I was looking for Hanger steak at my local Wegmans supermarket (which seems to be the only source for it around) and they didn't have any but they did have Tri-Tip which I've always wanted to try, but have never seen it around here before. It's 2.11 lbs and currently in a large gallon size ziplock bag with a marinade of fresh herbs, garlic, onion, orange and lemon juice, the sliced up orange and lemon, olive oil, brown sugar, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and black pepper.

I plan to get my GrillGrate (see pic below) nice and ripping hot on my gas grill and give the meat a nice coat of Kosher salt then sear on both sides, then lower heat and cook to around 150 degrees, medium-well. None of us like rare meat so that's what it's being cooked to, just a bit of pink. I plan to rest under tented foil, is 15 minutes enough?

Anything I should be aware of? I see that the grain changes on this boomerang-shaped piece of meat, so I will need to pay attestation to that to stay cutting across it.

GrillGrate:

I did one last weekend about 2.75 inch thick. Cooked it Sous Vide for 4 hours at 133 degrees then seared in the cast iron skillet. Put Worchester, liquid smoke, fresh thyme, pepper and garlic in the bag with the meat for the bath. Came out great. Long cook time made it nice and tender.

Tougher cut of meat so low and slow for the grill I think.

As you can see, it's very lean, so it will benefit immensely from a reverse sear instead of a pre-sear. Add some smoke wood, and cook indirect at a low temp, 200-250 if possible, until 15 degrees below your target temp. You'll get more carryover cook-thru on most of the tri-tip (on all of the the smoke/sear/rest stages) due to the tapered shape. Remove from the grill so you can get your fire ripping hot, then sear. A 10 minute rest is more than enough. I implore you though, please shoot for no more than a 140 IT finish, after sear I prefer 127 finish on tri-tip, but understand differing preferences.

quote:

Originally posted by Sailor1911:

Tougher cut of meat so low and slow for the grill I think.

Agreed - a tri-tip cooked quickly on a grill to medium-well will be very tough.

It really needs to be cooked a lot less or for a long time at a low temp.

quote:

Originally posted by maladat:


Agreed - a tri-tip cooked quickly on a grill to medium-well will be very tough.

It really needs to be cooked a lot less or for a long time at a low temp.

Everything I'm reading says to go hot & fast for this cut. So for med-well, I should give it a good sear, but then go way low for a long slow roast?

No offense, but hot and fast is for properly cooked (rare to medium rare) tri-tip. When overcooking meats, brining and reverse sear cooking buy you the most forgiveness. Hopefully, there's enough soy and worsty-sauce in your marinade (and corresponding salt content) to counteract the acids in the citrus, which can have a toughening/drying effect on lean cuts.

I do about a dozen tri-tips a year, except for 2 weeks ago, when we did a whole case at once for a large event.

Look up “Santa Maria style BBQ.” AFIK, the tri-tip cut was first done in this part of Central Coast California. There’s a particular mix of seasoning for Santa Maria. We like it and have prepared 3 thus far this spring.

Rub with this:

3 teaspoons fresh ground pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon rosemary
dash of cayenne pepper

Place on the grill and cook at around 225F until it reaches about 130-135F. Remove from grill, slice thinly, and enjoy.

How I do it:

I sear first about 5 mins per side, then cook on indirect heat until about a 135-140 internal temp. Total cook time is about 45 mins.

I may do the reverse sear method next time as that makes sense to avoid over-cooking the smaller ends.

How you cut it is also important, thin slices against the grain of the meat.

Use your favorite rub or just salt and pepper do fine. Low and slow at 240 to 250 until your internal temp hits about 120 to 124.


While this is going on prepare a board sauce. Good quality olive oil oil, fresh herbs a little lemon juice, Google board sauce tons of recipes.



When you've reached your desired internal temp remove from the smoke and lay a good reverse sear on both sides. A open flame works best. This will get you up to a 128 130 internal which is where I like it.



Once you are done with the sear DO NOT REST THE Meat! place directly on top of the board sauce and start slicing. The idea is to allow the meat juices to release and mingle with the board sauce.



Slice and and flip the meat over into the board sauce so you get some of that flavor on all sides.



You won't believe the flavor those fresh herbs release once that hot steak lands on top of them!

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
Look up “Santa Maria style BBQ.” AFIK, the tri-tip cut was first done in this part of Central Coast California. There’s a particular mix of seasoning for Santa Maria. We like it and have prepared 3 thus far this spring.

Santa Maria method is the way to go. Sear, off the cooker, then, bring temp down and the slow roast. The rub has a lot of garlic powder in it.

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
Use your favorite rub or just salt and pepper do fine. Low and slow at 240 to 250 until your internal temp hits about 120 to 124.


While this is going on prepare a board sauce. Good quality olive oil oil, fresh herbs a little lemon juice, Google board sauce tons of recipes.



When you've reached your desired internal temp remove from the smoke and lay a good reverse sear on both sides. A open flame works best. This will get you up to a 128 130 internal which is where I like it.



Once you are done with the sear DO NOT REST THE Meat! place directly on top of the board sauce and start slicing. The idea is to allow the meat juices to release and mingle with the board sauce.



Slice and and flip the meat over into the board sauce so you get some of that flavor on all sides.



You won't believe the flavor those fresh herbs release once that hot steak lands on top of them!

too done for me,,,(I prefer Rare)

however,

great write up!! and fantastic presentation!



gonna look up some board sauces for the next time I grill a chunk o meat

Whoa...that's waaay too many ingredients for tri-tip. It's a simple cut, salt, pepper, garlic powder is all you need. I prefer granulated garlic but, the point is the rub is simple.

It's an irregular shape so, some parts of the meat will be well-medium and other parts will be rare-medium. It's a good cut for those dinners where each person likes their meat a different doneness. When you're having that beef craving but, not wanting to deal with the rich heaviness of a rib-eye or, NY, tri-tips easily satisfies the urge. I use this cut a lot when making a large single-bowl steak salad for dinner.

This recipe for tri-tip has served me well. Grill over a moderately hot fire, keep turning, watch the temps; around 20-30 minutes is generally the time. There's no connective tissue like a brisket so low-slow you don't do here. It's essential to cut across the grain of the meat or, you'll be gnawing. Serve with salsa, gotta have the salsa. Some cuts you put a pat of butter on, others you serve with horseradish, tri-tip you serve it with salsa.

If you prefer a store bought rub for tri-tip, this is about as good as I've found. Works great as an all-purpose meat rub.

Texas Monthy and TX Barbecue authority Daniel Vaughn had a good write-up about Santa Maria Barbecue several years ago.

It came out pretty well!

I ended up giving it a good hard sear on my gas grill with just the cast iron grates, skipping the GrillGrate. Topped with a couple slices of herb compound butter and placed in a foil lined pan and placed in a 275 oven until I hit around 145 internal. Let rest a good 20 min, then sliced and let more pieces of the herb compound butter melt into it a few more min under foil. It was tender and delicious.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
It came out pretty well!

I ended up giving it a good hard sear on my gas grill with just the cast iron grates, skipping the GrillGrate. Topped with a couple slices of herb compound butter and placed in a foil lined pan and placed in a 275 oven until I hit around 145 internal. Let rest a good 20 min, then sliced and let more pieces of the herb compound butter melt into it a few more min under foil. It was tender and delicious.

Sounds like well done in the technical sense!

Late to the party, but for next time, try something different. I had always trimmed, then thoroughly coated with Laird’s Tri-Tip seasoning cooked on the grill on both sides to desired temp and called it good. Then my little brother showed me a different approach: Go ahead and rub/coat thoroughly w/ Laird’s, but don’t trim. Leave an inch or so of fat on the one side. Same BBQ, but indirect, a little lower heat, a little longer to get to the same temp. The tri tip stays fat side up the whole time, allowing juices cooked out of the fat to soak into the meat. When done to desired temp, let stand it bit, but not too long as it will continue cooking. I generally trim the fat before slicing, but that all depends on what you and you guests like. There are many things I’ve learned from my little brother, but I’ve never gone back to doing tri-tip the old way...

Our costco has marinated tri tip for a good price. i do a 3 pound at least once a month and I do it on my charcoal grill no gas. Webber kettle. Pile of briquettes on one side and lite them. Once they are almost grey 10-15 minutes, I set my meat on the ‘cool’ side of the grill. Not directly over the fire. Important to Start with fat side up. Then I do about 15 minutes a side for 45 minutes total cook time. Usually comes out right at medium to medium rare. I do package it in foil for ~10 minutes before cutting while making my salad and other sides. Then slice. Serve with horseradish or chimichurri sauce or no sauce is fine as well. In fact I’m doing one tonight. It’s over 100 here today and the wife hates to cook inside when it’s that hot plus she texted me that when she was at Costco yesterday she picked one up. With 3 pounds,I Usually get enough left over to make some good tri tip sammiches the next day or 2. Nothing like cold sliced tri tip on bread with a slice of cheese and mayo and yellow mustard.

Slice about 1/4 inch thick slices and serve.

Slice it against the grain to get the most tenderness.

Low and slow with a lean meat like that. The only way I have done a Tri-Tip so far is in a slow cooker for 8 hours in which they come out amazing and so easy.