Classic crown o'gold meat loaf recipe: Meat loaf with mustard meringue (1959) - Click Americana (2024)

FAQs

Why don t you want to cook the meatloaf in the loaf pan? ›

By free-forming a meatloaf—not cooking it in a loaf pan—we get maximum surface area exposure, and therefore maximum flavor. So not only does it make it easier to slice and guard against sogginess, but mounding your meatloaf instead of panning it also makes your meatloaf literally tastier.

Convenience and Economy: The 1950s brought about the rise of suburban living and the nuclear family. Meatloaf's appeal lay in its simplicity and cost-effectiveness. A blend of ground meat, breadcrumbs, and seasonings, it was an affordable yet hearty option that could feed a family with ease.

Eggs are an ingredient in nearly every meatloaf, and they have two distinct roles. Egg yolks, which are mostly water but contain a good amount of protein and fat, add flavor, richness, and moisture. They also help bind the meat together and get the loaf to set in a stable form without the need to overwork the meat.

Every meatloaf recipe requires a binder, otherwise, you don't get the same moisture retention and tenderness when you cook it. Most recipes require bread crumbs soaked in moisture as the binder to improve the quality of your meatloaf, but there are plenty of other options.

When choosing a baking pan, avoid a small loaf pan or baking dish. A tight fit means that the loaf will steam — think school cafeteria meatloaf. Instead, use a sheet pan or a large baking dish and leave some breathing room so the edges will caramelize nicely.

Glass loaf pans act as insulators, and take longer to heat up than metal pans which may prolong the time it takes to bake the loaf.

Whether you slather a thick layer of ketchup on top of the meatloaf before it goes into the oven, add a few tablespoons to the ground meat mixture, or serve extra ketchup on the side, this tangy-sweet, umami-rich condiment balances out the richness of the beef, making it an essential part of the dish.

On November 17, 2003, during a performance at London's Wembley Arena, on his Couldn't Have Said It Better tour, he collapsed of what was later diagnosed as Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome, a condition marked by an extra electrical pathway in the heart which causes symptoms like a rapid heartbeat.

Though modern meatloaf is an American innovation, its ancestry spans the globe, and centuries. In his cookbook, De Re Coquinaria, Roman gastronome Apicius features chopped meat combined with spices, bread soaked in wine and pine nuts and formed into a patty.

Try adding minced garlic, parsley, and thyme for a deeply savory taste. For mouthwateringly bold meatloaf, add Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and ketchup to the pre-baked mixture. This blend ensures that each bite is deliciously balanced with just a hint of sweetness.

Should you saute onions before adding to meatloaf? ›

I later learned how I could avoid this problem and make a fully smooth meatloaf by pre-cooking any vegetables, especially the onion, before adding them to the ground meat. This way the meatloaf gets the flavor without the rawness -- a method from the smart people at Cook's Illustrated.

Eggs bind the mixture, add flavor and increase browning, but too much egg will make a meat loaf tough and rubbery. Use about one egg per pound of meat. If using pork sausage, skip the egg. Milk adds flavor and moisture and helps distribute the seasoning throughout the mass.

The wet ingredients you add to meatloaf make it juicy. Using whole milk will add more richness and fat that keeps it from going dry. Along with ketchup and Worcestershire sauce, it gives meatloaf a marvelous texture.

Crackers. Crushed-up crackers make an excellent bread crumb substitute in baked dishes like meatballs or meatloaf. The crackers work just as well as the bread crumbs to hold the meat mixture together, and using varieties like salty saltines or buttery Ritz is a great way to add an extra burst of flavor to your dish.

In meatloaf, this is most commonly the eggs and breadcrumbs. Your binding ingredient is only second to the meat itself in your recipe and the reason why meatloaf crumbles. When this happens, it's because you didn't use enough. Next time, try adding in an extra egg and/or some more breadcrumbs.

Overall, glass and ceramic pans seemed to brown the cake more quickly than the other materials — silicone barely browned the loaves — making them less ideal for sweet baked goods. However, we could see glass or ceramic loaf pans being the ideal vessel for savory loaves or dishes like meatloaf.

Lining your loaf pan with parchment paper creates a nonstick surface that makes it easy to get the meatloaf out of the pan when it's done.

Lightly grease a standard size loaf pan with cooking spray. Add all of the meatloaf ingredients to a large bowl and gently mix everything to combine (without over-working the meat). Add the meat mixture to a loaf pan and gently pat into an even layer. Bake for about 30 minutes.

One way is let it sit for 10 minutes, that way it allows the juices to settle. Then I use one spatula on one end and another spatula on the other end and it usually works. You can also line your pan with parchment paper so that it over laps then just follow the resting time, then lift it up.