Smoked Turkey Loaf
If you have never tried a smoked meat loaf you are really missing a special meal! Smoked meat loaf is one of my favorite meals to cook on the Peoria Custom Cooker and is gurranteed to produce a moist flavorful meat loaf every time. Smoked meat loaf cooks for about 1-1.5 hours or until done at a pit temperature of around 250-300 degrees. Since smoked meatloaf cooks quickly it is a perfect meal to cook for dinner while the pit is already cooking a long or overnight shoulder or brisket cook. Simply throw it on the cooker! I cooked this turkey loaf during a long pork shoulder cook on the Peoria custom cooker backyard unit. You can use your favorite meat loaf recipe or try mine:
- 1-2lbs ground turkey
- Italian bread crumbs
- Anaheim chilies
- Green Peppers
- onions
- Garlic
- 1 egg
- Milk
- mustard powder
- cajun seasoning
I combined all the ingredients in a bowl and then formed the loaf on a piece of wax paper. Once I had formed the loaf I placed it in the refrigerator for 1 hour to firm up and prevent it from falling apart while cooking.
After an hour in the refrigerator I cut the wax paper to the shape of the turkey loaf and placed the turkey loaf on the Peoria Custom Cooker backyard unit. The temperature of the pit was between 235 and 255 degrees during the cook and I added a small amount of apple wood. Be sure not to add too much smoke wood. Smoked meatloaf absorbs a lot of smoke quickly and can easily become overpowered with smoke.
After 1.5 hours my meatloaf was finished. I removed the wax paper and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving. You can sauce your meatloaf the last 5 or 10 minutes of cooking if you want.
Time to Eat!
I sliced the turkey loaf and served it with fresh homemade wheat bread and bbq sauce. It was moist and had just the right amount of smoke flavoring. It was a big success! The best part was smoked turkey loaf sandwiches the next day.
