Cayenne Honey Glazed Smoked Meatloaf
Growing up, meatloaf and mashed potatoes with meatloaf gravy was one of my favorite meals. I can’t remember the last time I’ve even thought about making it…until I got a smoker. This might be the best meatloaf I’ve ever eaten. It was flavorful, moist and juicy, and gone after 3 meals. The beauty of meatloaf is that you can throw just about anything in it. I think there are couple of necessities that a good meatloaf requires. Regardless of what meat you use, it shouldn’t be lean. Anything more than 85% lean meat will be dry. Meatloaf will need a filler and a binder; that being breadcrumbs and an egg. This will keep the meatloaf tender. For flavoring, grated carrot, celery, and onion really make the loaf taste more luxurious then it really is. Beyond that, you can add any seasoning that suit your taste buds.Smoking the meatloaf slowly adds so much smokiness to the loaf, you’ll wonder why you don’t see more people doing this. I used hickory wood for the smoking process, but pecan, mesquite, oak, or applewood are all equally good depending on the flavor your going for. After adding all of the ingredients and forming the meatloaf, it weighed about 4lbs. This took 2 hours of smoking before the glaze was applied, plus an extra 30 minutes to allow for caramelization.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
Ingredients
- 3 lbs 85% lean ground beef
- 1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg
- 1 medium onion grated
- 1 medium carrot grated
- 1 stalk celery grated
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup parsley chopped
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp paprika
Cayenne Honey Glaze
- 3 tbsp honey mixed with a pinch of cayenne
Meatloaf Sandwich
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 slices leftover meatloaf 1” thick
- 2 slices wide pan bread
- 2 slices provolone cheese
- 1/4 cup onions sliced into rings
- tomato sliced
- bbq sauce
Wood Chips
- hickory wood chips
Instructions
- Add all of the meatloaf ingredients in a bowl.
- Thoroughly mix.
- Form into a loaf. Cut cross hatches into the top.
- Allow to rest at room temperature for an hour before smoking.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Place the meatloaf in the smoker.
- At the 2 hour point, brush the meatloaf with the cayenne honey. Smoke for 30 more minutes.
- Allow to rest for 15 minutes before slicing.
