Pressure cooker meatloaf?

[FeChef]

Anybody try using a pressure cooker for a "traditional" meatloaf. By traditional, i mean the shape of a loaf pan. I was looking online and to be honest, every pressure cooked meatloaf i came across looks terrible. They look like steamed grey slabs of meat. I was thinking of taking a sous vide approach and sear all 4 sides first, then wrap in some pre cooked bacon, then a thin layer of tomato paste/ketchup mixture.

 

I know it seems like alot of work but i have been so pleased with how well meatballs and sausage turn out pressure cooked, i was hoping to see if meatloaf would come out just as good. I was just surprised by such bad online examples.

[Deryn]

I haven't tried meatloaf in my Instant Pot yet but I saw a picture of one done in it and I would agree with you about how it looked. Consequently it has not been first on my list of things to try in the new machine. It looked unappetizing but I am sure it probably tastes just fine. Maybe you could brown it first in the pot before cooking then set it up to cook and add the tomato paste, etc. to the top and finally, once it is done, put some crispy bacon on top?

Edited August 12, 2015 by Deryn (log)

[FeChef]

I haven't tried meatloaf in my Instant Pot yet but I saw a picture of one done in it and I would agree with you about how it looked. Consequently it has not been first on my list of things to try in the new machine. It looked unappetizing but I am sure it probably tastes just fine. Maybe you could brown it first in the pot before cooking then set it up to cook and add the tomato paste, etc. to the top and finally, once it is done, put some crispy bacon on top?

So far what ive done is lined the loaf pan in saran wrap and partially froze the meatloaf then removed it from the loaf pan. Its still in the freezer but i am going to put it in the fridge soon. Then i am thinking of searing it on all 4 sides in my large seasoned cast iron electric skillet. I was going to pre-cook some bacon and wrap it if i go the pressure cooker route, but if i end up doing it in the oven i will just wrap it in uncooked bacon after i sear it.

 

I am 50/50 on which method to cook it. Like i mentioned, meatballs and sauge get so good in my Instant pot that i really want to try it but i have no good references to go by. Plus i am thinking that the online cook times i found rangeing from 12 min to 20 minutes are too short for a 3lb loaf pan sized meatloaf.

Edited August 12, 2015 by FeChef (log)

[FeChef]

Ran out of time, going with the tried and true method. 350F bake, probed till center reaches internal temp of 155F. Was really looking forward to a good pressure cooker method though.

 

[pbear]

IMHO, you're comparing apples to oranges.  Cook-to-temp and cook-at-temp produce very different results.  I suspect you did the same thing with meatballs.  To be comparable, you would have to poach them a couple hours, which indeed is how the famous A16 meatball is done.  For meatloaf, the comparable method would be to bake a couple hours in a very slow oven, say 250ºF.  More time than the pressure cooker, obviously, but also less work.

Edited August 13, 2015 by pbear (log)

[pbear]

Meats suitable for braising still have collagen even if ground, so there's an advantage to long cooking (or pressure cooking) dishes made from same.  Conversely, there's an advantage to grinding your own meat for dishes that make sense to long-cook, e.g., chili, so you can be sure of employing collagen rich cuts.  I've never used this trick for meatloaf, but I have for meatballs, which is why I posted.  And SV would fit either strategy (cook-to-temp or cook-at-temp), for reasons which should be obvious if you think about it.

 

As for A16, that's a restaurant here in SF (named for a highway in Italy) famous for its meatball special.  Don't have a link handy, but the recipe was readily available by Google search the last time I looked.

[pazzaglia]

There is no way around it, steamed ground meat looks terrible.  However, it is tender, moist, and delicious.  

 

I haven't looked online but I have my own meatloaf recipe in the "Hip Pressure Cooking: Fast, Fresh & Flavorful" cookbook.  Although I can't share the recipe, I can tell you that it does not look like a "pie".  Basically, you form a long strip of ground meat and then place it in the steamer basket as a ring.  This has two functions: 1 it is thinner so steam/heat can go around all of the sides and cooks faster; 2 the slices don't look like crazy meat pie wedges.

 

Top it with a creamy mushroom sauce or ketchup before serving and it won't look so dull, anymore.

 

It's meatloaf.

 

Ciao,

 

L

Edited August 13, 2015 by pazzaglia (log)

[JAZ]

Anybody try using a pressure cooker for a "traditional" meatloaf. By traditional, i mean the shape of a loaf pan. I was looking online and to be honest, every pressure cooked meatloaf i came across looks terrible. They look like steamed grey slabs of meat. I was thinking of taking a sous vide approach and sear all 4 sides first, then wrap in some pre cooked bacon, then a thin layer of tomato paste/ketchup mixture.

 

Having recently pressure-cooked a meatloaf in the course of research for a pressure cooking book, I can answer some of your questions. If what you're looking for is a loaf-shaped meatloaf, you can come pretty close by shaping the meat in a loaf pan, removing it and then placing it on a piece of oiled aluminum foil to move it into and out of the pressure cooker. It'll be small because of the size of the cooker, and it will spread a little, but it will be loaf-shaped. If what you're looking for is a browned exterior, your only choices are to sear it before or after pressure cooking. I wouldn't bother covering the meatloaf with bacon, because in the steamy interior of the pressure cooker the bacon will get soggy. Glazes tend to work better if you wait until after the food is pressure cooked, then add the glaze and run the food under the broiler, or sear it with a torch.

[FeChef]

Having recently pressure-cooked a meatloaf in the course of research for a pressure cooking book, I can answer some of your questions. If what you're looking for is a loaf-shaped meatloaf, you can come pretty close by shaping the meat in a loaf pan, removing it and then placing it on a piece of oiled aluminum foil to move it into and out of the pressure cooker. It'll be small because of the size of the cooker, and it will spread a little, but it will be loaf-shaped. If what you're looking for is a browned exterior, your only choices are to sear it before or after pressure cooking. I wouldn't bother covering the meatloaf with bacon, because in the steamy interior of the pressure cooker the bacon will get soggy. Glazes tend to work better if you wait until after the food is pressure cooked, then add the glaze and run the food under the broiler, or sear it with a torch.

My main concern was the cooking time for a "loaf" shaped meatloaf. In the end i decided if im going to go through that much trouble with browning and the glaze, i might aswell do it traditionally in the oven. Maybe one day i will try a quick blow torching then pressure cook and then a glaze and quick torching again for that carmelized look/taste. Also, ive decided to add cooked, chilled, and crumbled bacon into the meatloaf mixture. I figure the juices inside along with the cooking will soften the crispy bacon but it will still be full of that bacon flavor.

 

Again, i still need to figure out the cook time for such a large hunk of meat. I am guessing atleast 45 min. I pressure cook golf ball size meatballs for 20 min and they come out insanely tender. Sausage i pressure cook for 30 min and they are the most tender sausage links ive ever had.

[rotuts]

""  ive decided to add cooked, chilled, and crumbled bacon into the meatloaf mixture. I figure the juices inside along with the cooking will soften the crispy bacon but it will still be full of that bacon flavor. ""

 

Why ?  just add the bacon to your mix.

 

​I foo look forward to your eventual PC ML

 

it would Im sure be either the Gold or the Lead standard.

 

and Im sure you would let us know.

 

thanks

[Martin Fisher]

FWIW, I made meatloaf, a few times, in a pressure cooker, in mini loaf pans (two pans at a time), a year of so ago with good results.

Cook time was ~15 minutes with cold water release, IIRC.

Browned with a brief torching.

[FeChef]

""  ive decided to add cooked, chilled, and crumbled bacon into the meatloaf mixture. I figure the juices inside along with the cooking will soften the crispy bacon but it will still be full of that bacon flavor. ""

 

Why ?  just add the bacon to your mix.

 

​I foo look forward to your eventual PC ML

 

it would Im sure be either the Gold or the Lead standard.

 

and Im sure you would let us know.

 

thanks

Because i like the taste of crispy bacon better then ground raw bacon. If thats what you meant by "just add bacon to your mix" I am the same when it comes to ground beef patties mixed with ground raw bacon for bacon hamburgers. I just prefer a buger with crispy bacon on top or crumbled and mixed in.