What is the purpose of having an egg in a meatloaf recipe?

It is a binder. Along with the bread crumbs, oatmeal (my mom-in-law even uses slightly crushed cheerios) So that the loaf will stay together with all your other goodies.What is the purpose of having an egg in a meatloaf recipe?
Yeah, everybody got it. The egg proteins are looser than the proteins in meat, since they're in a liquid to begin with. When they cook, they tighten up, and pull everything around them together.





You really should watch Good Eats on the Food Network, or if you can't, then try YouTube, I have found some episodes on there.


Alton Brown is a genius when it comes to the cooking show. Not only is his food delicious, the show is entertaining and educational all at once, as long as you don't mind a little...goofiness.What is the purpose of having an egg in a meatloaf recipe?
It helps bind everything together and often if you don't have this your meatloaf will fall apart or be crumbly instead of firmer.
it acts as a binder, otherwise your meatloaf would just crumble
its the glue really + eggs make food rise . Think of it as the marshmellows in rice crispies treats.
it holds everything together.
The proteins act as a binding agent.
binder