Milk does, on the other hand, add moisture and fat and is worth including for that fact alone Heavy cream works better Better still is buttermilk, which has a unique tang that adds depth and complexity to the finished dish Bread crumbs may, at first glance, seem like an unnecessary extender—something added just to stretch your meat a little bit further—but they are perhaps the most important ingredient of all when it comes to improving the texture of a meat loaf Aside from absorbing and retaining some moisture as the meat loaf cooks, they physically impede the meat proteins from rubbing up too closely to one another, minimizing the amount of cross-linkage and thus dramatically increasing tenderness In many ways, the physical structure of a meat loaf is much like the structure of an emulsified sauce stabilized with starch In the latter case, starch acts like a bouncer, keeping fats from coalescing, while in the former, bread crumbs do the job, keeping meat proteins apart I found that using crumbs from fresh bread slices ground in the food processor provided better moisture and binding capabilities than dried bread crumbs Finally, mushrooms, while not necessarily a standard meat loaf ingredient, are an invaluable addition Why I include them under binders and extenders rather than lump them in with the aromatics? Because they act much more like bread crumbs than they like, say, onions Mushrooms are extremely porous and are full of flavorful liquid At the same time, they are soft and spongy Just like bread crumbs, they prevent the meat proteins from interlocking, increasing tenderness while simultaneously adding flavor as they slowly release their liquid In fact, they’re so much like bread that I treat them exactly the same way—grind them in the food processor and add them to the raw mix, no parcooking necessary at all! So, to summarize, we have the following chart: INGREDIENT EFFECT HOW T INCORP Egg Yolks Add richness and moisture, help bind the meat and bread to lend structure without toughness Add to th mixture Egg Whites Bind meat and bread to lend structure without toughness (more Add to m mixture ...they’re so much like bread that I treat them exactly the same way—grind them in the food processor and add them to the raw mix, no parcooking necessary at all! So, to summarize, we have the following chart:... Add richness and moisture, help bind the meat and bread to lend structure without toughness Add to th mixture Egg Whites Bind meat and bread to lend structure without toughness (more Add to m mixture