Crispy crusty skin on meatloaf - how?

[Mary]

Sorry that your last meatloaf didn't "pan" out, Heather. Keep trying! Sometimes the end result is better than the remembered dish.

[invictus]

I don't use a glaze of any kind either nor does mine come out particularly crispy (not sure I'd want it that way!) but have you thought about just turning the broiler on for a few minutes before taking it out of the oven?

[HeatherFeather]

An update: after trying a couple more times (after who knows how many previous attempts), I finally produced a meatloaf that my BF felt tasted as if his grandfather had made it. Yay!!!!

There wasn't really a trick - I think I just needed the right pan. I picked up an older style 9x13" metal baking pan from an estate sale last week for $1. Placed a metal rack inside and baked the meatloaf on top for 1 hour at 350 F. Then I let it stay in the oven another 10 or so minutes to keep browning further. Nice and moist inside, nice crusty outside without burning it.

I used one of the suggestions to drain the juices - only I did this at the end, then placed my loaf onto an oven-safe platter, loosely covered with foil, and let it sit in the turned off oven to keep warm while I made the gravy. This kept the loaf much warmer and also kept it from getting soggy while waiting on the gravy to cook.

It was so good and we ate almost the entire loaf between the two of us last night.

Thank you everyone for the tips and helpful comments. Hopefully I can repeat the process.

[Dissie]

What temp are you baking it at? I made one tonight and the outside was crispy even with a glaze. I bake mine at 375 for1 hour and 15 minutes. It is a free standing one on a broiler pan so the grease drains off.

[Dissie]

I should add, if I make something to go with it, like say, augratin taters, I bump the temp up to 400 halfway through baking when I add the other dish to the oven. Tonight I made stuffing as side dish and added it halfway through the baking of meatloaf.

[Sue]

Cut back the liquid and cook at a lower temperature. Cooks longer, but at a lower temp won't tend to overbrown, longer time in drier heat dries it out, as does less liquid. Don't cover it with anything unless it gets too dark.