Will freely admit that I'm not the most creative or the best cook around but here are a few thoughts...

Four slices of bread mixed into that much meat seems like a very small amount to both hold the final mixture together and also absorb some amount of fat that will be expressed during the cooking time. Personally, I use rolled oats as a binder and measure "by the handful", that is, I add uncooked oats until the mixture seems "right" which unfortunately, is going to be the final uncooked texture that I/you approve of. While I've also used crushed crackers from time to time, I keep returning to the rolled oats as my favorite binder. For this use, a store brand works as well as a name brand since you're not necessarily looking for flavor, just a binder and "flavor sponge" for the other ingredients. To this, I'd also use at least two eggs and possibly even three depending on egg size.

I would agree that the oven temperature probably needs to be checked with an oven thermometer. You might get them one as a small gift since they're relatively inexpensive. Depending on the response, you might coach the item as just a "I was just curious and thought we might do a test" type statement.

As to the onion, I prefer dicing (medium to large size) the onion and/or other veggie ingredients as I find that actual mincing (very small size) allows too much moisture to be released during the cooking process whereas a larger dice will cause the vegetables to get soft but not totally disappear and release all their moisture. But then, we like onion cooked in dishes around my house so a "small" onion would only be a starting point.

As to the above points, I'd add that meatloaf is perhaps one of the most individualized main dishes you'll find with recipes ranging from nearly all meat of some type to some meat and some minor amount of veggies to some meat and a LOT of veggies. None of these recipes are wrong of course and all depend on what you and/or your family likes best. I learned to make it as my grandmother did with the addition of onion, celery, parsley, one standard can of Veg-All, oats, eggs, catsup and so on. We tend to have one meal with it hot out of the oven and then refrigerated until cold to slice and make sandwiches from.

Hope this helps...

Thank you for your ideas; they are spot on I think. Here is the video I used. I liked his explanations for why and how to make this recipe. I have to remember as you said, different people have different ideas, even people like him that look professional.

The 1:1 pork/chuck ratio wouldn't work for me. I would adjust it to 3/4 lb pork and 1-3/4 chuck. I'd even consider a lower-fat ground beef (perhaps a 85/15).

It's possible the two meats weren't mixed fully and the pork showed a lighter color, looking uncooked (even if it was).

My comment would be similar to Feathers' - too much pork in that mix!! I use only a half pound of pork (typically pork sausage) to 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef. It is really only included for some added flavor so in a pinch I have made many meatloaves without it, using just the ground beef. I don't like to see any binder in my loaf so I stick with dry bread crumbs or crackers - no oats, no fresh bread and no milk.

I also add a lot more seasoning to mine (I don't like it glazed so Worcestershire in the mix, also Dijon mustard, a dab of horseradish, oregano and thyme....and usually something on the sweet side....chutney, a dash of Balsamic vinegar, onion jam, etc.)

I also bake it at 350F for an hour, possibly just a skosh more.

Can you guys see the video I attached, I can't?

Thanks for the additional ideas.

Ginjj, no, I can't see your video.

I only use lean meat because we don't care for the kind of flowing with fat style that some adore (I've seen recipes that called for 50% fat!). They still make draining meatloaf pans, which might help if you want to stick with a richer mix.

I use either gr turkey/mushroom or gr beef and cook for an hour at 375*, drain and let sit 15 min.

I don't think you cooked long enough for that much meat.

I agree, not cooked long enough even though I found a recipe calling for 2 lbs in a loaf pan and that's what it said,

When I make a meatloaf, I cook it at 350 for an hour an a half! I use 2 lbs of gr. beef, usually the 90% kind. I add no pork to that. With the bread, eggs and diced onion mixed in and also some tomato sauce, it is very moist.

Thank you all for your feedback. It's amazing after all my years of cooking I still make big mistakes! I really appreciate all the feedback and sharing; GardenWeb people still remain the best!

If you like your recipe, the taste and the texture, but not the color, just add one teaspoon of dark soy sauce. It wouldn't change the taste, but will make everything darker.

Make sure its dark soy, not light soy.

dcarch

The 80% beef would throw off a lot of greasy moisture which has no where to go but back into the mix. I'd wager that's what the problem was.

When I use gr turkey, I'll add half as much chopped mushrooms and lots of worcetershire along with the other usual ingrediants to make it taste more "meaty"

Ground chuck is usually 20% fat and pork shoulder will be that much as least. I'll bet you baked it in a loaf pan which didn't allow the grease to drain away. When I make meatloaf I always shape it into a mound and put it in the center of a cookie sheet or 9 by 12 casserole....that allows the grease to drain off.
One of the worst meat loaves i ever had was packed into a loaf pan and any grease in the meat had to stay there...it was soft and greasy and just nasty.
Can't tell you about the color....except to say maybe the glaze contributed....I have no ptoblem with very fine vegetables in my meat loaf...when my kids were little they didn't want to find and pieces of anything suspicious, so all vegetable add ins were whirred in the blender with the egg before adding.
Try it again....and put it in a mound in the center of a larger pan of even on a rack.....and with that much pork....try a leaner beef mix.