# Would you say that you "baked a meatloaf"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [April 15, 2021, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088 "2021-04-15T16:31:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088/41 "2021-04-16T03:08:56Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > I don’t think anybody would assume it was … microwaved Your meatloaf will be ready in eight seconds, Homer. [![](https://deadhomersociety.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/onefishtwofishblowfishbluefish8_thumb.png?w=512&h=384) ](https://deadhomersociety.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/onefishtwofishblowfishbluefish8_thumb.png?w=512&h=384) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088/42 "2021-04-16T03:37:41Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Funny thing is, I have actually said, “I made a baked ziti last night”. Not that I do a lot of cooking. I’m mostly a grill guy. But I have _made_ baked ziti. Since there is more than one way to prepare a ziti dish, “baked ziti” describes the item, so “making a baked ziti” makes sense. It’s basically saying “I made a ziti casserole”. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088/43 "2021-04-16T10:51:56Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > It does occur to me that I never refer to baking a steak when you cook it in the oven. But I would also never call it roasted. It’s just “cooked in the oven.” Ham, turkey and chicken are all baked in an oven, as are casseroles. Whereas I think that I would always refer to “roasted turkey”. Chicken, it would depend on the cut: A whole chicken in the oven would be roasted, but cuts of breast, probably with some sort of sauce on them, would be “baked chicken”. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088/44 "2021-04-16T11:56:47Z")
I would say “made” meatloaf, but “baked” is fine too. As an aside, why do all the TV chefs say they “popped” a meatloaf into the oven? Or anything else you put into an oven. Pop it into the oven. Drives me crazy. Just say “put” or “place”. Pop pop pop. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088/45 "2021-04-16T12:07:52Z")
It sounds like bathroom humor. You step into the public restroom, and the wave of stench hits you. “Christ,” you say, “Somebody really baked a meatloaf in here.” ---
**Author:** ![eburacum\_45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum_45/32/3385_2.png) [@eburacum\_45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum_45)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088/46 "2021-04-16T12:18:06Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I would say “baked a meatloaf” just like I bake a steak and kidney pie. Exactly. You bake steak pie, chicken pie, leek and ham pie, cornish pasties, pork pies, sausage rolls; what is so different about baking meatloaf? Or vegetarian loaf, which is more to my taste these days. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088/47 "2021-04-16T14:11:55Z")
I’d say baked a meatloaf, especially since I always have it with baked potatoes which are side by side with the meatloaf in my oven. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088/48 "2021-04-16T22:13:13Z")
Since this is the dope, let’s come up with the best term that really stretches a possible definition such as I “hatched a meatloaf.” ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088/49 "2021-04-16T22:32:01Z")
I forged a meatloaf. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088/50 "2021-04-16T22:38:27Z")
In the depths of Mount Doom. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088/51 "2021-04-16T22:42:55Z")
One meatloaf to rule them all… ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088/52 "2021-04-16T22:53:27Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I have and do say “baked a meatloaf” without having any cognitive dissonance. Some websites make a technique distinction between baking and roasting (higher vs. lower temperatures, covered vs. uncovered), but it is definitely an odd little linguistic grey area. I wouldn’t say “baked” (I’d say “made”) but it’d sound perfectly acceptable to me if someone else said it. But I was surprised to see people here saying “I cooked meatloaf”. That’s just sounds wrong to me… like they boiled it or something. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088/53 "2021-04-16T23:18:43Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > One meatloaf to rule them all… and with the breadcrumbs bind them. ---
**Author:** ![Jungian\_Camisole1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jungian_camisole1/32/3646_2.png) [@Jungian\_Camisole1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jungian_Camisole1)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088/54 "2021-04-16T23:46:12Z")
I would say that I made a meatloaf. Tomorrow, I will make Baked Twizzler Surprise. Will it be red? Will it be black? _I don’t know!_ ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2021, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088/55 "2021-04-17T12:13:31Z")
There are no buttons on my oven that say “Make” “Cook” or “Hatch”. “Bake”, “Broil”, “Convection Bake” and “Convection Roast” are the options. So, I guess that I bake pretty much anything I put in there. Its not clear to me what the difference is between baking and roasting regarding the functioning of the oven. I did see a definition that said things with “existing structure” (meat, veggies etc.) are roasted while things without structure until heated are baked. But that definition has nothing to do with how something is cooked, only what is being cooked. I think I’ll just change the "B"s to "M"s on two of the buttons and sleep better at night. ---
**Author:** ![PB\_J](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6de8d8/32.png) [@PB\_J](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PB_J)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2021, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088/56 "2021-04-17T12:17:55Z")
My mother, (not known for her cooking skills) “made” meatloaf on the stove top. It was in what I guess what a high side frying pan, with a cover. It was covered in tomatoe sauce and I seem to think it had cut up potatoes on the side. I put meatloaf in the oven. I would say I “made” a meat loaf, and also I “made” a cake or “made” a pie. However I think “baked” a meatloaf is correct also. (unless you are my mother) ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088/57 "2021-04-18T06:01:07Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > I do not think there are many other ways to cook a meatloaf than by baking it. My parents always make meatloaf in a pressure cooker. My dad’s parents didn’t have an oven when they first built the house in 1941. Actually the house didn’t even have a bathroom when it was first built. They bought baked goods from the baked good equivalent of a milk man. I never knew meat loaf could be made in an oven until I had a house and didn’t have a pressure cooker. It just never occurred to me that a meatloaf could be cooked in something other than a pressure cooker. And now that I have a multi-cooker, I might try meatloaf in that. “What did you make for dinner?” “I made meatloaf.” “How did you cook it?” “In the oven.” Typical conversation with my parents. So even if it is baked meatloaf, I wouldn’t say I baked it in the oven. But that’s me. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088/58 "2021-04-18T13:14:58Z")
Typical Recipe & instructions SEE LAST LINE!: Meatloaf Meatloaf is an American institution. In addition to being easy to prepare, EVERYBODY loves it. [By PTRULL](https://www.allrecipes.com/cook/118987/) **Recipe Summary** **Prep:** 10 mins **Cook:** 1 hr **Total:** 1 hr 10 mins **Servings:** 9 **Yield:** 9 servings **Ingredients** Decrease Serving 9 Increase Serving Adjust Original recipe yields 9 servings Ingredient Checklist - 2 pounds lean ground beef - 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup - 1 onion, finely diced - 1 cup rolled oats - 2 eggs, beaten - 1 tablespoon steak sauce - ½ cup ketchup - 3 tablespoons prepared mustard **Directions** Instructions Checklist - **Step 1** Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). - **Step 2** Combine ground beef, soup, chopped onion, rolled oats, eggs, steak sauce, ketchup, and mustard in a large bowl. Mix well. - **Step 3** Shape into a loaf, and pat into a loaf pan. - **Step 4** Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, about 1 hour. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088/59 "2021-04-18T13:16:10Z")
I loafed my meat! ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088/60 "2021-04-18T17:20:41Z")
‘Make’ sound more natural to me but I wouldn’t blink at baked. Even things I’d refer to as baked like potatoes, I think I’d be more inclined to say ‘I made some baked potatoes.’ > [@TriPolar](#): > > Just keep things confusing, I’ll point out that meatloaf is a loaf, in the same sense as a loaf of bread, and sometimes made in a loaf pan. And it is baked. When I make meatloaf on the smoker, there’s no loaf pan. It’s a freeform loaf, similar to a boule or round sourdough (but more resembling, ahem, a cow pie at the end). It can be pretty loose at first so I put it on a piece of foil over a rack with a drip tray. After a little while it sets up and I take away the foil so the smoke can reach every part of the surface. It doesn’t look like what most people expect meatloaf to be but it certainly is. Not that I don’t also like a more traditional oven baked pan formed meatloaf, either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-you-baked-a-meatloaf/940088.md?page=4)