Start the Traeger on Smoke with the lid open for 4 to 5 minutes or until the fire is established.
Mix together the carrots, celery, mushrooms, and onions in a bowl and
drizzle with olive oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and microwave
for about 2 minutes just to soften the vegetables a little.
Let the vegetables cool and then mix them in a large bowl with the
ground beef, garlic, thyme, egg, crumbled cooked bacon, Worcestershire
sauce, salt, pepper, bread crumbs and tomato soup.
Form the mixture into a loaf and place on a wire rack over a foil-lined baking sheet.
Make your bacon weave using the thick-cut bacon, weaving it on a large piece of parchment paper.
Gently flip and lay the weave on top of the meatloaf so that the parchment is on top and peel off the parchment paper.
Put the meatloaf on the Traeger and smoke for 45 minutes.
Then take the meatloaf off and turn the heat up to 300 degrees F and allow to preheat, lid closed for 10 to 15 minutes.
Place the meatloaf back on the Traeger and cook for about an hour or
until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F on an instant-read
thermometer.
During the last 15 minutes (once the meatloaf reaches about 140 degrees/145 degrees F) brush the meatloaf with the
barbecue sauce to let it caramelize and for the exterior turn into bacon candy gold!
After you take it off the Traeger allow the meatloaf to sit for 15 minutes before you slice into it.