Smoked Meatloaf - Bacon Wrapped and Other Versions Weekend Smoke

I haven't done Meatloaf on the WSM (Weber Smokey Mountain) in quite a long time so while I was at the store I picked up the necessary ingredients and thought I would add a little variety to the cook this time by adding a few more ingredients. I purchased  4lbs Ground Beef, 2lbs Ground Pork, 1lb Bacon, Red and White Onions, Zucchini and the rest of the ingredients I already had at home.

So with the amount of meat that I purchased I was going to make two separate loaves and try different ingredients in each. While this would be fine, I figured what the heck, I'll make 4 different loaves and see if I come across anything that is remarkably better than the other Meatloaves that I've had. A quick look around the kitchen to see what I had and I was off with my plan. Here is what I came up with for the 4 loaves. Before adding the unique ingredients of each I mixed all the meat together with the sautéed onions, red bell peppers, garlic, then ground pepper, corn flakes, saltines, oats, then lightly dusted with BBQ rub I had left from the Butt/Chuck smoke, after mixing with my hands I then added 6 beaten eggs and sectioned off 4 pieces to make the individual 4 loaves:


Meatloaf #1 - Double OG (onion garlic)

• red and white onions diced (doubled)
• garlic freshly minced (doubled)
• red bell peppers diced
  
• corn flakes, saltines, oats
• eggs beaten
• bacon wrap
  

Meatloaf #2 - Zucchini Mushroom

• red and white onions diced 
  
• garlic freshly minced
• red bell peppers diced
  
• corn flakes, saltines, oats
• eggs beaten
• zucchini diced
• mushrooms diced
• bacon wrap
  

Meatloaf #3 - Jalapeño

• red and white onions diced
  
• garlic freshly minced 
  
• red bell peppers diced
  
• corn flakes, saltines, oats
• eggs beaten
• jalapeño fresh (2) de-seeded diced

Meatloaf #4 - Salsa, Black Beans & Cilantro

• red and white onions diced 
  
• garlic freshly minced 
  
• red bell peppers diced
  
• corn flakes, saltines, oats
  
• eggs beaten
• salsa
• black beans
• cilantro fresh
• chili spices(new mex, ancho pasilla)
  

After all the loaves where formed I placed each on wax paper and lightly dusted with BBQ rub.

The WSM was filled with 1.25 chimneys of Kingsford charcoal and Cherry and Hickory wood chunks. It was at 325° when I placed the waterless foiled pan on and then on the lower grate I added the Salsa Bean and the Jalapeño loaves. The upper grate was installed and the 2 bacon wrapped loaves (zucchi-mushroom, doubleOG) went on. I placed a probe in one of the loaves on the lower grate and one probe to the upper loaf to monitor temperatures.

First basting with the 2 different glazes came on when the loaves hit 155°, the WSM smoker was running around 295°. The bottom loaves got a glaze of ketchup and Tapatio hot sauce, chile powders. The upper loaves got a glaze of BBQ sauce, Ketchup, brown sugar.

After around 10-15 additional minutes the loaves reached an internal of 165° and I removed them from the smoker. The rested with a aluminum foil lightly covering the top then sliced and sampled. My impressions were the additional spices and salt could have easily been increased to all the loaves. Each had a very mild taste as I was very light on adding spices. There was no clear winner out of the 4 loaves we tried. Perhaps when the second or the third servings are devoured we'll have a favorite. The Jalapeño was not spicy at all and I could've increased the amount added to that loaf. The Salsa bean loaf flavor wasn't nearly as flavorful as I thought it would be with the strong ingredients added, especially the chili powder. They each were very delicious and had great smoke flavor and added depth with the glaze and different ingredients. I'm looking forward to the arduous task of judging the leftovers until they're finished.


Bacon Wrapped Double Onion Garlic & Zucchini Mushroom Meatloaf



Salsa Black Bean Cilantro & Jalapeño Meatloaf


Bacon Wrap Zucchini Mushroom Sliced


Salso Black Bean Cilantro Sliced


Jalapeño Sliced

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WSM - Pork Butt and Beef Chuck Roast Weekend Smoke

I purchased 3 Picnic Pork Butts and 1 Beef Chuck Roast for dinner this Sunday evening. I fully plan on having lots of leftovers and will vacuum seal most with the Foodsaver. I am getting a very late start this Sunday as it is almost noon. Didn't feel like doing my traditional overnight due to several factors including the wind and light rain that started late last night. We have an overcast day today but the wind has died down and a only a little chance of rain in evening.




I set up the WSM (Weber Smoky Mountain) with two chimneys full of unlit Kingsford charcoal and then added my smoke wood, 2  pieces of Hickory, 1 piece of Apricot, 3 pieces of Cherry wood. I foiled a water pan to obtain higher cook temperatures since I'm short on time. My usual plan would be adding the larger Brinkmann water pan filled with warm water and relax for a 12-14hr cook at 220°-230°. I currently have the 3 bottom vents open at 50/50/0 and I am more than likely going to have to adjust the vents in the cook to start low and based on time open them up to speed the cook. The WSM was running 270° so I then changed vents to 50/0/0. I don't want to be outside tending the cook and pulling pork late in the evening but for the most part I'll just let the WSM do it's thing. Meat temperatures are being monitored remotely with my Maverick thermometer with 2 probes. One is being used on the upper Pork Butt and the other in the Beef Chuck roast also on the upper grate. Made a quick rub with the following:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 kosher salt
• 3 TBS turbinado sugar
• 3 TBS granulated garlic
• 3 TBS granulated onion
• 2 TBS new mexico chile fresh ground
• 2 TBS ancho pasilla chile fresh ground
• 2 TBS minced dried garlic
• 1 TBS coarse ground black pepper
  
• 1 TBS oregano dried
• 3 tsp old bay seasoning
• 2 tsp thyme
  
• 2 tsp all spice
• 2 tsp cumin
  
• 2 tsp seasoning salt

Will update as the cook progresses -

Here is the beer assortment that my Brother brought over, he's running another Triathlon this weekend so no brew for him. I've had some of these before but the new ones are the Don De Dieu and the little Budda (novelty -lucky drink co. china). others - Celebrator  / Afflingem /  Samuel Smith

Updated 2pm - Beef was at 168° so I decided to pull it off take a few pics, foil it, then return it to the smoker until fork tender. Pork is at 155°ish

Updated 2:45pm - WSM @ 265° and upper pork @ 164°


Updated 3:20pm - WSM @ 255° opened and checked tenderness of Beef and used fork to sample end cut - delicious and internal 210°, lots of juice! I decided to leave the beef, pork looks good, put the other probe in one of the lower pork to get temps.  Upper pork 168° lower pork 162°

Update 4:30pm - WSM @ 260° - fork tender throughout, removed top foil and sample for snacking. Ready to remove and then add more pics.

Update 5:05pm  - WSM @ 270° - took off the Beef Chuck and brought inside to rest. It didn't get a lot of rest, constant fingers taking samples off. Made a couple tacos while still monitoring temps of Pork.

Corn tortillas in a pan with a tad butter to warm them up, added pulled beef when I could stop putting directly into my mouth, fresh jalapeños diced with onions and tomatoes, cilantro, queso fresco cheese, cheddar, hot sauce red, green sauce

Update End Of Cook - Pork was taken off the smoker around 5:50pm and foiled and place back on the smoker. I would have preferred not to foil the Pork as normally done during my other low and slow cooks. Finally at 7:10-7:50pm I took the foiled Pork off and left them rest. Pulled the Pork later and noticed almost no fat, all rendered off very well, only thing that really got thrown away was the bones that came out very easily. Good Pork Picnics that are cooling off in the fridge and most will go into vacuum sealed Foodsaver bags with ample amount saved for meals in the fridge separately.

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WSM Smoker Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin Stuffed and Peppers

Another Pork loin stuffed and smoked on the Weber Smokey Mountain smoker. This was a request from a family member for our vacation up to Lake Tahoe, California. The plan was to roll slice the Pork loin and add similar stuffing ingredients as I've done before except that I will add a Bacon wrap around the Garlic/Spinach/Mushroom to give it additional flavor. I also added fresh Sourdough bread(should've toasted) in place of using croutons or bread crumb stuffing. Here are a few pics of the BBQ which turned out great.
(previous stuffed loin cooks with similar ingredients and pics here, and  here )





The meal was cooked the day before then I used my Foodsaver vacuum sealer to seal the whole meal and place in the fridge. I followed other cooks advice who use a pot full of boiling water to reheat the meal directly in the package to ensure moistness. It was the first time I reheated in this fashion as I usually will use the oven or for smaller portions the all familiar Microwave. The ABT's (stuffed jalapeños) have to be reheated in the oven to obtain the crisp bacon and allowing the firmness of the pepper to retain.

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WSM: Pork Loin Stuffed - Garlic Mushroom and Apple Cranberry

Here are the pics from the weekend using the WSM (Weber Smokey Mountain) smoker. I bought a 10.14lb Pork Loin that I sliced in half and then roll sliced the two pieces for 2 different stuffings.




Pork Loin Stuffings

1. Freshly minced garlic 1 bulb, 10oz sliced mushrooms, red onions, spinach, salt pepper and some bbq rub, into skillet for just about 5 mins to meld the flavors, added a little white wine and then a package of Corn Bread stuffing mix, mixed and set aside.


2. Granny Smith apples, Cranberries(ocean spray sweetened cranberries in bag) about 1 handful, red onion, Orange rind and juice and half orange added, fresh ground pepper and salt and added to skillet for 5mins approx and a little cornbread stuffing mix that was left over.





Loin Prep / Pre Smoke

After roll slicing the 2 pork loins I salt and peppered the inside and added stuffing, rolled the stuffing, and then used 100% cotton butcher twine to tie and secure, salt pepper the outside on each. I added just a dusting of bbq spice on the Mushroom Garlic.

WSM Smoking

Used the middle grate for the Pork Loins and the empty, foiled water pan, it was around 320° when I added the loins. I had Apricot wood chunks and a chunk of Hickory for this cook.

About 25mins later I finished preparing the ABT (stuffed Jalapenos) and I added those to the upper grate. (creams cheese, red onion, bbq spice rub, covered in bacon)

Into the cook about 1.5 hours I added my first glaze to the Apple Cran loin. The glaze was heated in a saucepan till bubbling and consisted of Blackberry preserves and lemon juice. I applied the second time about 15mins before removing the loins. The Garlic Mushroom was not touched once it was on the WSM, but they both received drippings from the ABT's above, heavenly bacon drippings!

Finished

Abt's were on for approx 1h45mins and then off
Pork Loin had about a 2h45min cook to 160° internal temp. The WSM went from 320­° - 280° throughout the cook.

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