The Most Amazing Grilled 3-Meat Meatloaf

Begin by combining the ground pork, beef and lamb into a large metal bowl and mixing thoroughly by hand. You want to choose high-quality ground meats as they will provide the texture for your meatloaf. Lower-grade meats that have too much fat or filler will produce a meatloaf that is flimsy, and that will not stand up to the rigors of being cooked on the grill.

Once your ground meats are evenly distributed throughout the mixture, add the Worcestershire sauce, mustard and beer and once again knead by hand until all components are evenly distributed. For this recipe, I like to use a darker beer as it will help to infuse the lighter flavors of the pork and lamb with a rich, full-bodied taste.

Now add the garlic, capers (be sure to include some juice in which the capers were stored) and spices to the meat and marinade and continue to mix using your hands to work all the liquids and herbs into the meat. At this point, your meatloaf mixture should have a uniform consistency, with little specs of garlic, capers and spices evenly distributed throughout. If there is any residual liquid in the bottom of the bowl, continue to mix using your hands until it has been incorporated into the meat.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours to let the flavors settle into the meat. The longer you can let the meats, spices and marinade sit, the better (maximum 48 hours).

On the day that you wish to cook and serve your meatloaf, remove the meat and herbs that have been marinating from the refrigerator and allow them to slowly come back up to room temperature.

While your meat is resting in anticipation of going onto the grill, prepare your vegetables by chopping the leaks, portabella caps, peppers and celery, making sure to maintain consistency with regard to the size of the resulting pieces throughout as much as possible.

Crack three eggs in a bowl, scrambling them to break the yolks. Add the eggs to the meat mixture and continue to work the ingredients with your bare hands to ensure that everything is evenly dispersed.

Next, combine the panko, bread crumbs and herbs in a bowl and stir thoroughly with a fork.

Add this mixture to your marinated meats and mix by hand, again working the spices and bread crumbs into the meat so that they are distributed evenly. The key here is to make sure that no pockets of spices, egg or bread crumbs exist in the middle of the mixture.

Once all of the ingredients have been combined and worked by hand into a firm consistency, separate the ingredients evenly into two bowls. Taking the contents of one bowl, form the meat mixture into a classic “loaf” shape, making sure that the thickness at the widest point is about 4 inches and that the entire loaf tapers slightly at each end.

Repeat this shaping process with the second half of your ingredients and place both hand-formed loaves into a shallow dish. Cover each dish and place it into the refrigerator for approximately 20 – 30 minutes. This will allow the egg to harden a bit and will help to keep the loaves intact once placed on the grill.

While the loaves are cooling in the refrigerator, start your fire. As mentioned in previous recipes, I always grill meats over hardwood charcoal (never using gas, lighter fluid or coal-based charcoal brands). In this case, you want your fire to be nice and hot (about 500 degrees Fahrenheit) before you place your meatloaves onto the heat. The goal is to quickly sear the outside of each loaf, forming a nice brown crust so that it does not break apart during cooking.

It is also important to brush a little bit of olive oil on the surface of the meatloaf that will be touching the grill, as well as onto the grill itself to prevent the meat from sticking (and ultimately to keep the meatloaf from falling apart). Once the meat has touched the hot surface of the grill, DO NOT turn or move it. If you experience a flare-up, remove the entire grill cooking surface, meat and all, if possible.

Once the bottom of each loaf has been seared and has a nice crust forming, turn down the heat by either dispersing the coals or slightly closing the air intake louvers. Cook the meatloaves at 400 degrees for 25 – 30 minutes or until the center heat on each reads 145 degrees with a meat thermometer.

Once your meatloaves are fully cooked, remove them from heat and allow them to rest for 5–10 minutes.

Once rested, slice the loaves and serve with your choice of sides.