Grilled Meatloaf

Meatloaf. You love it or you hate it. I promise you'll love this one. At least, if you don't love it, I'll give you back what you paid for the recipe.

1 lb ground beef or ground chuck
1/2 a medium Vedalia onion, finely chopped
1 handful of bread crumbs
2 fresh eggs
2 tbs of worcestershire sauce
2 tbs of soy sauce
1 tbs of italian seasonings
1 tbs of garlic powder
1 tbs of fresh ground sea salt
1 tsp of fresh ground pepper
olive oil

Extra equipment:
foil
woodchips
pie tin

Prepare your grill for indirect cooking. If you are using a gas grill, fire up all the burners and heat the closed grill to about 400 degrees. If you are using charcoal, start your charcoal and wait until the coals are about 75% gray, then push the coals to one side of the grill.

10 minutes before cooking, take a foil pack, a pie tin, or a wood chip box filled with a handful of oak wood chips and put it on the grill or right in the coals. You can soak the wood chips in water or wine to get them to smoke longer, but since we are only cooking for about 20 minutes, you can use the chips dry, if they are big enough (small chips or sawdust will burn too quickly).

Mix all of the ingredients, except the olive oil, in a large bowl using your clean hands. Don't overwork the mix, but get it completely integrated. Form it into a loaf.

Take 2 sheets of foil, about 1 foot square each, and lay them as 2 layers on the counter. Rub the oil onto the foil in an area in the middle of the foil. Rub it out to a size a little bigger than the loaf. Place the loaf in the middle of the foil.

Note: I've tried this without the oil and the protein and starch in the egg and bread crumbs will stick to the foil and you'll loose that lovely crust on the bottom of the loaf when you try to remove it from the foil. If you don't like olive oil, get some therapy or you can use any non-stick cooking spray.

Fold and roll up the ends and sides of the foil making a disposable pan with sides about 2 inches high. Tuck the corners in to help the "pan" keep its shape. Don't cover the loaf; it has to be open on the top. This metal origami doesn't have to be perfect, you are just trying to keep the juices from flowing out. Rustic is good.

If you are using a propane grill, turn off one of the burners and put your loaf on the grill, away from direct heat. For charcoal, put the loaf on the side without the coals. If you put the loaf over the direct heat, you'll end up with a meatbrick instead of a meatloaf. Put the cover on the grill.

Set your timer for 10 minutes. Check the loaf. Rotate it and watch out for hotspots on the grill. The loaf should be brown on top at this point, but the loaf isn't cooked thru.

Set your timer for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how things are looking. At this point, check the internal temperature of the loaf with an instant read thermometer. You are looking for an internal temp of 160 degrees. Total cooking time is about 20 minutes per pound.

Let the meat rest before slicing.

Change-ups:
* My kids hate the old ketchup topping, so I omit it. You can go with that or just use a nice BBQ sauce
* Go asian: instead of the soy and worcestershire sauces, use the equivilent amount of bottled "asian ginger salad dressing"
* Make mini loafs--one for each diner. Split the meatloaf into equal portions in their own mini-foil-pans. Cut the cooking time to about 12 to 15 minutes and rotate more often.