I'm 51 and I just made my first meatloaf.

[Bertha Venation]

It came out dry. 😢 But I followed the recipe very closely. Ground beef and pork, cracker crumbs, an egg, salt and pepper, ketchup, Worcestershire, onion, and parsley. I cooked it at the right temp (350F) for the correct time (an hour and ten minutes).

Why was it dry? How do I fix it?

[NYC_SKP]

1. Not an expert, but I would let it brown and then cover with foil.

I like the crispy crust, but think about what an oven does: it heats things up and dries them out, no way around it.

So I would let it go for a while to sear the top and then cover it with foil.

I'm curious to see what others say, I'm a total newbie.

Yesterday I baked my first two pies, ever, one from total scratch, dough and everything!

[elleng]

3. How'd the pies go, SKP,

you BRAVEheart!

[NYC_SKP]

4. I followed all the tips except one, leaving the dough in the fridge overnight.

I almost made another batch but decided to wait til we've tried the first two, for filling etc.

The dough just wasn't as consolidated as it could have been so was fragile and hard to handle, but I think it will taste pretty good.

The second pie used store dough in rolls and canned peaches, so I have a Granny Smith apple from scratch and a peach pie quickie, for comparison.

Happy day, elleng!

Gobble Gobble!!!

[elleng]

6. Happy Day to you too, Turkey!

Used to make pies, both with and without my mother, loaded with fresh fruit, some berries from garden, but never crust from scratch. Going to daughter's 'new' in-laws tomorrow, offered but not bringing anything. Hope I don't have to pick up pies for myself for Friday from darn grocery store!!!

[NYC_SKP]

8. We're two Turkeys, that's what I think!

Gobble Gobble!

Happy day!

[elleng]

9. Yup, Y'n Me!

[elleng]

2. Here's James Beard's recipe,

which I used to use:

2 lbs. ground beef
1 lb. ground pork
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 fairly lg. onion, finely chopped
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 crumbled bay leaf
1/2 tsp. crumbled thyme leaves
1 tsp. freshly chopped green pepper
1/2 c. dry bread crumbs
2 eggs
Bacon or salt pork

Mix all ingredients, except bacon, thoroughly blended. Form into a long loaf or cake and press firmly. Arrange enough slices of bacon or salt pork on the bottom of a baking pan to hold the meat loaf. Brush the loaf with butter and cross with 2 to 4 additional slices of bacon. Bake at 325 degrees, basting occasionally, for 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours, or until meat loaf is cooked through. Let stand for 10 to
15 minutes before serving.


HOPE things work out, BV!

[Leith]

5. Just a Guess

The meat you used had a low fat content. It's good to limit fat in red meat, but more juiciness comes from more fat.

[cbayer]

22. Yep that's my guess too.

[Suich]

7. It might have something to do with the grade of ground beef you used.

The most expensive has only 10% fat (I think), then the next has 20% fat and the 3rd, 30% fat.

I used to buy the most expensive, thinking it was the "best," but I've since learned there's a lot of flavor (and more "liquid&quot in the higher fat content ground beef.

Just my 2 cents!

Happy Thanksgiving!

[PADemD]

10. My recipe

I use 1 pound of ground beef, 2 extra large eggs, 1 chopped onion, and mix with just enough Italian flavored bread crumbs so that the meat can be molded into a loaf. Cover and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Unless your meatloaf was larger, 70 minutes sounds too long.

My Mom used to make smaller meatloaves (about the size of 3-4 large meatballs) in a large covered casserole dish and bake with a home-made barbecue sauce. When there was just a little ketchup left in the jar, she added some water, mustard, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. I found I could get the same flavor by mixing ketchup, Masterpiece BBQ sauce, and water.

[Freddie]

11. Yes to the foil suggestion

The sight of undercooked ground beef makes my stomach turn so I always "burned" (per DH) meatloaf until I started using foil. Follow your favorite recipe, cook for the first hour in a loaf pan tightly covered with foil. Drain fat, then bake another 15-20 minutes uncovered to brown or bake on a glaze or catsup. Oven temp 350. Gets nice and "done" but still moist. DH and our son actually ask for meatloaf now.

[Retrograde]

12. I go by feel, but

Last edited Thu Nov 27, 2014, 03:05 PM - Edit history (1)

just reading your post, I can't see what went wrong - except low fat content in the ground meats. My own method is to mix whatever meats are on sale (usually a blend of beef/pork/lamb/veal, although the proportions vary) with a mince of onion/pepper/carrot, an egg - then have my sous-chef (aka Mr. Retrograde) add breadcrumbs gradually while I knead the mixture. I go for a texture that's still highly moist, but can be molded by hand into a loaf (yes, it's a messy business).

So what can you do now? The last time I made entirely too much meatloaf, I took the tail end, crumbled it into a tomato sauce, and made sort of a mock Bolognese sauce for pasta. I've had better, but I had wasting meat.

[LawDeeDah]

13. What I do to make it moister is grate some onion in it.

[Warpy]

14. I found out the secret to meatloaf and meatballs was mixing the stuff with one of these

Made for easy dough mixing, it does a great job of keeping meatloaf and meatballs light and juicy.

Available here, where I ganked the image: http://breadtopia.com/store/danish-dough-whisk/

[Bertha Venation]

27. Ganked?

Great word.

[JayhawkSD]

15. I never wrap meatloaf in foil to cook it.

1-1/2 # ground beef (85% lean works best)
1 cup fine bread crumbs
1-1/4 cups milk
1 egg, beaten
½ cup onion, chopped
½ cup celery, chopped
1-1/4 tsp salt
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp Oregano
2 tbsp Barbeque sauce

Just mix everything well and bake at 350 for 1-1/2 hours.

Notice the milk, and I agree with the comments about fat content. 15% is minimum and 20% is better.

[NJCher]

16. that's what I was going to say, too

The bread crumbs need to be mixed with milk beforehand. That's what makes for a moist meatloaf (plus the fat content).



Cher

[Fix The Stupid]

17. This...

This is how I do it and my meatloaf is legendary - even wrote a song about it!

For a 2lb meatloaf I use 2 cups of milk and I shred 3 slices of bread with a cheese grater. Put the bread in the freezer for a few hours before you shred it - much easier to work with...

But yeah, this OP needs to add the milk.

[Nac Mac Feegle]

18. There might be something with the cooking time

Last edited Fri Nov 28, 2014, 01:46 PM - Edit history (1)

I find that using a thermometer to tell me when a piece of meat is done is a lot more accurate. A probe thermometer will tell you when the thing is done much more accurately than a set amount of time. Ovens can vary in temperature from one to another. If something is cooked too long it will be dry.

**** Updated from real computer ********

The issue of fat content of the meats is discussed above, by others.

One of the biggest problems a recipe writer will have is the cooking time. Ovens vary quite a bit in temperature accuracy, temperature control, distance from element to food, how well they're insulated and sealed. This creates a VERY big problem with cooking times.

Just think of a modern oven with electronic temperature controls and an old gas oven with 'temperature numbers engraved around a knob. You aren't really sure of either of them, truthfully. How good is the calibration of the electronics, much less the notches in the knob? Then we get to the question of the seal on the oven door.

As you can see, there are some places where problems can arise. That's why many 'foodies' tend to keep an oven thermometer in their oven.

If you have a low fat piece of meat, and it gets cooked a bit too long, it can come out resembling jerky more than roast. The best solution is to use a thermometer to give the exact temp of what is being cooked. I prefer one with a probe on about 3 feet of cable to a small digital readout/timer unit for roasting meats. It can be set to alarm at a certain temperature or time (for rotating the meat) and the remote probe lets me keep the oven door closed. And I'm not poking a bunch of holes in the meat for juices to use as a handy escape route.

Sidebar:
As proteins heat up, they de-nature. The long molecules coil up and squeeze out water from the cells. The trick is to cook them enough to break down the fibers, but leave enough moisture that the piece is still chew-able. With ground meats, a lot of the fiber breakdown has already happened, but you still need to get it hot enough to consume safely. Chicken anywhere under 145 degrees F is HORRIBLE, aside from dangerous.

Good luck. Keep trying. If nothing else, meatloaf sandwiches are awesome to take to work.

[Kali]

19. probably meat was too lean

even pork is pretty lean these days. your recipe sounds ok, (I use cracker crumbs too) you can add a little milk to the mixture - also needs 2-4 strips of bacon on top of each loaf, especially if your beef is lean.

[Major Nikon]

26. That's a problem that many have with meatloaf and hamburgers

Ground chuck is the best thing to use which has 20% fat.

[Lars39]

20. My recipe is pretty basic and it calls for 0.5 cup of milk.

I use 0.5 cup oatmeal instead of 0.5 cup cracker crumbs, though.

[The empressof all]

21. I use milk as well

I soak bread crumbs in milk but I bet Bertha can soak those cracker crumbs before adding to the mix and get a moister loaf next time. I've never used oatmeal...

[Lars39]

24. The oatmeal fills us up a bit more...

We actually have leftovers now.

[dem in texas]

23. my favorite recipe for meatloaf, been making it for 40 years

1 1/2 to 2 pounds lean ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 small stalks celery, finely chopped
1 egg
3 or 4 slices white bread, soaked in milk
1 envelope dry French onion soup mix
1/4 cup catsup
2 or 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste


pour milk off the bread and squeeze bread to remove more milk. In bowl mix beef, onion, celery, egg, squeezed bread, onion soup mix, catsup, Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly with hands or use food processor. Spray baking dish with pam, place meat mixture in dish, shaping into loaf, leaving about 1/2 inch all around.

Cover loaf with catsup, like you are icing a cake. Lay the green bell pepper strips crosswise on top. Cover pan with foil and bake in 325 degree oven about 45 to 50 minutes. If there is excess liquid, pour off, put meat loaf back in oven without foil to brown up a little, 10 or 15 minutes more.

Let stand five minutes before slicing. This meatloaf slices up well when cold.

Topping
Green bell pepper cut in long thin slices
More catsup to cover meatloaf

[msanthrope]

25. You need panko and a panade. Trust me..it never fails. Sub out

your crumbs for panko. And then soak them in milk...just enough to wet them well. Mix that in, and cover the meatloaf with tomato paste mixed with red wine. It forms a great crust.