Red Hots Meatloaf

We’re moving the Forensic Friday this week.. to a Thank You Thursday. I thought about asking if Red Hots would want to do a guest post, but let’s be real.. the ultimate compliment for any recipe is having some else do it and sing the praises. So that’s what I decided to do here. The recipe I’m linking to is the recipe they provided – verbatim.

---

Recipe

---

So a very little backstory up front.. if you want an expanded read, please read my Coney Island Hot Dog post here. My love for the hot dog – the coney dog in particular – is well documented (Hot Dogs/Brats). I was introduced to the Red Hot Coney Island damn near a decade ago. Truly the most genuinely friendly people. What really stuck out to me in that diner was the smiles – patrons and owners alike. So when I heard the shop was closing, I drove down there for one last bite. (Thanks Christina for serving me my last official Red Hots. You know they’re legit when I took pictures to remember it)

Befriended them on Instagram a bit ago, and I get a random mailer one day:

I told you, good people. MrsForensicBBQ and I just cook shit and post what we do. We don’t sell any products, we have our own jobs that take up our time. The absolute least I can do as a thank you is to take their recipe and give it the ForensicBBQ treatment. So here we go.

---

The Prep Table

This particular Saturday, I ran down to the market and picked up a couple tubs of that signature sauce. Only had three left and I wanted two. Hey, Red Hots – keep it stocked over there ? They do a ton of tasters and in-person events – follow @redhots1921 on Instagram to keep on where they be!

With the goods secured, I went home to start the cook. A little unnecessary backstory, I cracked a tooth a bit ago and have been on a soft food diet for longer than I’d like. Mac/Cheese, Mashed potatoes – yeah, it’s been great. Meat loaf was the shining light I was looking for in this abysmal state I’ve been in (Writing this mid-September. Hopefully by the time this goes live, I’m ripping steaks like the carnivore I am).

We got some locally sourced ground beef from MrsForensicBBQ’s boss (Thank you sir!) and some herby seasonings from Whisk and Whiskers (@whiskandwhiskersspices on Instagram) . We’re doing the recipe as written and see what we come up with. “…since 1921”, why doubt the recipe now?

---

The Process

I hate dirty-ing un-necessary dishes. Granted, MrsForensicBBQ does most of them.. being the gentleman that I am, I don’t need to give her more work (I’m going to get slammed for this comment). But I really do hate using more than I need. I was hoping this bowl could contain the goodness I was about to create, and it obviously could not.

We dropped the 2 pounds of beef in there, half an onion, diced up a red pepper, topped with some of that “The Leopard” seasoning. It was time to get saucy and add that Red Hots Chili Sauce, some ketchup.. the egg and bread crumbs, and really get meat loafy with it. Let’s grab a bigger bowl.

So I’m not entirely sure if this link will work out for y’all, but you HAVE to see the @redhots1921 family cook up their meatloaf. Small business is the heartbeat of America, and this video is awesome: @redhots1921 on Instagram . Hey, if that doesn’t work – since you should be following them already, scroll back to April 18th and watch them do it right.

Get your tight fitting nitrile gloves on and get your mix on. We bought some shit Sam’s club ones – and holy hell, we can’t get rid of them fast enough. I use ’em for your usual garlic/onion cutting, but if you’re prepping a meal, do yourself right and get them nitriles. We dumped in that Red Hots and it’s good to go. Now for the glaze.

Per recipe, it says a can of diced tomatoes. Doesn’t say WHICH diced tomatoes :). Here’s where I add in a little bit extra. Had to do the Ro*Tel.. with them Hatch Chiles. It’s still technically recipe accurate, so I can’t get yelled at. Seasonings “to taste”: I went heavy on the italian (The Leopard), lighter on oregano (since The Leopard had it in there), heavier on pepper (Always better) , lighter on salt (Not a salt guy) – because I know my palate.

Topped off that loaf with the glaze and we’re ready to go. Let’s pretty it up a little bit more.

Wanted to give “Whisk and Whiskers” a shout-out. Topped that glaze with a little bit of sprinkle and NOW we were ready to go. Read any one of MrsForensicBBQ’s post – she’s a tried and true “crazy cat lady” – this was perfect labeling for her. MomForensicBBQ did right in gifting her these ones – it was a hit!

---

The Result

Per recipe, it said an hour. I think I went probably 80-90 minutes. We set up our lawn chairs out by the smoker and enjoyed what we had left of September. It was a Saturday, so I’ll admit, I had my laptop out open to the BYU-Oregon game (awful) while we waited for this beauty to cook.

MrsForensicBBQ and I talked about how iconic the meatloaf was.. and still is. It’s a simple dish, but really lets you add some art to it. Before this site, I remember doing a jalapeno popper meat loaf with a cream cheese filling. We talked about how lucky we are that we can make these additions and not just make it “because that’s all we have” like our prior generation(s). Smoker-side discussions are magical.

Anyway, I gave her about a 10 minute cool down and scooped some out.

That first bite, you got that iconic Red Hots flavor front and center. The 2:1 ratio of ground beef/Red Hots Chili Sauce was absolutely perfect. That first bite you know you’re eating meat loaf, and then it hits you – yep, that’s Victor St. I’ve never personally had a chunkier tomato topping on a meat loaf, but that all changed today. It was a delicious compliment.

I mentioned my dental ailment – so I ate on one side of my mouth, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t let the whole mouth experience this recipe. I posted the recipe – as written – below, and I wouldn’t change a thing. My hobby (what you’re reading now) is finding recipes and making my own adaptation. Nah, not for this one. Do it like they tell you. You’ll thank yourself later for it.

---

The Recipe