Help! Over cooked Tri-Tip


 
Brian Nobles

Brian Nobles

TVWBB Fan
I went to Costco to get a Tri-Tip roast. They didn't have any so I bought their Tri-Tip "steaks / strips".

Using this link http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/tritip1.html, which calls for a roast, I seasoned them, brought my WSM to 350 degrees & tossed them on. Note: the seasoning called for MSG to tenderize. I didn't use that ingredient.

Thinking I had plenty of time for them to reach 125 degrees, I set about my business around the house.

Well, it turns out that strips cook a lot faster than a roast. By the time I looked at them again they were at 150. Yikes! I skipped the "sear and wrap in foil" steps in the above link & just put them on a plate & took them in the house to cool.

They are cooked to medium well. Problem is, they are TOUGH. Tasty, but tough.

I'd like suggestions for how to salvage this meat. Can I make it more tender at this stage? If not, what can I use it for?
 
Couple or three things: You cannot make them more tender at this stage. You can chop the meat and mix in some sauce of your choosing to give the illusion of moistness though. The greater the illusion required (or desired) the finer the chop needs to be.

MSG is not a tenderizer. It is a flavor 'enhancer'.

Tri-tip steaks need to be cooked as one cooks steaks cut from the loin or strip loin - but not past medium (internal temp is immaterial; it is the color of the interior that determines rare, medium-rare, medium, etc., not the internal temp - despite what you've read over and over). Residual cooking during the rest can take the meat into the further-cooked territory, but residual cooking can be fine with tri-tips.
 
Do you have a dog that likes meat? :D Sorry. What's done is done. Maybe make some pasta, cut the meat into bite size pieces and mix into the pasta sauce.
Wow, Kevin just scorched my fingers
 
Dave/G said:
Wow, Kevin just scorched my fingers
Click to expand...
How so?

If you ever go to Eugene (or PDX) you can get tri-tips at Trader Joe's, if you can't find them elsewhere. I'm told that Costco usually carries them but I don't shop there.
 
Dave/G said:
nothing, just that you posted the same time as I did.
Click to expand...

Gotcha.

Yeah, tacos can work - as can other things that require mixing the meat with something. I've used leftover tri in scrambled eggs, pasta sauces and burritos on many occasions. One just needs to get the illusion back and moisture can do that. It can be a little beef or chicken stock, Q sauce, tomato sauce - whatever. Chopping the meat finely and moistening well with sauce or liquid (heat, but keep the temps very low to do so) and then you're good to go from there.
 
just remember to cut against the grain in thin strips. dong this in small pieces makes it edible.
around here they overcook it but its soft. i have not found out how they do this
 
Hi George,

You're just like most of us, including me, in that we know the tri-tip as that wonderful triangular shaped roast. Slicing it correctly produces a wonderfully tender cut, but cut it incorrectly and you have a whole bunch of chewing ahead of you. I wonder about these so called tri-tip steaks. How is a the steak cut from the tri-tip roast that would allow the resultant steak to be sliced as we normally would a tri-tip ? Kevin ?

Bob
 
Lots of good suggestions here. Chili will be a good use for this Tri. Cut it small and thin.

For next time.....when grilling steaks, never walk away from the grill. The Tri steaks
at that temp or up to 400, 8-10 minutes total grill time should bring them medium rare, dont let a Tri go
much more than medium rare.
 
I often cut tri tip roasts into steaks, season them, and grill them hot and fast like I do with roasts.
I cut them across the grain when I cut them down into steaks.
 
Brian Nobles said:
Thanks for all the tips y'all. The dog definitely won't get any and we will salvage the meat somehow.
Click to expand...

let us know what you do and how it turns out. sucks that the plan didn't work out, but since necessity is the mother of invention, you may create the next great thing.
 
As talked about in previous threads, what internal temp you cook your TT steak to will play a large role in how tender your steak turns out, however, the second best way to help with tenderness is to buy USDA Choice or better. Try to stay away from USDA Select. Just my $.02
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top