Okay, I'm new and I understand the rule of don't try things out when time and or event is important, but...

There will be a surprise wedding at my house tomorrow afternoon (mine). The family group of 20-25 think it is only a Christmas party. 6 of us know it will be our surpise wedding in front of my (future) wife's family.

Now the stress. The group is a canivore. They have enjoyed and savored smoked tri tip at the sacramento jazz festival (pre event) for 20 years. Patti bought the smoker (009) for me three days ago. So I have very little experience with it, other than to have already forgot the drip pan. Twice.

I have 3x 2-lb tri tips from Costco. I intend to use a mccormick rub and smoke them early. Any advice would be appreciated. I'm thinking 225 with a probe until about 160-165. 3x 2-lb pieces would take what... about 3-4 hours? Its okay if they're done early.

Any thoughts?

Wow! Talk about stress! A new smoker, a wedding, and cooking for in-laws - all in less than a week. Congrats on all of the above and welcome to the forum. This place is a wealth of information. I haven't done a tri-tip, smoked or otherwise and I am sure you are anxious for feedback, so if you haven't done so already, you could check for tri-tip in the search function at the top of the page until someone chimes in with the help you need.

Best of luck on all endeavors tomorrow. Let us know how it turns out.

Mudgie

Now that's definitely a new one! A suprise wedding! Congrats!!!

I've never done tri-tip so can't be of much help. Go to the top of this page and use the search function. Type in "tri tip" and you will get several hits.

From what I read there are a couple of way to cook it. One is like a brisket flat and thinly sliced and the other is done like a roast done to medium-medium rare.

Do the search function for now. Others may chime in and give assistance. It sure would help if you told em what results you are expecting (brisket/roast, etc.).

Be sure to tell us how everything turns out! I wish you the best in everything you mentioned

mike,
tri tip here is scarce as hens teeth.
going down your list;
carnivores-you lucked out there for sure!!
mccormick rub- good choice and i am assuming montreal steak seasoning or thereabouts.
temp- only recipes i have call for grilling but your 225f temp selection is a good one to me.
time- based on my time to temp notes for my sm150 your 3-4 hour projections based off of 2 pounds pieces seems to be within range.
pull temp- thank goodness you have a thermo!!!!! the 160 temp looks good. just pull them at that temp,wrap in foil and but into an ice chest to hold. one trick i do when i have to do this is to preheat your ice chest with a pot of really hot water and close it for a while. then when you are ready to put the meat in just dump out the water and your meat will stay hot much longer.
hope this helps some
jack

The first choice is always to grill tri tip.

It is basically very lean sirloin.

Since you are cooking in a smokette,I'd cook it at 225�.

Use a nut wood,maybe four oz.

If you have time,I'd marinate it in Lee & Perrins woster sauce ,for as many hrs as you can and the McCormick rub will be fine.

Take it no more than 130�-135� internal and that should give you medium/med rare.

I'd personally take it out about 125�[but thay's just me] foil them together with a cup beef broth,coffee,butter,and a couple tbsp of whatever red bbq sauce you like. and let the Smokette hold them at 140�

If you can't hold in the smokette,double foil,towel and hold in a dry cooler.

Jack has some good tips.

Slice the width of a #2 pencil,across the grain,pour the soppin's over the slices.

It doesn't have to be hot.

Platter it all and it will be fine at room temp.

Remember they only ate it at a "left coast" grill event.

Never from a Cookshack master.

Thanks guys. I'll let you know how it goes. I have a 5-lb pork butt coming out in about 3degrees time. I'll let that sit about a half hour and then tear in to it to see how it tastes.

I'll do the pre-heated cooler trick, that's a great idea. Even room temperature or barely warm is fine for us. No matter how long it takes, I'm gonna tell 'em that I slaved away at it all day!

By the way, this concoction: "cup beef broth,coffee,butter,and a couple tbsp of whatever red bbq sauce you like" sounds interesting, but I have enough stressors going on right now. Maybe try this later.

Thanks again
Mike C

Mike C -

Congrats on the wedding!! Take a deep breath, man... with the experience you've got here on this site... it'll all be fine.

Congrats again!!

Thank you for the congrats!

About the pork butt. Temp prob said 170, but after letting it sit 1/2 hour and then carving into the middle of it.. it was a little too wiggly and even maybe a little too pink looking. The flavor was great, the rub tastes great. But after a couple hours of knawing around the edgees I've re-wrapped it in foil and have put it into the house oven at 350 for about an hour. I'll check it at that point and then make another cammand decision.

I'm thinking I'll try 175 or 178 degrees in the smoker next time. Maybe even 180. We would only be out a $10 butt if that were to be too done.

you could go higher than that on a pork butt. 190...

Mike - take that butt to 190 minimum (I prefer 195-200 for pulling) then let it set for 20-30 minutes.

I hope you work well under stress, if not, you may have to come to the forum for a little marriage counseling

quote:

I hope you work well under stress, if not, you may have to come to the forum for a little marriage counseling [/QB]

Without even asking I think I would like the (marriage)advice here... it would go something like this: apply the rub liberally, let set and then enjoy! Or something like that!

Speaking of smoking for "longer times." Back to my tri-tip question. No one wants it done any more than medium, in fact, if it were barely pink, that's what the audience would prefer. What would be a good temp reading for that? Any ideas.

Like I said, I've never done tri-tip but if you want it no more than medium I would go with Tom's suggestion:

"I'd personally take it out about 125�[but thay's just me] foil them together with...."

Might want to go and re-read his post.

On the counseling, when you're gently rubbing the butt remember to go easy on the cayenne. May smart a little

quote:

Originally posted by Wheelz:
[qb] ... but if you want it no more than medium I would go with Tom's suggestion:[/qb]

My mistake, I meant to say that every one wants it more than medium, maybe even medium well... that's the question of what temp do you think medium well might be?

While we're at it. If I took them out and we decided they needed to be cooked more. Whats the best oven procedure? wrap with foil and bake, or put under the broiler without foil.. or maybe put them on the BBQ and just turn them once or twice. Or are we really just geting down to personal preference?

Like I said, I've never worked with tri-tip but common sense tells me to shoot for 145. Remember it will continue to cook once you pull it.

If you are going to foil and toss it in the oven definitely add some liquid as Tom suggested. The closer you get to well-done the drier and tougher it's going to be.

Hopefully someone else will chime in and give some sound advice.