- Grandma, we love you, we wanna do a recipe
that really honors you. We're gonna up the game just
a little with some technique. Classic family meatloaf, here we go. (soft hiphop music) I mean, you're cooking more at home, we're cooking more here
at the Test Kitchen at Certified Angus Beef, and what we've found is a new appreciation for the classics, and that
includes grandma's meatloaf. We're gonna up the game, we're gonna explain some of the techniques she may not have shown you, and we're gonna hone in on some techniques to elevate the game on meatloaf. Let's get it started. We'll be starting with
some quality ground beef, but, before we get to that, let's prepare our loaf pan. Take a standard size loaf pan, and spray a little nonstick spray on the bottom and sides. We'll use that to get our plastic wrap to lay smoothly on the bottom and sides. Push out any air bubbles, and smooth out the plastic. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, and let's get to preparing
a few ingredients to go into our meatloaf. Over the years, there's been many ways that we season meatloaf, some good and some, well, not so good. It's a happy family. (Chef Michael laughs) Yeah, all right. No. No, don't put that in there. Here's a meatloaf respecting tradition, but one you can feel
proud serving your family. First, some garlic. Give a little smash with
the back of your knife, peel the husk off, that works pretty well, and then go ahead and mince that clove into what will be about one
tablespoon of minced garlic. Now to the onion. Just cut the top off, then peel, keeping the root side intact. This is definitely old school. We're gonna grate the
onion on a box grater. What's cool about this is, it'll create an onion pulp, giving us great flavor in our meatloaf without the onion texture
that comes from dicing. At least in our family, we're not fans of onion
pieces in our meatloaf. About half a large onion will give you the half cup
needed for this recipe. Now to the star of the
show, some ground beef. For the best in flavor and texture, I'm going for 80% lean ground chuck. In a large mixing bowl, we're gonna break up two
pounds into loose chunks, keeping the beef around
the outside in a ring so, the center, we leave a hole. We'll show you why here in a second. Now, let's add all of our ingredients, the onion, which kinda looks like snow, the minced garlic, two
cups of bread crumbs, in this case, Panko-style bread crumbs to get us great texture. We'll make sure we have
that well in the center because we're gonna put these two eggs right in the middle there, and we'll focus on putting
the other ingredients on the outside ring, so that'll be our salt, one tablespoon, a teaspoon of pepper, tablespoon of brown sugar
sprinkled on the outside, a tablespoon of mustard powder, and two tablespoons of ketchup. Finally, pour your milk into
the center with the eggs, and then, with a fork,
we'll whisk those eggs and milk together. And, with your hands, lift the mixture, turning the mixture slowly and loosely to work everything in a uniform
texture with your fingers. Don't smash through your fist, just lift, crumble, and
incorporate everything. Shape it into a loose log, and transfer it to our loaf pan. Press it into the pan to get out any large air pockets. Welcome back to old school, where we put this right in the oven. No, we're not gonna do that. We're not gonna put it right in the oven. We're gonna upgrade
that technique, grandma. We're gonna invert this onto a sheet tray. That's why I put this
plastic wrap in there. This way, I can lift it. (pan bangs) Give it a little magic pat, and hope that it comes down. And voila, here we go. We still have the loaf pan shape, but now, we have set ourselves up for a better crust all
the way around the sides. Into the oven for just 15
minutes to set the shape. While the meatloaf starts
its journey to perfection, let's get our glaze ready. In a small mixing bowl,
put a 1/3 cup of ketchup, tablespoon of brown sugar, two teaspoons of mustard powder, and two teaspoons of Worcestershire. Whisk that up for a classic glaze. So, after 15 minutes in the oven, the meatloaf's outside is set, and we're ready to add the glaze. Why does the meatloaf
get all the attention? Why can't this be about me? Brush it all over the top and the sides. This glaze will bake on the outside, caramelizing and keeping the inside moist when we put it back in the oven. Back in the oven for
another 45 to 55 minutes. The idea is, the internal temperature should reach 160 degrees
when we pull it out. Your kitchen will smell so good. Let the meatloaf rest for
about 10 or 15 minutes to set. Then we're gonna transfer
that to a cutting board. Use two spatulas to make a safe transfer. Now, we're ready to slice. Easy enough to slice, but still has loose, soft texture, moist with classic flavors. So there we have a traditional meatloaf that grandma would be proud of, and you would be proud of now serving to your family. Make sure you like and
subscribe to this channel, and we'll see you next time at the Test Kitchen of
Certified Angus Beef.
