The Stale Bread Step That Helps Meatloaf Stay Deliciously Moist

Meatloaf is one of the easiest and most versatile meals a person can make. You can throw it together with just a few ingredients, the titular protein can be practically anything, and it's super conducive to leftovers. There are also oodles of secret weapons to make your meatloaf even better. Day (or more!) old bread soaked in a bit of liquid is primary among them.

A lot of folks already mix breadcrumbs into their meatloaf as a binder with the added benefit of keeping the meat from becoming too tough. The little carbohydrate specks act as sponges to soak up moisture and keep it suspended throughout the loaf. This also happens to be a chef-approved way to use up all those crusts and unused sandwich slices, should the word of a million grandmas not go far enough. Soaking the crumbs in milk or stock brings even more valuable liquid fat to the table, which makes for a more buoyant finished product that's practically impervious to dryness.

There's good news if this tip is new to you: you can very likely use your old favorite recipe and incorporate soaked breadcrumbs with an incredibly low time and ingredient commitment. "Soak" should also be taken lightly. You don't want the breadcrumbs swimming, just moist enough to render to a paste that can be eased into your meatloaf mix. This is similar to the panade that you'd use to create great meatballs. You can confidently gauge the proportions on-sight; you want just enough liquid to reach the surface of the breadcrumbs, which will likely work out to a one-to-one ratio.

Once you've got your moisture-making paste, you want to incorporate the compound without over-mixing. Over-mixing, of course, is the common culprit that has made so many well intended meatloaves way too tough. Avoid the temptation by pouring your paste over the meat and other ingredients in as wide of a blanket as you can, rather than in one clump. And if you find yourself really attacking it all with a fork, a better, gentler way to mix meatloaf uses a potato masher, instead.