Bacon wrapped meatloaf is delicious as it is, but add the kiss of wood smoke from a plank and you’ve got a winner!
Total Time: 3-4 hours
Servings: 8
Ingredients:
- Large Cedar Grilling Plank
- Hardwood Smoking Pellets
- 1 ¼ lb ground Beef
- 1 ¼ lb spicy Italian Sausage
- 2 Eggs
- 2 Tbsp Heavy Cream
- ½ cup BBQ Sauce (whatever floats your boat!)
- 1 cup Sweet White Onions, minced
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 tsp Mustard Powder
- 2 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp smoked Black Pepper (regular is fine too)
- 2 tsp granulated Garlic
- ½ tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 1 lb Bacon (thinner cut)
Chef's Tip
Classic meatloaf is a mix of ground beef and pork, but feel free to use any ground meat mixture that you like. Just make sure you have a nice blend of lean and fatty meats to keep the meatloaf nice and juicy.
Directions:
- Mix all ingredients together, except bacon, in a large bowl and refrigerate while you follow the next steps.
- Soak the cedar plank in hot water for at least 15 minutes, make sure it is submerged fully.
- Preheat pellet grill or oven to 250˚F.
- Take a sheet pan and lay bacon out over it slightly overlapping each piece. Make sure all pieces slightly
overlap to create a seal. Place sheet pan with bacon in freezer for 5 minutes to firm up for wrapping. - Dump loaf mix onto bacon and gently form a long loaf. Wrap bacon up over loaf nice and tight.
- Take soaked plank and place on top of bacon wrapped loaf. Holding both sides carefully flip loaf onto plank. At this point you should reform your loaf, gently, on the plank.
- Place planked loaf directly on pellet grill rack or if using oven, place on a sheet pan before putting in the oven. Cook until internal temperature reaches about 140˚F (about 2-4 hours). Turn heat up to 375˚F and baste with bbq sauce or ketchup (dealers choice!).
- Meat loaf is done when internal temperature reaches 155 degrees. Remove and let rest for 5 minutes before carving into that beautiful hunk of loaf!!!
*Keep a spray bottle of water handy in case of flare-ups.