Do baked meatballs get crusty?

amother

OP ↓

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 11:49 am

I’ve always made meatballs by cooking in sauce. I want to try a recipe that calls for baking for 20 min but I’m scared the meatballs will get a crusty or crispy texture which would gross me out. Is that what happens when you bake them?

Ema of 5 ↓

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 11:51 am

amother OP wrote:

They are harder than meatballs made on the stove for sure. I don’t know what you consider crusty or crispy, so I can’t answer that. I would recommend checking on them before the allotted time, as that would probably allow them to be softer and still completely cooked.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 11:56 am

Ok thanks. This recipe says bake for 20 min at 325 and then add to sauce where they cook another hour.

The recipe also calls for 1/4 cup water (in addition to egg) which I’ve never seen before but I imagine it helps keep it moist.

↑ Ema of 5 ↓

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 12:02 pm

amother OP wrote:

Oh so that’s totally different! I was thinking you were just cooking them in the oven. If they are going into a sauce, they will be soft.
This sounds interesting, can you post the recipe?

mha3484

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 12:05 pm

20 min at 325 wont get crispy. I have a recipe I love that makes a crispy meatball but I airfry it at 400.

The baking will help them keep their shape better and will be less greasy.

amother

Peachpuff ↓

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 12:24 pm

Classic Italian meatballs are always baked first And yes, the texture is slightly different

amother

IndianRed

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 12:46 pm

amother OP wrote:

I start my meatballs in the oven on cookie sheets because I like that "crust" on the outside. Not to make them crispy, per se, just so they hold their shape well. I don't add egg, breadcrumbs, etc. Just seasoning. And they don't spend 20 minutes. It takes just a few short minutes at 350. They they go into sauce which is already hot, so it doesn't take anywhere near an hour for them to finish cooking. The cooking time you are describing sounds like they'd be way too dried out IMO.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 1:05 pm

Ok so here’s the recipe I’m looking at. What do you meatball experts think?

https://thejewishkitchen.com/m.....etti/

amother

↑ OP ↓

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 1:06 pm

amother Peachpuff wrote:

Classic Italian meatballs are always baked first And yes, the texture is slightly different

Texture is different in that it’s what?

exhausted

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 1:10 pm

I bake mine for 10 minutes and then put them in the sauce. They won't be dry if they cook for an hour, they'll be soft.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 1:14 pm

The truth is the reason I was tempted to try this recipe is because I often end up burning my meatballs in the sauce even if I cook on low so I was trying to prevent that but not sure if this will help if anyways they need to cook for an hour? Was also curious to try this recipe since it calls for water in the meatball mixture.

amother

↑ Peachpuff ↓

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 1:14 pm

amother OP wrote:

Ok so here’s the recipe I’m looking at. What do you meatball experts think?

https://thejewishkitchen.com/m.....etti/

If you know you are happy with meatballs cooked in sauce just make this recipe skip the water and make them in a pot in sauce

amother

↑ OP ↓

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 8:16 pm

amother OP wrote:

Ok so here’s the recipe I’m looking at. What do you meatball experts think?

https://thejewishkitchen.com/m.....etti/

Ended up making these. Came out good. Advantage to me was that it cooked quickly and I didn’t end up with the problem of them burning

↑ Ema of 5 ↓

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 8:25 pm

I see egg in the ingredients, but not in the instructions. Did I miss it or is it not there?
Also as someone else said, I would skip the oven on these, for the future.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 8:31 pm

Ema of 5 wrote:

I see egg in the ingredients, but not in the instructions. Did I miss it or is it not there?
Also as someone else said, I would skip the oven on these, for the future.

Just checked-you’re right. I just assumed egg went into meatball mixture which I’m sure it does.

Why skip oven? I liked how it sped up the cooking process and didn’t cause my common occurrence of burning my meatballs on the stove.

↑ Ema of 5

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 8:46 pm

amother OP wrote:

Oh BH :-) in that case, do it again the same way next time :-) glad you enjoyed!
I assume the same about the egg, that’s usually where it goes….

amother

↑ Peachpuff

Yesterday at 9:49 am

amother OP wrote:

Ended up making these. Came out good. Advantage to me was that it cooked quickly and I didn’t end up with the problem of them burning

Happy it worked out!