It should work fine without added liquid as long as your recipe is moist. Adding liquid may cause it to break a bit like a SloppyJoe.

The only issue with time is that every crockpot is different like our ovens. I would check the internal temp at 3 hours if you can. Looking for 155-160, then add the top sauce for 10-15 min. (I'm just guessing about 4-5 hours for 155.)

I just made it for the first time a few weeks ago but in the oven. I like the top sauce to roast uncovered to get rich and toasty.

It will take a test/babysitting a bit the first time, then note what worked, how much time it took, for the next time.

I make a rather different meatloaf than the all American classic with ketchup....

After it is all mixed and shaped, I brown it in a fry pan, or a large pot. Then I put it in the smallest slow cooker it fits, and cook it for about 5 hours.

Sorry, no exact science... and yes, I do NOT add any liquid.

Moni

Seems like it would be swimming in grease if you put it in the crockpot raw.

beaglenc, do you notice how sleevendog's meatloaf is browned on the sides? That's refereed to as the Maillard reaction, which is basically a chemical reaction which causes browning. The heat needs to be high enough, and I don't think you'll get that in a crock pot unless yours has a high "high" setting.

The typically preferred method is to form the meatloaf in a large pan, like a 9 x 13 pan, and put your sauce on top. The larger size of the pan allows the greases to flow away - and some to flow back, adding flavor to the meatloaf. It also allows for a nicer browning and a moisture loaf. Some bake them in loaf pans, but I think this allows for more grease in the meat, unless you are using a very lean meat.

No meat loaf I ever make is "swimming in grease"...
I use meat that is only 10% fat....can't see paying meat prices for too much fat....and 80% lean meat is 20% fat.
and I also use enough bread crumbs to absorb some grease....afterall fat carries lots of flavor.
But I also don' use a crock pot, which is what the OP was asking about.
I would say you can cook anything you want in a crock pot, or a pressure cooker....the question is will it be good..?

There's a heck of a lot of slow cooker and crockpot meatloaf recipes online so somebody must be doing it!!

Meatloaf in a Crockpot

Yep, that's what I meant by lean meat, lindac92! I tend to use a higher fat content for flavor, and elevate my loaf a bit using big carrot chunks, which I discard.

Thanks so much for your help. Gardengal I'll check our your link. My DH loves meat loaf but it really messes up my oven. The selfcleaning feature is broken and my oven is in dire need of cleaning. I have COPD and can't take the fumes of oven cleaner, even afraid to try the fume free kind. Don't suppose a loose foil tent would work? Oh I have 93%(?) lean, so there shouldn't be a lot of grease.

Before I got a countertop oven, I baked meatloaf in my 6 qt. Nesco rather than dirtying up the big oven.

beaglenc, I'm so sorry to hear you have COPD. I think at 93% lean you should have very little, if any, grease to worry about.

And if you bake your meat loaf in a pan that isn't too big, it will spatter lots less.
Besides, serving good food is lots more important than having a clean oven.

Lovely meatloaf sleevendog! Bet that pork added some amazing flavor! If I had a slightly smaller pan I'd use it too. I do like to leave room for the juices, as you did yours. I add lots of grated carrots, celery, onion, and red or yellow peppers sometimes, and pretty much whatever veggies I can fine-chop. (Looks like you did, too), some broken bread, and a bit of tomato sauce. And my sauce is also homemade, not ketchup... and there never seems to be enough!

Yup, the kitchen sink loaf. I had it all planned on the drive home...took less than 30 min. First potatoes cut and in the pot for mashed. Took off my coat, fed the dogs, Celery carrot onion chopped then minced in the cuisinart, heel end of a boule from the freezer, stole a cup of the hot potato water and added 1/4 cup dried porcini, 1/2 cup of quick oats, tbsp teff, tbsp flax, (those three pulsed in spice grinder), tbsp greek yogurt, splash Worcestershire, s&p and a few other spices, added torn bread to the wet, pulled out the meats, added veg, pulsed the wet soaked mix in the cuisinart, added to the meat mince, formed into the pan,....probably 20 min.

In this area, many bake their meatloaf in a covered roasting pan. It will have potatoes and carrots plus onion if you like all around. The lid i removed when nearly done for it to brown if you like or to add a topping.

Sue in central Indiana

Wow....I live in central Iowa and have never seen nor heard of meatloaf in a covered roaster....but I suppose it would work like meatballs...

I bake my meatloaf in my cast iron skillet, primarily because my mom did so (same skillet!!). I have never noticed it particularly contributing to a dirty oven........

I bake my meatloaf freeform on a parchment lined sheet pan. The fat runs off and there are lots of crusty surfaces.

There are lots of internet postings about putting a mason jar in the middle of a skillet, or on the baking sheet and forming the loaf around it. The jar sucks the grease up into it.

I don't bother with that, as I don't want to clean a greasy jar, plus I've ready many times that mason jars aren't meant for a dry heat in the oven.

I do either a free-form loaf on a baking sheet on foil or parchment, or in a loaf pan and drain any grease.

In a slow-cooker, I would elevate the meat on veggies or a rack so that the grease drains away. Unless you brown it first, to get rid of any grease before putting in the slow-cooker.

There are lots of internet postings about putting a mason jar in the middle of a skillet, or on the baking sheet and forming the loaf around it.

Jasdip, would that be a meatloaf donut? ; )

2many, I guess it can't be called a 'meatloaf' then, can it?

Yes, a meatloaf can be made in a crockpot, and I've done it, although I'm not a huge fan of meatloaf. The recipe I use calls for garlic, onion, chicken broth, eggs, parmesan cheese. The broth and seasoning goes in the blender so there are no chunks, and then everything gets mixed and shaped. I grow grassfed beef so there's not fat, my ground beef will stick to a pan, but the broth and eggs keep it moist. I top it with a mix of catsup, brown sugar and vinegar, straight from America's Test Kitchen, my girls loved that stuff.

Anyway, cooking time will vary depending on the crockpot, but I cooked mine on low for 4 or 5 hours. I put the topping on when I first put it in the crockpot, so it could bake on a bit. The only problem was that it was not loaf shaped, so it was hard to cut into sandwich sized slices.

That was before I bought the small Nesco, now I'd put it in a loaf pan and put it in the Nesco roaster...

Annie

I have several of the extra long loaf pans you find at ikea, they are wonderful for meat loaf, and even better for banana bread and that type of stuff. People marvel at the extra long loaf and ask how i do it.

*superglue*