Wood Fired Venison Meatloaf

[CDN]

This recipe comes to us from my mother-in-law Alice from Portland, Oregon. She graciously passed this recipe along to my lovely wife, then I got a hold of it and substituted venison for the beef, and I put it on the grill to give it a nice smoky flavor. In my opinion, the result was the best meatloaf I've ever eaten, but I suppose the next time ma'-in-law is in town I should cook it up for her, as she would be the ultimate judge!

Here's what you'll need:

2 lbs ground venison

1 lb ground breakfast style sausage

1 1/2 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1 3/4 cup milk

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup onion, minced

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 tbs worcestershire sauce

Oak chunks (or hickory, pecan, apple or cherry)

Start by building a medium to hot fire in the grill, around 400 degrees. I did this cook on the Weber Kettle, so for me that was a full chimney of lump charcoal, plus about a half chimney unlit. Once the charcoal in the chimney is burning good, pour it onto the pile of unlit in the grill, and allow all of the charcoal to get going. Once it is all burning, use a fire poker or fireplace shovel to spread the charcoal around the edges of the grill in a circle, leaving an empty space in the middle. This will allow you to place the meatloaf right in the middle of the grate over the open space and have direct heat around the pan, without burning the bottom. Toss a couple of chunks of wood on the coals to get a little smoky flavor going. I prefer the bold flavor of white oak or red oak for this recipe, but hickory, pecan, apple or cherry would also be good choices.

While the fire is getting going, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix together until well blended. Place the mixture in a grill safe pan and form into a "loaf".

When the grill has reached a temp of 400-425 degrees, put the meatloaf on the grate in the center as described above. You can use a digital thermometer or an oven thermometer to monitor the temp of the cooking grate. Close the lid and let it cook to an internal temp of around 165 degrees, about 1 1/2 hours cooking time if you can maintain 350 to 400 degrees on your grill or smoker.

Bring it in and drain the excess juice from the pan, slice and serve hot!

[emptypockets]

That looks great! We have used our grills as ovens for at least 25 years (we lived in Florida for 12 years). Too hot to fire up the oven during the summer. Great receipe. Gonna try it next time we bake on the grill!

[nyantler]

Man! That looks great!! Always looking for good recipes on my website... you can upload them to the recipes page on the site..

[Deerthug]

Looks delicious!

[Dom]

That sounds wonderful,mashed potatoe and gravy.Thanks for the recipe.