"Grilled" Meatloaf

[Keltin]

To cook this meatloaf, you’ll need a kettle style charcoal grill that is 18” or bigger, or a vertical water smoker that has at least two meat racks, or a gas grill with dual burners. The smoke flavor you get from cooking the meatloaf is incredible. And it even develops a smoke ring! Once you’ve had meatloaf this way, you may never go back to the conventional cooking methods.

“Grilled” Meatloaf

Ingredients:

Loaf
3.5 to 4 lbs ground beef
2 packs Onion Mushroom Soup mix
4 Tbsp Ketchup
2 Tbsp A1 Steak Sauce
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp wet mustard
1 egg, beaten
1 cup bread crumbs

Glaze
1/2 cup Ketchup
1 Tbsp A1 Steak Sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar

Preparation:
Mix the Glaze ingredients together in a small mixing bowl until the brown sugar has completely dissolved. Set aside.

Combine all of the Loaf ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Kneed this until it is thoroughly mixed together. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray. Form the meat mixture into a large ball and place on the sheet. Now, form the ball into a loaf shape that is about 3 inches tall, 5 inches wide, and as long as it takes to keep the other two dimensions as stated.

Kettle Style Cooker: Start a charcoal fire and bank the coals to one side. Place a sheet of aluminum foil on cooking grate on the opposite side of the coals, and then place the meatloaf on top of the foil. Add wet hickory chips to the coals every 25 minutes or so, and cook for 1.5 to 2 hours (add the glaze during the last 30 minutes of cooking!), or until the internal temp is 160 degrees. Remove the meatloaf and tent for 10 minutes before carving.

Vertical Water Smoker: Remove the water pan, and wrap one of the cooking grids in aluminum foil. Place the foil covered grid on the lower rack setting, and the second rack (the one that will hold the meatloaf) on the top rack setting. Once the coals are ready (about 1 full chimney worth of coals), place the meatloaf directly on the top rack and cover. Add wood for smoke every 25 minutes, and glaze the meatloaf during the last 30 minutes of cooking. Total cook time will be 1.5 to 2 hours or until the internal temps is 160. Allow to rest covered 10 minutes before carving.

Gas Grill: Same principal as the Kettle grill. Using only one burner set to medium heat, place a smoker box or a foil pack of wood over the burner and put the meatloaf on the opposite side. Cook for 1.5 to 2 hours, or until the internal temps is 160, and glaze during the last 30 minutes. Allow to rest covered 10 minutes before carving.

Notice in this method you aren’t smoking the meatloaf but are instead using the grill/smoker as an oven. The temperature is much higher during this cooking (350 to 400), but you do use wood for smoke.

Also please note that the cook time is up to two hours, so you will need to add more coals to your fire as you do this. One batch of coals is good for about 1 hour or so of cook time.

You could also do this in a barrel type grill/smoker by following the Kettle style instructions. If you have an offset firebox, consider building a fire in the cooking chamber if your smoker allows that, otherwise, you’ll have to have a super hot fire in your firebox, so you may not want to try this with an offset rig.