"jmcquown" > wrote in message
...
> Goomba38 wrote:
>> Mike wrote:
>>> Can anyone discuss 'binding' as in adding flour to a potato mixture
>>> or a meatloaf?
>>> What's actually happening? how do you know you've added enough flour
>>> or matzo meal? - Mike
>>
>> I've never *heard* of a meatloaf recipe that included raw flour. It
>> sounds like a seriously bad idea.
>
> I agree! Never heard of that in meatloaf, either. I do lightly dust
> potato
> pancakes (the ones made from cold leftover mashed potatoes) with flour.
> Guess it helps hold them together by soaking up some excess moisture.
> <shrug> It's the way Grandma Brown and my mom did it, so I do, too.
>
>> I always assumed breadcrumbs, oats and other such additives worked by
>> swelling and absorbing liquids (fat from meat, liquid from vegetable
>> and other liquid additions) which is how they work to bind the loaf
>> together. I may be wrong....?
>
> That's the principle. I use oats (the quick cooking rolled kind) in
> meatloaf.
>
> Jill
>
>


That sounds interesting. How much oats per how much meat? I'm OK with "oh
about a handful", if that's your preferred unit of measure. :-)