There's A Better Way To Mix Meatloaf That'll Make You Ditch Your Fork For Good

Meatloaf is one of those quintessential comfort dishes that can take you straight back to your childhood. The super-sweet ketchup glaze, the side of mashed potatoes, and the tender, well-seasoned beef all come together to create a meal that feels cozy and familiar. While meatloaf recipes typically come together pretty quickly, mixing the meatloaf to fully incorporate all of the ingredients can be a bit painstaking. The good news is that you likely already have a kitchen tool that can make the job easier. 

Next time you're whipping up a batch of meatloaf, forget trying to mix it with a fork. Forks lack the flat shape required to mix effectively, and touching raw meat with your hands can be a food safety risk. Instead, pull your potato masher out of the utensil drawer to help the beef, egg, breadcrumbs, and other ingredients create a cohesive mix that's ready to pop into the oven.

Potato mashers can be used for more than spuds, and unlike forks, they cut down prep time and help you avoid overmixing — the enemy of a super-moist meatloaf. To make this mashing hack even easier, try coating your cold metal potato masher in a bit of oil to keep the ingredients from sticking to it. Spray-on olive oil comes in handy here, and this oil-coating trick saves you time on washing the potato masher later.

To create moist, tender meatloaf just like your family used to make, you'll need to follow a few tips. First, make sure that you're using the right type of beef. Fat contributes moisture and flavor, and using ground beef with a low fat content can create less-than-ideal results. You'll want to aim for at least an 80-20 ground beef to fat ratio to ensure that your meatloaf doesn't dry out as it cooks (using leaner ground beef blends is actually one of the most common mistakes home chefs make when making meatloaf). 

Avoid overmixing your beef by blending your dry ingredients before mixing them with your wet ingredients, and make sure to stick with the potato masher over the traditional fork-mixing method. Yes, it's a bit of a pain to dirty another bowl, but taking the time to mix your dry ingredients first can cut down on your overall mixing time, lessening the likelihood of drying out your meatloaf.

To achieve an ideal consistency on your meatloaf, try soaking the breadcrumbs in milk before mashing them into the mix, as this technique helps to lock in moisture as the meatloaf cooks. Adding Parmesan cheese for an Italian meatball flair or crushed-up Doritos for a taco-style twist can give your meatloaf extra thickness and umami flavor. Using a potato masher here makes it much easier to integrate these ingredients than a fork or spoon, and they'll work much better if they're evenly distributed — nobody wants to find a weird crunch in their tender meatloaf.

Now that you know how to mix and mash the ingredients, you'll want to prevent them from drying out in the oven. If you've struggled with dry meatloaf, consider lowering your oven's temperature or reducing the cooking time — 350 degrees Fahrenheit for around an hour should do the trick. Fully covering the top of your meatloaf in ketchup (or, if you're feeling like going the extra mile, a ketchup and brown sugar glaze) can also help seal in moisture. This golden ratio of ingredient mixing is only possible by starting with the potato masher, so save your forks for digging into the delicious and savory final product.