Tri Tip recipe no margin for error

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.

Tom knows what he is talking about. A tri tip is lean and so gets tough if it is cooked to med- well or well. Unless you just go to pot roast consistency.So I don't know how to get it more well done than med rare, thinly sliced unless some low sodium beef broth would help.I cant see well done tri tip at any kind of Food venue selling.Maybe I am misunderstanding how it is prepared in CA??

A kettle grill with wood might be a better tool for the tri-tips. Cook them hot and fast. Search the Web for a Santa Maria seasoning recipe. And bring the seasoned meat to room temp before grilling.

As for how well done to cook them, cook the thicker portion to med-rare, then give the thin ends to the wimps who like theirs dry and overcooked. Save the thicker, med-rare pieces for those with good taste. If they complain it's not cooked enough, point them to the still-hot grill.

Well Mike, give us the report? How did it go?

And Mike, I'd like to know: To whom was the wedding a surprise?

I'm sure with all the good advice from the forum, the food was terrific. However, IMO, true carinovores would never serve meat cooked anywhere past medium rare, unless at gun point.

Congratulations on your nuptials.

Hook

Must be nice to have the candy-apple red Goldwing!!! snif!!! snif!!!

Thanks to all!

Bayside, yes the wing is THE most fun motorcycle I've owned. It is often referred to as a Lux-o-barge, and appropriately so.

The wedding was a surprise to my wife's family. They thought they were coming over for a Chirsmas party. She is one of 5 sisters, three of whom have adult children. Travelers from three states.

We expected about 25 people.. but then the ice storm hit. Only about 14 people made it but it was a very fun turnout. Portland, Ore usually doesn't get snow or ice. Bec of the ice we couldn't go to the Benson for the honeymoon. Instead we had about 7 or 8 overnight guests. All in all a very fun event.

The tri-tip cooked until 170, though not intensionally. It was just past no pink, and it should have had some pink. But at least it was NOT dried out. Nice rub, used 3oz of pecan wood chips.

The drip pan.. now that leads to a question. the pan is about 5x8 and 1/2 deep. the juice looked great, like it should have been poured over the meat. but it was not used bec we didn't know if the meat juice was cooked enough or a little too raw. Any thoughts on that? I guess I could have heated it in a pan on the stove as a safety measure before putting it on the meat.

Next time no more than 165, but then too, next time I won't have a wedding distracting me!

If you want to save juices,put a shallow foil pan on the rack below the meat.

I wouldn't try to use the stuff in the drip pan.

In many cases even the interior pan may be too smokey,to use straight.

Prisonchef might have some thoughts about cutting with low salt beef stock and a little red wine.

Thanks Tom.. I didn't expect so much juice. I was quite surprised to see it. Next time I will try to catch it on the inside and just see what it tastes like. Cutting it with beef broth and wine sounds like a good idea.

Mike C

mike,
congrats!!!! knew ya could do it!!!!
jack
ps. know anyone who wants a stock 1973 CB750K3??
pps. toldya the 160f temp was where ya wanted to be lol . just kidding but seriously i am really glad that i met you. merry christmas!!!!

Thanks Prison Chef. And Merry Christmas to all here and thanks for all the advice.

By the way. today we cut into the third tri-tip. I laughed out loud, it was the best of the three! It was only barely pink in the center but it WAS pink. I didn't keep track which of the three racks each came from, so I don't know if this was on the top, middle or bottom. But we had a lot of fun and it was good, it just could have been better.

All the company leaves tomorrow... I love 'em all but boy am I gonna enjoy the deafening quiet. ;-)

Mike C

Chef, i don't know anyone who can take that bike off your hands but I'll keep an eye out.

Are you really sure you wanna get married?

Oops.. too late. Congratulations.