The more you mix a meatloaf the better it will hold together. But mix it too much and it will be tough. A good rule of thumb is to mix your meatloaf until it is just combined and all of the ingredients are evenly distributed.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOnce mixed, shape the meat mixture into a long log shape. When shaping your loaf, looser is better. Don't compress the meat too much or it will need to cook longer. Try to keep the size of the log consistent so that the meatloaf cooks evenly.