Overview
I love meatloaf, it’s easily one of my favorite comfort meals. It’s super easy to make; just mix all ingredients together in a bowl, shape it, and stick it in the oven. It’s perfect for a weeknight meal, and can even be prepped the day before and baked the next day.
But today, I wanted to test the effect of different breadcrumbs on the quality of the loaf. Namely, how do some gluten free alternatives compare to standard breadcrumbs? For this, I’ve taken my standard meatloaf recipe in Classic BBQ Meatloaf and Lemon Roasted Broccoli.
I doubled the recipe, and mixed all the ingredients together in a large bowl; except for the breading ingredient. I then divided the mixture (dough?) into 4 separate bowls, and added 45 g each of my 4 different binders. They were then shaped into a loaf on a pan, rested in the fridge for an hour, and then roasted in a 350F oven.
What Was Tested
Mixing
As mentioned above, I used a double batch of my Classic BBQ Meatloaf and Lemon Roasted Broccoli as a base, where all the ingredients (except for the breadcrumbs) were added to a large bowl and thoroughly mixed. The weight of the bowl was taken and divided by 4, leading to about 430 g of meat mix per test. This was then separated into 4 different bowls, where each batch got 45 g each of their respective “breadcrumb”.
1. Breadcrumbs
This was our control, regular old breadcrumbs. This is what my mom used prior to being diagnosed with Celiac disease, and what I used as well prior to swapping the breadcrumbs for either oat flour or casein protein. This felt exactly like I expected from a meatloaf. It was slightly sticky, but not too much, and was easily shaped into a loaf. Vic made a meatloaf the other day using a similar recipe with these breadcrumbs, and this is exactly how it felt raw (and that meatloaf was great).
2. Oat Flour
For the first experiment, I wanted to test the effects of swapping for oat flour. Oats are cheap and gluten free, and can be easily ground into homemade oat flour. Instead of buying gluten free breadcrumbs, I figured oats would be a cheaper alternative.
The raw meat felt significantly stickier than the control however. Whereas I was able to fully mix the breadcrumb meat and squeeze it though my fingers with minimal sticking, I felt that the oat flour loaf was getting stuck to my hands more. This made it a little harder to shape, and I’m worried that this will lead to a change in structure and texture upon baking, as well as leaking out of a lot of juices.
The oats were the main reason for the hour rest in the fridge prior to cooking. Not only did I want to let each batch come to the same temperature, but oats are known for their ability to slowly absorb water. I figured that this way, the oats would be more hydrated prior to cooking, and therefore should retain more juices.
3. Coconut Flour
Coconut flour is the only one on this list that I’ve never made a meatloaf with before. It’s gluten free, low in carbs and fat, high in fiber, midly sweet, and (most imporantly) known for it’s ability to absorb a lot of moisture. As I showed in my Water Absorption of Different Flours experiment, coconut flour can take in a lot of water.
This is exactly what was shown in mixing the loaf. Whereas the oat flour one was stickier than the control, the coconnut flour meatloaf was noticeably drier when raw. It was able to suck up all the extra liquid in the raw meat mix, and as such, is able to hold it’s shape very well.
My guess is that while the oat flour one might leak juices down onto the pan, the coconut flour one should be able to hold onto it a bit more, allowing for a more flavorful loaf without adding too much breading ingredients. If I wanted the same effect for the oat flour, for example, I’d probably need to double the amount of oats added.
4. Unflavored Casein Protein Powder
Finally, we have the protein powder. The main reason I wanted to use protein powder in meatloaf was to keep the protein high (duh). Surprisingly, meatloaf doesn’t have that much protein as compared to other meat dishes, since there’s a lot of other ingredients mixed into it. I wanted to see if there was a way to mix in a binding solid to hold it together like breadcrumbs, but while still making a meatloaf that’s loaded with protein.
The base recipe I was using used to called for breadcrumbs when I first developed it, before I switched over to oat flour, and then finally casein as my breading. This keeps the protein up, but my guess is that it will lead to the worst quality meatloaf. Despite casein also being known for it’s ability to absorb a lot of moisture, I’ve found that a meatloaf made with casein tends to lose a lot of moisture in the pan, and is very prone to crumbling apart. It also may still have a slight casein aftertaste if you don’t use enough spices.
Just know that if my Classic BBQ Meatloaf and Lemon Roasted Broccoli now calls for a different breading instead of casein, you’ll know that the protein powder lost the matchup.
Baking
Each batch was shaped into 4 different loaves, and roasted on the same pan at 350F for about 45 minutes, until the internal temperature was about 170F. After 30 minutes, I noticed that while all the other batches were registering around mid 150F, the coconut flour loaf was significantly lower, around mid 130F. I don’t know if this is due to the coconut flour or my oven; perhaps there’s a bit of a cold spot in the back right of my oven. I rotated the pan around for the last 15 minutes, but I probably should have done that halfway.
When pulling it out of the oven, I was very surprised to actually see that it was actually the oat flour that seemed to retain the most moisture. That doesn’t necessarily mean it was the best meatloaf (after all, I haven’t tasted them yet), but that is interesting to note. As you can see from the photo below, the casein rendered out the most juices, followed by the regular breadcrumbs, and with coconut and oat flours as the least. I would have though that the flours more able to bind to water raw (casein and coconut, the drier raw batches) would thus be able to hold onto more liquid upon cooking. However, this seemed to not be the case.
As with any roast, the hardest part is letting the meatloaf cool before slicing, or it will totally fall apart. Typically, I would recommend letting these sit before at least 10 minutes before carving. As I’m making these during the day, I’m going to actually let these totally cool in the fridge and slice them at dinner time, cutting the loaves cold and reheating a slice of each for a taste test.
Taste Test
As mentioned above, I will be cutting each of the 4 meatloaves cold out of the fridge, and then reheating a slice of each to taste them. Letting them cool totally will give a fair assessment of their structure, plus (and I may be alone in thinking this), meatloaf is just as (if not more) delicious cold, and that way I can compare each of the batches both ways. Above is the meatloaves (meat’s loafs?) straight out of the oven, and below is after they’ve been in the fridge for a few hours.
1. Breadcrumbs
This was the standard meatloaf, and it was a standard meatloaf in pretty much every way. Tastey, meaty but not too meaty, slightly crumbly, and firm enough to hold it’s shape. It’s taste both warm and cold was good; this is exactly what I’d expect out of a meatloaf. 8/10
2. Oat Flour
I could not tell the difference in taste between the oat flour and breadcrumb one in a blind bite. Texture wise, the oat flour loaf is a little softer and more crumbly, which makes sense, due to the lack of gluten. Both warm and cold though, it’s nearly identical to the breadcrumb loaf; you wouldn’t be able to tell a difference unless you compare them side-by-side like I did here, and even then its miniscule. 8/10
3. Coconut Flour
I had very high hopes for coconut flour, but it definitely fell flat; this was easily the worst batch. The coconut flour imparted a small but noticeable coconut flavor and a slight hint of sweetnesss; neither in a good way though. This was also easily the driest loaf. My guess is the coconut flour sucked up all the liquid, so while very little leaked out of the loaf, it was very dry to eat, like a protein baked good with too much whey. Cold was even worse, it was very dry. This one felt the most bready of the 4, it could have been a meat based slice of bread (it is a loaf after all lmao). It’s still decent food, and would work on a sandwich without totally falling apart, but not my best work. 3/10
4. Unflavored Casein Protein Powder
The casein one fell somewhere in between the coconut flour and oat flour and breadcrumbs. It wasn’t nearly as dry as the coconut, but it was definitely on the dry side. You couldn’t taste the casein which is a pro though. This was still a decent meatloaf, but not really what I’m looking for. 6/10
Conclusion
It was interesting to see how the meatloaf that released the most juices (casein) and the least juices (coconut) were the driest, whereas the ones in the middle (breadcrumbs and oat flour) were the juiciest. I think that (with exception of the coconut flour), any of the breadings tested here could work in a meatloaf.
Of the remaining 3, casein was definitely my least favorite in a side-by-side comparison. However, on it’s own you wouldn’t really be able to tell. If you want to sneak a little more protein into your meatloaf without compromising the final product, this will be the way to do it, and still get a good tasting dinner. For my taste and texture though, I think I’ll be changing my meatloaf to use something else.
Between the oat flour and breadcrumbs, I don’t think you could go wrong with either option. Most people probably have some type of breadcrumb in their pantry, so this is an easy pick for some. For others, either you don’t have breadcrumbs on hand, or you have a wheat allergy and cannot consume them. I didn’t test any gluten free breadcrumbs (my mom uses Aleias Italian style), but for a GF meatloaf I’d opt for oat flour based on the cost alone.
The breadcrumb loaf was slightly firmer, while the oat flour one was a little bit softer. Whatever you choose is up to your tastes and preferences. You could also add a little more oat flour to make it firmer, or use a little less breadcrumbs to make it more crumbly.
I’ve decided that I’ll be using oat flour from here on out; mainly for it’s nutrition. Oats are higher in fiber, don’t have a laundry list of ingredients, including added sugars, oils, and salt, and oats may actually be cheaper. My local grocery store sells 42oz canisters of quick oats for $4, whereas I belive the 13oz breadcrumbs we have was about $2.
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