pantry I made a couple loaves side by side, one with an equal mix of ground chuck, ground pork, and ground veal, and the second one with a mix of ground chuck, ground pork, and a couple tablespoons of unflavored gelatin hydrated in a bit of chicken stock and cooked until dissolved (I made sure to add the same amount of chicken stock to the first loaf as well) Texturewise, both loaves proved to be moist and tender Flavorwise, the no-veal loaf had a clear advantage Gelatin it is Meat Loaf Binders and Extenders So, up to now, what we’ve essentially got is something that’s halfway between a burger and a sausage It’s got the basic fat content of a burger, with the key difference being that the salt is mixed right into the meat rather than just seasoning the exterior We all know what happens when you add salt to meat before mixing it, right? It causes the meat to become sticky and bind with itself as the salt slowly dissolves muscle proteins But this is not a good thing for meat loaf, where tenderness and a loose, velvety texture are desired above all We can mitigate those effects by adding the salt immediately before mixing and only mixing as much as necessary, but there are better ways to improve texture—namely, with binders and additives Let’s look at the most common ones to determine what role they play Eggs are an ingredient in nearly every meat loaf, and they have two distinct roles Egg yolks, which are mostly water but contain a good amount of protein and fat, add flavor, richness, and moisture They also help bind the meat together and get the loaf to set in a stable form without the need to overwork the meat Egg whites have even more water in them, are devoid of any fat at all, and have a very mild flavor Their main role is to add extra loose proteins to the mix to assist the egg yolks in their quest to add structure without overworking the meat or adding toughness We’ll definitely include them Milk and other dairy products , like heavy cream and buttermilk, contain both water and fat, adding two types of moisture to our meat loaf There’s a long-held theory that milk can tenderize ground meat, and this is the reason often cited for cooking ground meat in milk to make a Bolognesestyle ragù I’m pretty skeptical about this Milk is mainly water, with some milk fat and a few proteins thrown in What could cause it to tenderize meat? Some sources claim that adding milk limits the cooking temperature to 212ºF (the temperature at which water boils), which keeps meat from overcooking What? Limiting temperature to 212ºF? What good does that do? Meat toughens at temperatures a good 70 to 75 degrees below this threshold Besides, plain old water (which is abundant in the meat and all the vegetables you add to meat loaf) will perform that function just as well Indeed, cooking three batches of meat side by side, one simmered in milk, one simmered in water, and one allowed to simmer in its own juices, left me with three batches of meat that were equally tough Fact of the matter is, milk does not tenderize meat The only way to guarantee tender meat is not to overcook it And that’s a simple matter of using a thermometer when you bake the meat loaf ...together and get the loaf to set in a stable form without the need to overwork the meat Egg whites have even more water in them, are devoid of any fat at all, and have a very mild flavor Their main role is to add extra loose proteins to... Their main role is to add extra loose proteins to the mix to assist the egg yolks in their quest to add structure without overworking the meat or adding toughness We’ll definitely include them Milk and other dairy products... What could cause it to tenderize meat? Some sources claim that adding milk limits the cooking temperature to 212ºF (the temperature at which water boils), which keeps meat from overcooking What? Limiting temperature to 212ºF? What