OK folks, who has a good receipt for old fashion meatloaf? My mom use to make it real good but she made it round and it had a hole int the center. How did she do that? It looked like a large donut. Was it some kind of special dish? Thanks for any help

I have never had a good reputation with making meatloaf (I thought it was good, but hubby didnt), but I think I can answer about the dish that your mother may have used. It sounds like she may have used a Bundt pan to get the donut looking shape. :)

Or you can make meatloaf in a round baking dish and carve out a hole in the middle. It won't go closed while it's baking.

The hole in the middle just assures that it will get done--there won't be a middle section that will still be partly raw. Do this when baking meatloaf in a microwave,or if you bake it in less time than called for in the recipe.

I make the Betty Crocker basic meat loaf recipe from her cookbook (or maybe it's on the web site). A former neighbor used to grate in to the ground beef mixture one dill pickle spear (maybe a couple of tablespoons worth?). That added a little zip to the baked meatloaf.

Others bury a hard-boiled egg in the mixture before baking or lay bacon strips across the top or use BBQ sauce instead of ketchup or add any ingredients that will please the family.

Here's Betty Crocker's recipe (I omit some of these ingredients because of my family) which I double so I have cold meatloaf left over for sandwiches the next day --

Savory Meat Loaf Recipe from Betty Crocker

I never make my homemade meatloaf thick. Many people make it very thick then it takes longer to cook.

Make it thin and it will cook faster and be more tender, also depends on the ingredients. I use my own but also have a secret family meatloaf. It just melts in your mouth.

Ok I don't think we're family, but are you going to let me in on the secret?

I go to the store, buy the McCormick seasoning and oven cooking bag, follow the directions and YUMMIE!!

**EDIT**

I don't like catsup or BBQ sauce... the McCormick has some wonderful seasonings.

1 egg 1 1/2 pound of meat( I use chuck) 1 oinion finely chopped, 1/4 of a green pepper 1/2 pack of saltine crackers crushed, 1/2 cup of catsup. Take catsup and egg stir together and pour in the meat. Add onion, green pepper and cracker crumbs. If mixture is to thin add more crackers if to thick add more catsup. Put in oven preheated at 325 and bake for 45 minutes, if grease gathers pour off. I test the center to see if it is done, also take note when the meat pulls from sides of baking dish. I use 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of ketchup for the topping. After the 45 minutes I put this mixture on the meatloaf and return to oven until it has baked on, no more than 15 minutes. Btw I use a 9 inch glass baking dish.

I make meatloeaf with an egg a cup of uncooked oatmeal, chopped onions, green pepper and celery a small can of tomato paste. Mix it and put it in a loaf pan. Bake it at 350 degress for about an hour. It is yummy

I make meatloaf with an egg, ketchup, onion, carrots, and bread crumbs. For one pound of meatloaf you add one egg to the meat (I like using ground turkey because it has less fat in it than ground beef, but either kinds of meat will work), some ketchup (I don't know how much ketchup I use), a half an onion and one carrot that is cut up and than shredded in a food chopper and than cooked on the stove so the onion and carrots get softer, than you add the onion and carrot mixture to the meat and than add bread crumbs (I use bread crumbs that are in a container, I don't know how much bread crumbs I use), than mix the meat and other ingredients until you don't see the bread crumbs anymore and than put in a loaf pan and cook at 350 degrees for up to 1 hour. You can put a knife in the middle of the meat loaf and if it comes out clean than the meat loaf is cooked. You will have to test out how much ketchup and bread crumbs you will need depending on how much fat is in the meat.