So for my first smoke with the #2 I tried Ray's Meatloaf which is a recipe featured in Jeff's Smoking Meat cookbook by a guy with the SN Silverwolf636 over on smokingmeatforums.
It took 4 hours to reach 155 degrees with my #2 set at 250 degrees. I opened the smoker 3 times because the first chunk of wood I put in (2 oz hickory) , even though I wrapped it in foil it still caught a bit on fire and after opening the smoker it basically stopped smoking so I later added a second piece of wood (1oz hickory) wrapped better and it didn't catch on fire. The smoker was very quick to get back up to temp so I am not sure how much time opening it actually added to the process. The thermometer I have read the internal temp of the smoker between 260-285 the whole time. I had the thermometer mounted with the mounting bracket to the rack I had the meatloaf on which was on the second to top rung.
Anyway's the meatloaf turned out okay imo. I have never been a huge meatloaf fan so hard for me to really say for sure. It was not too smokey thankfully and everyone else enjoyed it, or so they said. With a little ketchup it was good. My critique for it would have been to add more salt to the meat mixture. I was wondering why the recipe did not call for any but I did not add any since I figured the 1/2lb of jimmy dean sausage would probably give it some salt. Maybe I like my food with a bit more salt than others, idk. I will have to try some other recipes to see if I maybe I enjoy other ones more. Anyways, I wasn't nearly as impressed as I was hoping for so I think for now I will move onto some classic cuts of meat to smoke.
