Healthy: Smoked Turkey Meatloaf

This recipe is my absolute best smoker recipe although it is incredibly easy and almost impossible to screw up unless you really try. Like the title says, this recipe is for smoked turkey meatloaf. (I will explain later the issue with using ground beef.) Basically any meatloaf recipe can be smoked but this recipe is easily adaptable and combines big flavor with reasonable caloric intake.

Smoked meatloaf may sound unusual to people but it works really well, requires very little prep work and freezes incredibly well. Unlike most smoked meats, there is no brine to apply the day before or misting to keep it moist in the smoker. Ground beef has an even distribution of fat so as the fat melts it will keep the meat moist without needing to apply any liquid or sauce to the outside. The top layer will form a firm, smoky crust just like you want in the oven. Aside from getting a fire going in your smoker, there is no prep work involved in making these meatloafs except making the actual loafs and putting them in the smoker. I've had good luck keeping them in the freezer for weeks and come out with all the same smoky flavor.

Tips/Tricks/Considerations Before Preparing

You can use pretty much any smoking wood for your meatloafs. I like mesquite on everything and find it works extremely well here. Ground turkey is sort of bland on its own but it does an excellent job of soaking up other flavors so I wouldn't go with too mild of a wood. But use what you like. If you want an assertive flavor but temper the volume of smoke flavor you can always smoke the meatloafs for 15-30 minutes and then finish them in the oven.

You will also want to place the meatloafs in some sort of vessel before sending them to the smoker. There's a couple reasons why. First, you don't want the meatloaf to melt through the grating and get stuck on the grating or worse, fall through into the fire. Second, the meatloaf will ooze out a bit of grease and you probably don't want that draining into your fire. If you have a multiple-level smoker then you definitely don't want it dripping on other meats. The grease will help slow the cook down so the meat stays moist without making it too greasy. My preferred method is to make boats out of foil. I pull out a piece of foil and fold the edges inward to create stiff sidewalls. Then I twist the corners together to seal the boat. Works well and I can toss it out with the excess grease. I prefer this design where all sides are open to the smoke except the bottom for maximum smoke flavor.

I said I would talk about why beef is not recommended here. Of course, you can make meatloaf out of any ground meat and beef is the classic option. The problem you will have in this case is that beef, even extremely low-fat ground beef, will get really greasy. Usually you want that fat/grease to help slow the cook but you don't really need that with meatloaf. The bigger problem, however, is that the meat will stay greasy forever. I tried 90/10 beef once and ended up with meatloaf that was so greasy I could squeeze it out like a sponge. Tasted great (even better than the turkey) but I don't like greasy meat. Ground beef really needs that hotter cooking temperature to cook off the fat.

This recipe uses a fair amount of jalapeno for some spice. I usually smoke the jalapenos first and then chop them up to use in the meatloafs for some extra smoke. You don't have to do that but I like a lot of smoke flavor. I usually also serve the meatloafs with some BBQ sauce so that tempers some of the heat. Adjust the jalapenos up or down for your desired heat. You can also add or substitute other peppers. I also like to use hatch chiles with the jalapenos for a more complex pepper flavor.

Smoked Turkey Meatloaf Recipe

Equipment:

Smoker
Mixing bowl
Temperature probe
Measuring cups and spoons
Hands
Something to remove the meatloaf with (tongs are good here)
Timer/clock

Ingredients:

1 lb. 90/10 (or leaner) ground turkey
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 medium size jalapeno (optionally smoked beforehand), chopped (and deseeded, if you wish to temper the heat)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/4-1/2 cup egg substitute (or 1-2 eggs)
1 tbsp Worcester sauce
1/2-1 cup of bread crumbs
1/4 cup ketchup

Recipe steps:

1. Prepare smoker.
2. Chop vegetables. 
3. Mix vegetables, ground turkey, garlic, salt, pepper, Worcester sauce, ketchup, 1/2 cup bread crumbs and 1/4 cup egg substitute (or 1 egg) in a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly until it forms a uniform consistency. Add more egg if too dry. Add more bread crumbs if too wet. 
4. Divide into two halves. Form each half into a loaf and place in your foil boat. (Optionally you can add ketchup or BBQ sauce to the top of the loaf at the beginning or midway through smoking.)
5. Place meatloaves in smoker. Remove when the internal temperature reads 160-165F. Typically takes 1-2 hours but will depend on the temperature of your smoker. If you have problems hitting the right temperature you can place the loaves in an oven at 375F until done cooking.
6. Remove from boat and serve with BBQ sauce or ketchup.