Main Meatloaf Ingredients
Main Meatloaf Ingredients
Meatloaf is just a simple mixture of a few items. First you need your meat, a filler or starch, a binder which is usually an egg, a liquid and various spices. Throw in a topping and it not only sets off the flavors of the meatloaf, but also is much more appealing to the eye! So what type of meat should you use? Most common ones are beef, veal, pork, sausage, ham and lamb. In the ground version, of course. You can even combine meats for a variety of flavors. Don’t worry, they will get along ;) A pound and a half of meat (ratio is one pound of ground beef and a half pound of another) will serve between 4-6 people and will fit in the average 9×5 inch meatloaf pan. You can use a food processor to grind your own meat, but make sure you do not overprocess it. This will make your meatloaf way too dense. The "Meat" in Meatloaf… The base of any meatloaf is well, the meat. Ground beef is the standard, but by either substituting for another meat and/or adding to the ground beef will bring out flavors you never thought possible with a meatloaf. Beef- Actually ground beef chuck. I would recommend using a lean ground beef with only about 15% fat. Don’t use an extra lean beef because your meatloaf will turn out dry and a little bit of fat is what most of your flavor stems from. Pork- Includes ground pork, link sausage and pork sausage. The difference between ground pork and ground pork sausage is that the sausage has seasonings and fat added where just straight ground pork does not. Italian sausage can also be used and is available in different levels of spicy. For extra-spicy try kielbasa, chorizo and andouille. Ground Veal and Lamb- You can use raw or frozen here. Depends on what is available in the meat department at your local grocery store or the butcher shop. If you use frozen, be sure that you unthaw completely and pat the meat down with a paper towel to remove excess moisture. Game- Ground buffalo and venison are fastly becoming a popular additive to homemade meatloaves. Proportionwise I would go one lb. of ground beef to every half pound of buffalo/venison. |
