Yesterday I smoked 2 tri-tips (2 3/4-3 lbs each) side by side on top shelf of my 020. I used the rub found in the list of beef recipes on this site and wrapped them in plastic wrap overnight. I did not pre-heat the smoker, just unwrapped tri-tips and set the 020 to 275 with 2-3 oz of hickory. Used a Maverick remote set to 160(Medium). One tri-tip was trimmed of fat, one was not. Maverick probe was in the trimmed one. After about 3 hours the probe hit 160. Removed tri-tips and let sit on kitchen counter for 1/2 hour, then sliced thinly. Trimmed one was more done(drier) than the untrimmed one but both were very good. Next time I'll stop at about 150 or so to retain a little pink in the middle. Offered some to the guys finishing our basement and they dug into both tri-tips like a pack of wolves. My wife preferred the less done one and it was quite a bit juicier than the fat-trimmed one.
Thank you cookshack for making good food so easy. Mother-in-law visiting this week-end and she's already mentioned that baby backs sound good "if it's not too much trouble." I want to tell her how easy cookshack makes everything but I'll keep letting her think that her loving son-in-law(me) will spare no effort/work his tail off to make his wife's mom happy.
Keep on smokin' and have a great(smoking) week-end!
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