Bacon Barbecue Slow Cooker Meatloaf
Try this Bacon Barbecue Slow Cooker Meatloaf recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Bacon Barbecue Slow Cooker Meatloaf recipe, or contribute your own.
- Carbohydrate 36.5542139658641 g
- Cholesterol 212.500000000845 mg
- Fat 9.54666810587114 g
- Fiber 1.39469858543497 g
- Protein 11.1764919488016 g
- Saturated Fat 2.69732200985946 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (259g)
- Sodium 610.120935256649 mg
- Sugar 35.1595153804292 g
- Trans Fat 1.12784140832444 g
- Calories 280 calories
Step-by-step
- In a large bowl, add the eggs,onion, barbecue sauce, milk, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
- Crush the saltine crackers in next, and mix this all together with clean hands.
- Add the ground beef and bacon next, only mixing everything until it just comes together.
- Spray a 6-quart slow cooker with non-stick spray, and shape the meat into a loaf on the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Cover, and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours, without opening the lid during cooking time.
- Scoop out the fat with a spoon, discard.
- Top the cooked meatloaf with the additional barbecue sauce and crumbled bacon!
- Enjoy!
Crushed saltine crackers serve as the structural binder that absorbs moisture from the milk and eggs while keeping the protein matrix tender instead of rubbery. Unlike traditional baked loaves that develop an exterior crust through dry oven heat, slow cooker preparations rely on enclosed steam circulation to cook uniformly while rendering fat. Incorporating finely diced white onions adds essential moisture as they break down during the prolonged cooking cycle. Ground beef with a ten percent fat content provides sufficient internal lubrication so the meat remains juicy despite the extended simmering time. While purists often trace American meatloaf back to nineteenth-century scrapple or German-American budget stretchers like Hamburg steak, modern slow-cooked variations lean heavily into twentieth-year barbecue traditions.
Judging Doneness Without a Probe
Relying on visual and textural indicators ensures food safety and optimal moisture retention when an instant-read thermometer is unavailable. The exterior edges should pull away cleanly from the ceramic insert by roughly one-quarter of an inch. Inserting a thin metal skewer directly into the center of the loaf should reveal juices that run completely clear rather than pink or cloudy. Overcooking results in dry protein fibers that expel their internal moisture into the surrounding rendered fat pool, which must be spooned away carefully before the final glaze application.Adapting Binders and Proteins
Replacing the sodium-heavy saltine crackers requires matching their dry starch weight to prevent a crumbly texture. Gluten-free saltines or crushed rice cereal flakes work well as direct substitutes at a one-to-one volume ratio. Mixing the ground beef and bacon gently with clean hands prevents the proteins from developing toughness through over-kneading, which turns ground meat into a sausage-like consistency. Allowing the finished loaf to rest inside the switched-off cooker for ten minutes lets the internal temperature stabilize and makes slicing considerably easier.
