Smoked Bacon-wrapped Stuffed Meatloaf

Instructions

1. Place chopped onions and sweet peppers in a skillet, then add olive oil and sauté the veggies for a few minutes. Once the onions and peppers become translucent, toss in the minced garlic.
2. Cook everything for another minute or so, then take the skillet off of heat. Move your veggies from the skillet to a separate container and place it in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Mixing the veggies into the meatloaf will be easier if they’re chilled.
3. While the veggies cool, combine the ground chuck and ground pork in a mixing bowl. Mix well, then set aside.
4. Pour heavy cream into a separate mixing bowl, then crack your eggs into the cream. Lightly beat the mixture together, just until you notice it beginning to turn a yellowish color from the yolk.
5. Add the chilled veggies, bread crumbs, chopped parsley, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, chili powder, and paprika to the cream mixture. Mix together well.
6. Combine the seasoning mix with the ground meat blend, mixing together well.
7. Lay a layer of wax paper or heavy-duty aluminum foil over a sheet pan (ours was 13”x18”) to help the meat lift from the pan once you start rolling it. Place your ground meat onto the pan, pressing it evenly across and making sure you fill the corners, too. Once the meat is evenly pressed, brush on a thin layer of your favorite BBQ sauce.
8. Place sliced cheese in rows across the top of the meat, alternating different flavors in each row if you’re using more than 1 type of cheese. Be sure to leave about a 2-inch gap at the far end of the meat — the cheese will shift in that direction when you begin to roll the meat, plus you want some meat-to-meat contact to make a good seal on the loaf.



9. Before you start rolling the meat, lay your pulled pork across the end of the meat you plan to start rolling.
10. Roll your meat starting from the side with pulled pork, being sure to take your time. If areas fall apart, just keep going and mold it to the form of the loaf once you’re done rolling.
11. After you’ve rolled the ground meat into a solid loaf, sprinkle a generous amount of BBQGuys Pork Rub all over the exterior. Briefly set the loaf aside.
12. Place a layer of aluminum foil over a similarly sized sheet pan, then cover the foil with a layer of bacon strips. Lay out the strips vertically, grouping them as closely together as you can without overlapping on either side.
13. Lay the meatloaf on top of the bacon, slightly off-center, and use the foil to pull the bacon over the loaf on the end closest to you. Continue rolling the meatloaf until it’s completely wrapped in the bacon strips.



14. Preheat your kamado to 300°F. Once your grill is ready, toss 2 pecan wood chunks onto the coals and set up your kamado for indirect cooking. We used a heat deflector plate and a drip pan, the latter of which is extremely important because you want to prevent all the fat drippings from getting inside your grill.
15. Center your meatloaf on the grill grates right above the drip pan, then close the kamado lid and let it cook for about an hour.
16. After an hour, your meatloaf should be browning. At this point, it should have an internal temperature of about 145°F. Baste it with the same BBQ sauce you used earlier, then shut the lid and let it continue cooking.
17. Once another hour has passed, check your meatloaf again. The bacon should be getting crispy, and the BBQ sauce should have caramelized a good bit. Remove the meatloaf from your grill.
18. Let the meatloaf rest for about 20 minutes, then slice, serve, and enjoy!