My wife is one of those that doesn’t really like meatloaf, so I did my best to make a meatloaf that even she would like. I was cooking for 9 people, so I made 2 meatloaves (that’s an odd word!). To make sure it wasn’t just you mother’s meatloaf, I added a bacon lattice and smoked the meatloaf.

I started with Vidalia onions and Anaheim chiles. I got the Bubba Keg grill going at a medium temperture while I sliced two large onions. I put the onion slices on the hot grill along with the whole chiles. In fact, I put the chiles over the hottest part of the fire. I just wanted to cook the onion slices so they were soft, and I roasted the chiles until the skin was dark to black.

Back into the kitchen, I diced up the onion, then peeled the skin off the peppers and diced them up, too. I added 5 pounds of ground chuck, 2 pounds of ground sirloin, and 2 pounds of ground pork. To that, i added about 1 1/2 cups of breadcrumbs and four eggs. I also went out to the garden and got some fresh basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary and Italian parsley to chop up. With my hands, I mixed everything all up.

In one meatloaf, I stuffed the middle with a bit of grated cheddar cheese for the fun of it, then I formed both loaves and put a bacon lattice over them. You might ask what the difference between a bacon weave and a bacon lattice is… That’s easy! A bacon lattice has space between the strips of bacon, and a weave has the bacon strips touching side by side in a tight weave.

The meatloaves went on the Bubba Keg for about 2 hours at 250, until they reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Just before taking it off the grill, I brushed the top with some Javacue Sauce and let it cook onto the meatloaf a bit.

We took the meatloaf to our small group from church, and almost everyone enjoyed it. One person had a childhood thing about meatloaf and won’t eat it. However, someone else hadn’t been eating much of anything, and they devoured more food than I’d ever seen them eat before… which in turn made me feel good!

I think this worked for non-meatloaf lovers for a couple of reasons. 1. It was smoked, which just adds a flavor that can’t easily be matched in the oven. 2. I didn’t overdo the breadcrumbs, so the texture didn’t get that weird feel that some meatloaf can have. 3. The grilled onions and roasted chiles added a different element that just sauteeing them wouldn’t have done. And 4., the fresh herbs, in good quanity (a couple handfuls of herbs), added a freshness that’s tough to find in meatloaf.

It’s worth a try, and it makes great leftovers!

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