Would this work? (Individual Meatloaf)

corblimey

I've been making the pot roast meatloaf that's in JO's Ministry of Food book for a while now, and always have great success with it.

But for the next time, I wonder if this would work. Rather than forming one large loaf once all the mixture has been mixed together, could I make individual mini loaves? Ie take a large handful of the mix, and just sort of form it into its own vague loaf shape. Then arrange all the mini loaves on a baking tray and cook as normal.

Is there anything inherently wrong with this idea? Would cooking time, etc stay the same? I just think it'd be a lot easier to manage in terms of freezing portions, and this way, everybody gets an end piece (2 of them, in fact) - the best bit.

I think it should work, but you never see meatloaf being served this way, so I'm wondering if there's something I'm missing.

The Sweeper

Cooking time would be less. Smaller portions = less time for heat to penetrate the centre. You'd have to watch closely and be the judge of it yourself the first time, and then take a note of how long it took for the next time.

rubadub

Cooking time is less as above, a thick amount of meat insulates itself. Think of a thick burger vs thin. I cut up a roast beef once so I would have more end bits, it also saves on electricity. My oven gets VERY hot, I can get a full chicken and score/cut it deeply in thick areas so heat penetrates, I can section it off and cook it in 40mins (VERY hot, I am not advising others to try it).

corblimey

Thanks all, think I'll give it a try next time I'm cooking up a batch. Bit awkward to judge the cooking time though, as you need to leave meatloaf to 'set' a little after taking it out of the oven, so it's a matter of taking it out, leave it for 10mins, see if it's cooked. If not, back in the oven for another little while. Bit of a pain.

kylith

A meat thermometer might help you tell when it's cooked through.

arista.eatup

Hi I'm arista who writes the blog you've linked to. (I noticed a lot of traffic on my blog from this site and found your question!)

Here is a link to some mini meatloaves I made from a Nigella recipe - it might help with your plan to convert the JO recipe to make smaller portions.

http://aristolafood.blogspot.com/2009/06/mini-meatloaves.html

I'm not sure if you were planning to cook the smaller meatloaves in the sauce or on their own; I assume in the sauce.

I suppose I would do the recipe as you already do, but reduce the inital loaf cooking time a bit (to 15 or 20 mins maybe) because otherwise the little loaves may dry out. Once they are in the sauce and cooking, they should be fine to simmer away in the oven for the normal amount of time.

I know what you mean about the loaf end bits, I love them too!

Hope this helps, from arista

corblimey

Hi, thanks for that Arista. 30mins seems rather short but I guess that fact that you're posting here means they didn't kill you when you ate them . Tks for the link

rubadub

corblimey wrote: »

30mins seems rather short

They really are just thick burgers when you think about it. Many frozen chicken kievs or donegal catch take 25-35mins in the oven and would be just as thick.

corblimey

rubadub wrote: »

They really are just thick burgers when you think about it.

Good analogy, but now you've ruined the idea for me, rubadub. I hate burgers