It might be a missed assumption on my part. I assume it’s the fat, but maybe it’s just the kind of meat.
Thanks, everyone for all your help and tips, especially MLS. I had an issue on my way out of work, and ended up coming home without the printouts for the recipe I had looked up at work, and I remembered yours because it was simple. I did, however, replace the bread with one cup ground oatmeal, and, because I’m Latina, I added a packet of Goya cilantro y achiote, some sofrito, and replaced the Worcestershire sauce with a dash of algarrobina (carob syrup). Oh, and I browned the onions before I blended them and mixed them in. By the way, the pan of water worked! Moist and no cracks.
It is DELICIOUS. I could eat the whole thing. I had to tear myself away. I managed to bring it in at 125 calories a slice, minus about 20 calories per tablespoon of sauce. I’m steaming asparagus and making mashed potatoes to go with. I feel so American! 
Thanks, everyone!
This may be heresy to many, but I’ve always reached for the Hellmann’s when having a cold meatloaf sammich. Mom used to make em with ketchup and lettuce. Well, I am sorry Mom. Mayo it is !!!
I do adore me some meatloaf. Here’s what I usually do:
3 pounds meat. Equal parts buffalo, 80% lean beef and turkey. Sometimes it’s buffalo, pork and turkey.
1 large onion. Minced finely. Raw.
About 1/2 cup Salmon Bros BBQ sauce. This stuff is the sauce of the gods. It’s from Norman, Oklahoma. Don’t even TALK to me about Texas BBQ. This family joint, my goodness. Lacking some Salmon Bros, I go for Smokey Joe’s sauce.
1/2 cup - 3/4 cup bread crumbs with Italian seasonings.
2 eggs
Liberal dashes of garlic powder and oregano. I know, it sounds like I’m doing half Italian and half BBQ. It works. They all play together well in the same sandbox.
Mix. Do NOT pre-cook the onions. Form into gigantic oval lump. Like a football cut in half.
Cook for 2 hours more or less at 325•
That should make enough for plenty of leftovers for the above-mentioned sammiches. Which should be made on marble rye bread. Because some soft white bread cannot handle the sheer mass of a slab of meatloaf. Not to mention the mayo. And sliced tomatoes. And hunk 'o Romaine lettuce.
Marble Rye. From Liss Bakery in Philly, except that they’re outa business. Dammit. But find yourself a nice thick-crusted marble rye. With seeds.
It is best consumed while sitting along the East River Drive on a hot day watching the river and sipping a Frank’s Black Cherry Wishniak soda.
Cartooniverse
Allow me to give the contrary opinion. I hate Alton Brown’s meatloaf recipe. We tried it once then flushed it away. Awful. And I usually love his stuff. Several of his recipes are on heavy rotation in my house.
I guess this is pretty low class and shows how common I am, but you know, it’s hard to beat the Lipton Onion Soup meatloaf recipe. Really.
I put a bit of milk in the bottom of the loaf pan and put a few slices of bread in to soak, and use that as the stiffener.
Meat loaf is the one thing I can make without a recipe, since I made tons in college since ground beef was so cheap. Bacon on top definitely works. The Liptons Onion Soup version is good. Since we saw it in a grocery in San Francisco, we now put some cooked corn inside also. For flavor, ketchup and barbecue sauce both works. Meatloaf is the one thing my wife says I make better than her mother.
As for meat, a lot of the recipes I’ve seen call for mixing ground beef, ground pork and even ground turkey, though we’ve only used one each.
Ah, sazon! Makes everything taste better. That’s some good stuff.
I may have the Mafioso part of my in-laws coming after me for posting this, but what the hell. Here is my step-mother-in-law’s fantastic meatloaf recipe:
Measurements are approximate, as is cooking time.
3 lbs ground beef
1 egg
Italian bread crumbs (1-1 ½ c.)
Garlic Powder (about 1 ½ tsp.)
Onion powder (about 2 tsp.)
Seasoned salt (about 1 Tbsp.)
Ketchup (about 3-4 Tbsp.)
Mustard (about 2 Tbsp.)
A-1 steak sauce (about 3-4 Tbsp.)
Mix everything together in large bowl, and add more bread crumbs until it all sticks together. Shape into a long, 3” wide loaf, and place in large baking pan with a little oil. Bake at 350…
While you peel and halve russet potatoes, the long way, about 1-2 per person. Place these around the meatloaf flat side up and put more onion powder, garlic powder, and seasoned salt on the potatoes. Add a little more oil to make sure the bottom of the pan is covered.
Bake until meat gets brown, and then turn the meatloaf (this is quite a feat, and rather messy) to brown the other side. Turn potatoes every 15-20 minutes.
When potatoes get brown, cut down the middle of the meatloaf to make sure it’s cooked all the way. If not, turn the oven up. (I love this last instruction.)
All told, it’s about 1 ½ hours in a 350 oven.
It’s even better the next day or two, reheated.
Both milk recipes called for 1/4 cup. I just lightly sprinkle the bread with water (maybe about a tablespoon’s worth). Just wondering what the milk does, I’ve not seen a meatloaf recipe calling for milk before, and would have thought it’d curdle or something.
I would like one piece of advice though, if anyone has an idea. I swear I use the same recipe as my mom, except for the difference in soup mixes. I’m cooking at the same temp, same amount of time, etc. But hers comes out with this nice crust on it. I can’t for the life of me get that nice crust on mine. It’s not burned, exactly, but it’s just a bit crusty on the outside. I’ve tried cooking mine uncovered, raising the temp, etc, but I can’t get it. She doesn’t rub anything on the outside or baste it with anything. Other than the crust, mine tastes the same. Any suggestions?
Mmmm. meatloaf… mine is: In 2 lbs hamburger use: 1 whole onion & one whole green pepper, processed, or diced very fine. 2/3 C Parmesan cheese, 1 C Stove top stuffing, crushed or processed fine, 1 egg, 5T French Dressing salt, pepper, garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce, to taste. Glaze with honey mustard.
Holy crap, am I glad I’ve got ground beef and pork in the fridge at home! I was going to make a meatloaf tonight, and now I have all kinds of ideas to try!
Atomicflea, next time you’ve got to work yourself up to a meat cake! 
I don’t know if it’s your mom’s method, but take a look at the recipe I posted, and note that there are two stages of cooking, the first being a pre-sear in a very hot pan. That’d get you the crust.
Also, bread crumbs are not an abomination if you make them yourself. Out of a can? Satan’s skin flakes, I agree. But they don’t have to be.
Is her oven gas and yours electric? Or is her oven markedly cleaner than yours? Or does she preheat her oven and you don’t? Have you both calibrated your ovens with an oven thermometer? That crust is the mark of a good hot blast, or heat bouncing nicely off shiny clean oven walls.
My secret ingredients are a box of low sodium StoveTop stuffing for the breadcrumbs, and a can of Campbell’s condensed vegetable beef soup. As well as onion, green peppers, garlic. and worcestershire sauce.
I’m so glad I could help. It’s really a concoction that everyone modifies a bit at a time to suit tastes. One of my friends used to moisten the mix with a can of condensed alphabet soup. The pasta letters would show up in the finished product to amuse her kids.
Panko. The only way to fly.
Since we’re all sharing here’s mine:
1-1/4 C ground beef
1-1/2 C bread crumbs
small onion chopped fine
1 egg
1 tblspn horseradish
1 tspn salt
1/4 ketchup
1/4 milk
1/4 tspn Lowreys seasoning salt
Mix together in loaf pan. Cover with foil, bake 1 hour at 350. Uncover and bake 15 minutes. Drain excess fat and serve with mashed potato, gravy, veggie, coleslaw and rolls. Serves 4.
She doesn’t sear hers, just preheats the oven and pops it in.
Yeah, hers is gas and mine is electric. So should I try cooking mine at a higher temp to compensate?
Hmmm…you could try finishing yours at a higher temp, about 10 minutes or so at 400 or even 450. Cooking it at a higher temp the whole time will leave you with an overcooked exterior and an undercooked interior. But I’m afraid I don’t know much about electric ovens. A gas could turn up the heat hot enough to make a pretty quick change; I don’t know the lag time on an electric. You might have to cook it most of the way, take it out and cover it with foil while the oven heats up more, and then put it back in (uncovered).
Searing it on the stove first is definitely an option, but it’s more work, and if your meatloaf is at all squishy, it might not hold loaf shape well for you.
How do you feel about cooking in crockery? Alton Brown’s been known to heat a huge clay patio flowerpot and saucer in a crappy oven to cook his standing rib roast nice and crisp on the outside and juicy in the middle. 
Just one tip. The key to a tender meatloaf is to handle the meat as gently and as little as possible. The more you handle it the denser it becomes.