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First off I have to agree with some of the other folks that if you haven't had a smoked meatloaf you are missing out on a wonderful thing.
Since this was my first smoked one and I was going to use venison, I had all the usual questions about taste and moisture so I made two of them so that I could compare.
The first was made with a pound of venison (all mine is "pure" venison and is not mixed with anything else) and a pound of regular sausage. The second was made with 2 pounds of venison.
I started out with 2 bowls and 2 cups for dry stuff so that I could make them identical except for the meat. First off I added 2 eggs and 3/4 cup of skim milk.
Mixed it up fairly well, more than I do for scrambled eggs or omelets for example.
Next, I stirred in the dry ingredients.
1/2 cup of Panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup onions
1/4 cup green peppers
5-6 shakes of dry parsley
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp diced garlic
1/2 tsp ground sage
1/4 tsp black pepper
Time to "skin" the meats. One sausage and 3 venison.
I put the meat into the bowls and folded in the ingredients until mixed pretty well. Then I formed them into loaf-like shapes on parchment paper. The paper let me move them to the smoker more easily, and it let me sort of push it against the edges of the meat to help support it while it smoked since I didn't want to use a pan to get the most smoke on it I could. Venison/sausage is on the left, all venison on the right.
I smoked at about 250-270 and when it hit 160 internal (about 2 hours) I added the glaze, made up of 1/4 cup ketchup, 2 TBL brown sugar and 1 tsp dry mustard on each loaf. It took another half hour of stomach rumbling for them to get to 165. Again, venison/sausage is on the left, all venison on the right.
Here they are resting and getting ready to cut. Mix is on left, all venison on right still.
Ready to eat! The venison/sausage slice is in front, all venison in the back. Along with it we had my wife's broccoli salad and a spicy dill.
Our conclusion is that the combo had a bit more flavor and stayed a bit more moist. The venison was still plenty moist, just not as much as the sausage mix. Both had great flavor. Next time I'll add even more garlic and onion because we're addicts and can't get enough!
I've had a couple of cold meatloaf sandwiches so far and I'll need a couple more before I can pick the winner of the leftovers contest. But since the venison will be slightly less fat and calories, I guess that should be the winner. Congratulations!
Since this was my first smoked one and I was going to use venison, I had all the usual questions about taste and moisture so I made two of them so that I could compare.
The first was made with a pound of venison (all mine is "pure" venison and is not mixed with anything else) and a pound of regular sausage. The second was made with 2 pounds of venison.
I started out with 2 bowls and 2 cups for dry stuff so that I could make them identical except for the meat. First off I added 2 eggs and 3/4 cup of skim milk.
Mixed it up fairly well, more than I do for scrambled eggs or omelets for example.
Next, I stirred in the dry ingredients.
1/2 cup of Panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup onions
1/4 cup green peppers
5-6 shakes of dry parsley
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp diced garlic
1/2 tsp ground sage
1/4 tsp black pepper
Time to "skin" the meats. One sausage and 3 venison.
I put the meat into the bowls and folded in the ingredients until mixed pretty well. Then I formed them into loaf-like shapes on parchment paper. The paper let me move them to the smoker more easily, and it let me sort of push it against the edges of the meat to help support it while it smoked since I didn't want to use a pan to get the most smoke on it I could. Venison/sausage is on the left, all venison on the right.
I smoked at about 250-270 and when it hit 160 internal (about 2 hours) I added the glaze, made up of 1/4 cup ketchup, 2 TBL brown sugar and 1 tsp dry mustard on each loaf. It took another half hour of stomach rumbling for them to get to 165. Again, venison/sausage is on the left, all venison on the right.
Here they are resting and getting ready to cut. Mix is on left, all venison on right still.
Ready to eat! The venison/sausage slice is in front, all venison in the back. Along with it we had my wife's broccoli salad and a spicy dill.
Our conclusion is that the combo had a bit more flavor and stayed a bit more moist. The venison was still plenty moist, just not as much as the sausage mix. Both had great flavor. Next time I'll add even more garlic and onion because we're addicts and can't get enough!
I've had a couple of cold meatloaf sandwiches so far and I'll need a couple more before I can pick the winner of the leftovers contest. But since the venison will be slightly less fat and calories, I guess that should be the winner. Congratulations!
for a great post & side by side comparison. 
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