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Smoked Meatloaf for the OT Win!
Much like the U.S. Men’s hockey team victory in OT against Sweden this meatloaf took longer than expected but was a winner.
I was planning on a 1.5 hour cook and it went longer than expected… but it was worth the wait!
I usually don’t follow a recipe for my meatloaf cooks and just take the basic 3 lbs meat + 3 eggs + 1.5 cups breadcrumbs and wing it from there based on what I have on hand.
But today’s meatloaf came out so good I decided to write it down as best I can remember.
Here’s the list of ingredients:
- 2lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 3 eggs lightly beaten
- 1.5 cups breadcrumbs (mix of seasoned italian and panko because that’s what I had)
- 1 largish onion – 1/2 grated and half chopped
- Warning: grating an onion too fast may cause juices to fly in your eye and this burns!
- 4 cloves finely chopped garlic
- 1/2 cup Blues Hog Smoky Mountain BBQ sauce
- couple or so shakes of worcestire
- generous amount of Montreal Steak seasoning
Squished everything together in a big bowl with my hands and formed two loaves or roughly equal size.
Put the loaves on a rack in a half foil pan and seasoned with Meat Church Gospel.
Fired up the Big Green Egg and added a split of hickory.
Smoked around 250-275 degrees for about 1.5 hours then glazed with more of the BBQ sauce.
Then it took about 40 more minutes to get to 160 degrees internal.
Sliced and ate!
Give this a shot as I made it or adjust for your own tastes. Enjoy!
February 19, 2026
Cook to TEMP not TIME
When I first started using a smoker one of my biggest questions was “How long should I smoke this brisket, turkey, butt, etc.?”.
It turns out that I was asking the wrong question. I should have been asking what temperature should I smoke too?
To turn out consistently good BBQ you must cook to a temperature.
First, cooking to a temperature is first a matter of safety. How many times have you pulled a burger or chicken off the grill and when you bite into it it is still bloody red inside?
Some min/ sample temps
And second, cooking to a temperature gives you the consistency you need to turn out good BBQ every time you cook.
When planning your cook time there are some rules of thumb you can use.
Brisket 1.5 hours/lb
Turkey
Pork Butt
But every piece of meat will cook differently so be sure to leave some extra time in your schedule.
So if you’re not cooking by time what temps should you cook to?
Once again here are some rules of thumb…
Brisket 1.5 hours/lb
Turkey
Pork Butt
But every person has their own preferred doneness for meat. We suggest keeping a log and tracking you preference for your finished temps.
How do you measure temp? Cheapie, thermapen, probe put some pics
Be sure to insert your probe or thermometer into the thickest part of the meat.

March 8, 2014
Roadkill Turkey
First of all… NO, the turkey I used was not picked up off the side of the road. But after it had been spatchcocked and was laying there spread turkey (so to speak), the flattened bird reminded me of roadkill.
There was some leftover Alabama White BBQ Sauce in the fridge from a recent cook and one final turkey in the freezer from the Thanksgiving Day sales so smoked turkey sounded like a good idea.
Today was cold (40 degrees) and rainy but this is what you do when you are a BBQ Nut. Plus the smell of smoke always makes things better.
Start with the brine…
I always like to brine my turkeys when I smoke them. The brine helps keep them moist and adds a little flavor too. The following measurements are ballpark as I was making up this brine on the fly with stuff I had around.
2 Gallons of Water
1 Cup Kosher Salt
1 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Oranges (Halved, Juiced, Thrown in)
1 Lime (Halved, Juiced, Thrown in)
1 TBS Rosemary
1 TBS Thyme
Our 16+ pound bird soaked in the brine for 38 hours.
Then the spatchcock…
Would you like your turkey to cook faster? Would you like more flavor in your turkey? Would you like it moist and evenly cooked throughout? If so, then it may be time to spatchcock your next bird.
The first time you try this it may seem a little intimidating but I assure you after doing it once you’ll be an expert. TIP – Use a pair of strong/heavy duty/sharp poultry shears.
To spatchcock your turkey, first locate the backbone and cut down both sides. Then take the backbone out. Flip the turkey over and press down to snap the breast bone. Voila… you’re done!
Next the rub…
This particular bird got coated with spray butter and a healthy dose of Penzeys Northwoods rub. I made sure to get plenty of the butter and rub under the skin also.
The Penzeys Northwoods Seasoning is great on poultry. It is made from coarse flake salt, paprika, black pepper, thyme, rosemary, garlic and chipotle.
Then onto the drum…
The UDS was fired up and ready to go around noon. For this cook I kept the grate temperature around 275 degrees + or – and used a mix of hickory and apple wood to provide the smoke flavor.
Right at the 4 hour mark all the turkey parts had reached 170-180 degrees. At this point it was flipped over to put the skin side down for 30 minutes to crisp up the skin.
Time to eat…
Well not quite time to eat yet but a sample was required while my son and I waited for the rest of the family to return for dinner. We took off the wings and coated them with a healthy dose of the Alabama White BBQ Sauce.
The wing with the white sauce was tasty! It was hard to not keep eating just the turkey but we did and it was worth the wait as the whole meal came out delicious.
Despite the nasty weather this smoked turkey made it seem like it was sunny and 75 today!
January 17, 2013
Alabama White BBQ Sauce – ROLL TIDE!
Yesterday Alabama played Notre Dame for the NCAA BCS Football Championship and I had a couple buddies over for some Q and to watch the game. Being that I was the only Alabama fan I had to cook up something appropriate to help even the odds back in my favor.
For years I’ve heard about Alabama White BBQ Sauce but had never tried it. This would be the perfect opportunity to give it a shot.
White BBQ sauce is a North Alabama regional specialty. Most people outside of this area have never even heard of it. seo companies The sauce is mayonnaise based and has a tangy flavor. It is good on chicken, turkey, and even pork but locals eat it on everything.
A quick history lesson… Big Bob Gibson of Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur, Alabama came up with the white BBQ sauce back in 1925 for his restaurant. Back in that time vinegar and mustard based sauces were typical. Bob didn’t particularly like them on his chicken so he created the mayo based white sauce. The same secret recipe continues to be used at the restaurant and is bottled and for sale around the country.
Unfortunately our local grocery store doesn’t carry the sauce and I didn’t have time to order, so after some research here is the recipe I used to make mine.
Alabama White BBQ Sauce Recipe
2 cups mayo (I prefer Duke’s)
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup apple juice
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed juice from 1 lemon
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Put all ingredients into a bowl and whisk or blend in a food processor to combine. Let sit for 30 minutes, then use immediately or transfer to a jar and store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Well I’ve got to tell you… THIS STUFF WAS GOOD! I smoked and pulled a 6 pound chicken, mixed a little sauce in with the chicken, and then had more white BBQ sauce in a bottle on the side. Four of us had wiped out the chicken before I could even get a picture.
The Crimson Tide easily rolled to a 42-14 victory over the #1 ranked Fighting Irish to win their 3rd BCS Championship in four years and the smoked chicken with Alabama White BBQ Sauce was a big winner too!
January 8, 2013
Earthquake Chicken
On Tuesday, here on the East Coast, we experienced an earthquake that hit 5.8 on the Richter scale. Also on Tuesday I smoked some chicken legs that came out better than expected. Coincidence… maybe?
Early in the morning I put the chicken legs into Ziploc bags to marinade in a bath of Carolina Treet. Just after mid-day the earthquake hit! Our house rattled, pictures on the walls got crooked, stuff fell off of shelves, and that chicken got a little extra vibrating while marinating. During the day we had several smaller aftershocks too. Talk about Shake and Bake!
About 2 hours before dinner I took the chicken out of the marinade and generously dusted the legs with Plowboys Yardbird Rub. Yardbird is a rub I use for a lot of different cooks. slovenia . It is excellent on poultry and just as good on pork.
I fired up the smoker and used a mix of hickory and cherry wood. Once the smoker reached 275 degrees in went the chicken legs. They cooked for about 1.5 hours and had reached about 165 degrees.
To wrap this cook up I very lightly glazed the chicken legs in a mixture of Pork Barrel BBQ Sauce Sweet and Head Country BBQ Sauce. Then back into the smoker at 325 degrees for the final 15 minutes.
These chicken legs turned out delicious! Multi-layers of flavor hit you with each bite. The tang from the Carolina Treet, the zip from the Plowboys rub, and sweet spice from the sauce.
These smoked chickens legs will definitely shake-up your next meal!
August 24, 2011
Breaking News… Corned Beef Becomes Pastrami!
Did you know that when a corned beef brisket is smoked it becomes pastrami? I didn’t! DOH!
I looked in the refrigerator yesterday and found two corned beef briskets. I’ve smoked plenty of briskets but I wondered what would happen if you smoked a corned beef brisket. After getting permission from my wife to experiment on one of them it was off to the internet for some research.
Just when I think I’m starting to become knowledgeable about meat and smoking… WHAM… I realize that I actually still have a lot to learn! What I learned was that if you take a brisket and pickle it you get corned beef brisket and if pastrami rub is added then smoked you get pastrami. So of course I had to try it!
Here’s the procedure I followed…
A. Soak the corned beef brisket to remove some of the salt.
I soaked it in the fridge for about 5 hours. I changed the water twice during that time.
B. Put on a thin coating of yellow mustard and rub it with a mix of black pepper (lots), ground coriander, brown sugar, garlic powder, and onion powder. Let it rest overnight in the fridge.
C. Smoked with a mix of hickory and mesquite at 225-250 degrees until it hit 160.
D. Foiled with a little of my kid’s wild cherry juice box (no apple juice was in the house) until 190.
E. Let it rest for an hour or so in the foil.
F. Tasted a sample to see how it came out. I liked it and my wife declared it tastes like pastrami to her too.
F. Put in the fridge to cut and eat the next day.
I just kind of winged this whole deal… no measurements on the rub and guessed at the cook temps… but it seems to have worked out.
One Day Later… The Final Report…
WOW… This pastrami is amazing!
Before slicing my pastrami, I went to the deli and bought the most expensive pastrami they had. I wanted to do a taste comparison between homemade pastrami and store bought.
The homemade pastrami won hands down! It had so much more flavor than the store bought. I will definitely be doing this cook again. Now all I need is a meat slicer 🙂
March 17, 2011