Note this does not have to be meatloaf but when combining any set of ingredients with ground meat.
For instance when making meatloaf you add a variety of ingredients and most recipes tell you to mix it with your hands. When I do that the whole things kinda turns to paste.
I was trying a turkey burger last night and it all became meat paste. It tasted fine when cooked but lacked the texture I would like. Gone are the ribbons of meat.
While combining the ingredients I tried to be careful but I could see I would either get a well mixed paste or a poorly mixed but more meaty product if I stopped early. Neither seemed a good option.
Really cold meat. I always get hamburger too chunky*for chili because I start with cold meat. So reverse engineering says, to me, start with very cold meat.
1: Cold hands–get a bowl of ice water. Dunk your hands frequently
2: Don’t squoosh the ingredients: use your (cold) fingers to scoop the stuff from the bottom and sort of roll/fold it over the top. Sort of fluffing it. It takes about double the time, but it works and keeps the loaf loose. Keep dunking your hands in the cold water.
This. You don’t’want to squeeze everything together because that makes it pasty. I get in there with bare hands and just fold everything over until just combined. Additional liquid naturally adds a pasty quality – raw egg, for example, or if you’re adding something like ketchup – so you have to be mindful of folding everything together so it doesn’t become actually pasty.
I kind of rough grind the meat (we never buy it already ground, but do it in a Cuisinart). Then I mix it with a heavy plastic spoon. And not too much mixing.
I’ve never had this problem, and I use standard ground beef from the refrigerator, and my hands. I put in the binding ingredients first, and then the liquid ones. I’d wonder if this problem comes from using too much liquid - only a small bit does it.
Just made meatloaf last night. Herbed beef and pork (1lb each) with chives, basil, green pepper and parsley (I’m missing another herb can’t remember it). Two eggs. And 1/2 cup of bread crumbs.
What I will do is use a spoon to get things slightly mixed first. You could just add the ingredients in smaller batches and sort of layer it in the mixing bowl. Don’t work it too hard. Then just use my hands to make sure things are mixed up. As others have said, fold things together more than ‘squish’ it.
Came out just right, but I think a little bit of tomato paste is on order for this recipe.
Also made mashed 'tators. Because you HAVE to have mashed potatoes with meatloaf. I use red potatoes, and add cream cheese when mashing them (and butter and milk of course). The sweeter red potatoes and the cream cheese compliment each other very well.
No lamb? I know the recipes, but I started making meatloaf as an undergrad in my dorm room, and there was no way in hell I was going to complicate things by mixing meats.
I got very good at it. My wife admits that my meatloafs are better than here mother’s.
I know the recipes, but I started making meatloaf as an undergrad in my dorm room, and there was no way in hell I was going to complicate things by mixing meats.