There are two things you should never settle for: dry meatloaf and dry turkey. Turkey season always finds us looking for ways to make a moist, tender dish from our harvest. This little slow cooker trick of ours makes just about any meatloaf exceptional, even wild turkey meatloaf. The butter also helps...
Makes 6-8 sandwiches
- Ingredients -
Wild Turkey Meatloaf
2 lbs wild turkey (you're grinding it, so any cut will do)
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ white onion, minced
handful fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 egg
2 tablespoons
Weston Mesquite Seasoning
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Bourbon Molasses BBQ Sauce
½ cup molasses
2 oz tomato paste
⅛ cup Worcestershire sauce
⅛ cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon bourbon (We like Maker's Mark for this)
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
Sandwich
(each of these just depend on how many sandwiches you're making and how much you like cheese and bacon)
cheddar
slices of cooked bacon
hoagie buns
- Tools -
Weston Meat Grinder
Weston Slow Cooker
Weston Smoker
Use a
Meat Grinder to grind the turkey through a coarse (7mm or so) plate. Mix in the remaining meatloaf ingredients. We used our
Chopper to chop the parsley and mince the onions and garlic.
 |
| Grinding turkey through the coarse plate maintains the meat's integrity (no mush here) |
Butter the bottom and sides of the
Slow Cooker crock. Pack the ground meat mixture into the crock tightly. Cook on low for 3 hours. The turkey is ready when a thermometer inserted into the center of the meatloaf reads 165ºF.
 |
| Freshly ground wild turkey pressed into the slow cooker crock, ready to become meatloaf |
Preheat your
Smoker to 200ºF. While the turkey meatloaf cooks, prepare the sauce by whisking together the ingredients.
 |
| We used our Chopper to finely mince the onion. |
Slather the sauce onto a sheet of foil, then smoke the sauce at 200ºF for 1 hour.
 |
| Freshly smoked bourbon molasses BBQ |
Once the meatloaf is done and the sauce is smoked, you're ready to make sandwiches. Slice off the amount of meatloaf that you're going to eat now, and then fry it in a skillet with a little oil, over high heat, just until browned.
 |
| Tender, moist meatloaf in the slow cooker |
You can vacuum seal and store the rest of the meatloaf in the fridge or freezer until you're ready for more.
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| The finished product |
Once you have flipped the slices of meatloaf, place a slice of cheddar on the browned side to allow it to melt while frying. Assemble the sandwiches by placing the meatloaf into a hoagie roll with a couple of slices of bacon.
 |
| Turkey meatloaf, gooey cheddar, crispy bacon, and thick, smoky bourbon BBQ sauce |
