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Meat Loaf

A baked loaf of ground meat mixed with bread crumbs, water, salt, pepper, and bacon.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Meat and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,924 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Meat Loaf

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Make and shape the loaf

  1. In a bowl, mix the chopped meat, bread crumbs, and water until well combined.

  2. Season the mixture with salt and pepper.

  3. Shape the mixture into a loaf.

  4. Insert small pieces of bacon into the loaf.

Bake

  1. Bake for 1 hour.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Meat + breadtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,924 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Meat + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,777 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chopped fresh meat
Provides the main body and savory flavor of the loaf.
Bread crumbs
Absorb liquid and help the loaf hold its shape while baking.
Water
Adds moisture so the loaf stays tender rather than dry.
Small pieces of bacon
Add fat and smoky flavor that melts into the loaf as it bakes.

The step that matters

Combining the mixture until well combined. Mixing the meat, crumbs and water evenly keeps the loaf uniformly moist and sliceable. Uneven mixing leaves dry or crumbly pockets and makes the loaf hold together poorly.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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