Smoke or Grill? Tri Tip question

[Brandon A]

I picked up 2 tri tips totaling 3.25lbs today from (*cheer*) Fareway. The man behind the counter had to cut them for me, he pulled out two large cryos, which I assume were the bottom sirloin primals that I've read about. He did a little carving behind his partition and proceeded to make my day

Long story short, I've planned to do tri tip for my folks this Sunday for our Christmas party. Just my mom and dad and my wife and kids. I've done one tri tip previously on the performer and it was probably one of the best things I've ever made, but the grill ran pretty hot, ~450 and the tri was done in a matter of 30min. Will it be better to do on the wsm where I can hold the temp down more easily? I kind of planned on the performer, but I was reading through Chris's cooking topics and he uses the wsm. Just lookin for ideas,


Brandon

 

[Bryan S]

I do mine direct, in the WSM on the lower grate no water pan over lump and 2 small pieces of oak or mesquite. They take about 40-50 min to do. But the ones I get are in the 2.5-3lb. range, so yours will cook alot faster. I like this way cause you are smoke/grilling them and get some nice char on the Tris from the fire directly below.

 

[Dan H.]

good find Brandon!! I've made two of these now and both pieces were both, like Bryan's bit over 3 lbs. for one. I used my grill on both, indirect high heat. I dumped full chimney of lump out flamin and another half chimney of unlit on top and waited about 10-15 min. thats how I did both. there an amazing piece of meat, and like you one of my fav. things i've ever made (the second one). I swore i was going to do the WSM next time exactly like Bryan said, and for those exact reasons. Basicly you got a hell of a decision to make!!! but either way I know you'll have pictures.... ...right?

...oh ya and i'de recommend searing it at the end of the cook, just before your preffered target temp... but its up to you

I liked mine that way.

 

[doug ep]

Brandon, I used to do them direct on my Performer, and I thought they were good. But, from this site, I learned of the reverse-sear method, possibly from Larry R. I have not yet done them on the WSM - direct on lower grate. My extended family considers tritips their favorite of all my bbq efforts. They are so juicy, they are really hard to mess up. They are a really really forgiving cut.

Reverse-sear: set up your P for indirect. I leave the charcoal in the P's charcoal racks, and after lit, move them together on one side, creating a V with the racks against the kettle bowl. Put the tris in away from the fire, put the lid on with the vent over the tris, and let them smoke for 30-45 mins. Smoke to whatever internal temp you prefer (rare, med-rare, med, med-well, well). Then, when you hit target temp, open the lid, let the coals heat up a bit, and put the tris directly over the flames for searing for a few minutes, turning once. Pull, rest for 5-10 mins. Slice thin against the grain, and enjoy.

Total time will be about 1 hr, so it is easy to draw parallels to the WSM method Bryan uses. His technique is direct, but far enough from the flame (10-12 inches) they are not really getting direct (3-4 inches) high heat. I think in the end both techniques will produce a very similar product.

Incidentally, the California style cookers (grills? pits?) are open, with a large flat cooking rack which can be raised or lowered to control heat exposure. So, they can cook 10-12 in. above coals, and lower to sear whenever.

I use Raichlen's recipe, p 184 in BBQ USA: 2 tsp course salt, 2 tsp black pepper, 2 tsp gran garlic, 2 tsp rosemary, 1 tsp oregano. This rub will do two or three of the 2.5-3.0 lb tris (7.5-9.0 lbs of tris). I also accompany using his salsa recipe (p. 185), and Pinquito Beans (p. 641)--for these beans, I haven't found pinquitos here in the Midwest, but I go to the ethnic section at the grocery store, and get Goya Pink Beans (Habichuelas Rosadas). I even used Pinto beans a few times before I found the Pink Beans.

The tris turn out delicious and juicy. Because of the large taper to this cut, for a large crowd, with 2 or 3 tris, you can get a variety of doneness to please everyone: well done folks can enjoy the small end, and med to rare folks can enjoy the larger end, where it will still be quite pink. I think it all is fantastic.

For Christmas Dinner, I emailed everyone and solicited votes, and tris won. I did three yesterday. I will post pics soon. Good luck!

 

[Dan H.]

u better post both of ya, i'll be waitin'

 

[LarryR]

I've done a couple on my WSM and for my taste it wasn't for me. Here's are some pictures of my SETUP. If memory serves me correctly these were both around 4 lbs each. Using this method these tris were done in about 50 min. to med. rare. Hope this helps.

Hope the pictures help.

 

[Brandon A]

The first one I got was from Super Target, it was a Sutton & Dodge brand, choice Tritip that came in right at 3 pounds. The last two times I tried to get one from there they were out. They said something about a warehouse shortage, blah, blah. I was pretty upset, because as far as I knew that was the only place to get Tris. I was just hoping maybe Fareway would have them, and they did. But when I said I wanted a 3 lb Tri, he said it would be smaller, more like 1.5lb, so I said ok, I'll take two. I really took it hard on the price too, which I will not mention out of embarrassment, but we'll just say it was the same price per lb as their rib roasts

I hope Super Target gets their crap together.

I'm going to go with the WSM, this time, but just to clarify, Bryan, you go all lit, no minion right?

Brandon

 

[Bryan S]

Originally posted by Brandon A:
I'm going to go with the WSM, this time, but just to clarify, Bryan, you go all lit, no minion right? Brandon

Brandon, I usually have about a 1/2-3/4 of a Weber chimney of lump left in the WSM after the last cook. I light that and dump it on to about a 1/4 full ring of lump, just so there's a nice layer covering the bottom of the charcoal grate. I leave the lid hang off by about 3/16" till the Tel-Tru reads about 325º and then put the lid back on right. I cook to an internal temp of 132º (for med) then pull the Tri and let it reast for 20-30 min before slicing. I flip the Tri at 80º internal so both sides get a nice char. If you are going to be pulling the Tri earlier (lower internal temp) than what I do you'll need to flip sooner. Remember that carry over heat as well.

Good luck Bud, and HTH.

 

[Pat Smith]

There have been several times where I've seen a post about an economical but tasty cut of beef and suggestions on how to cook them (chuck eyes and brisket, to name two), but when I go to our local supermarkets to buy those cuts, they are either non-existent or priced the same as premium cuts!

I guess it is a regional thing, but it seems that something is out of kilter when chuck eyes are $5.99 - $6.99/lb and ribeyes are only a dollar more! Brisket here will run $3.49 a lb which seems extreme compared to what some folks here have reported paying!

Pat

 

[Bryan S]

Originally posted by Pat Smith:
I guess it is a regional thing, but it seems that something is out of kilter when chuck eyes are $5.99 - $6.99/lb and ribeyes are only a dollar more! Brisket here will run $3.49 a lb which seems extreme compared to what some folks here have reported paying!

Pat

Pat, Chuck eyes run the same here in PA at Giant. This is the only place that carries them in my area. I had a pack of them in my hand about 2 months ago and put them back. Ribeyes were on sale for $4.99lb. and had to go with the ribeyes. Brisket flats run $2.99-$3.99lb. unless on sale at my one local store for $2.49lb. I buy whole packers at Super Wal Mart (only place I can find them). The last one I bought in November was $1.87lb.

 

[Dan H.]

dont worry pat the regional thing is all i can think of too. Im in cow country and sometimes they attempt an outrageous sale of chuck eye in some stores around here too. but most places that have them priced really really well, are never choice

....but hell I don't care to much. Once and a while I splurge, what are we gonna do, get it burried w/ us?

(money)

 

[r benash]

I've done about 5 or 6 this year. The first ones were smaller, last 3 were the larger ones that Bryan speaks of.

I've used only the Performer so far. I take half to 3/4 unlit lump and dump it on one side, then top with about a 1/4 lit and top it off. A couple chunks of oak buried in the unlit.

Cook indirect on a raised grate (one of those extender grates made for a Primo Grill). Let it run until I see 120 to 125 deg meat temps. Then reverse sear.

The ones from TJ's were good (except for the first one which was pre-marinated). The ones smuggled from Treuths have been excellent, especially with Larry's Chimichurri recipe. Also made two with Kevin's paste/rub which were excellent as well. The last one was made with the sample of Suzie Q Bryan passed to me.

Just last week I made some cheesesteak sammies from 2 lb's chipped off one of the larger Tri's in the freezer. Awesome! Took the remaining pound of that one and made some awesome stew with root vegetables and mushrooms that the family loved as well.

 

[Joe Perez]

I have done Tri-Tip useing various methods. I have found that this cut is vary good regardless of the method used to cook it. I have done low and slow, direct, indirect on a kettle, and it still comes out great. No matter which method you use this cut of meat will come out great.

 

[Brandon A]

Well, xmas with my parents was canceled and so was Sundays cook

4/5 of the family, including me, had a hard time getting off the couch/floor for anything but going to the bathroom. A whole day wasted being sick, bleh. Today, even though I still didnt feel like eating, I cooked the tri's. I threw them on the performer indirect, because I was too lazy to clean the grates on the wsm. I should mention that they were marinated, McCormics grill mates garlic/peppercorn I belive it was called. I enjoyed it, but I dont think I'd use it every time. Anyway. I cooked them to 125 internal, then seared and rested for 20ish minutes. They were almost they way we like it done, but a little on the rare side. Perhaps my sear was a little weak, maybe I could go to 130 next time before the sear, I'm in the process of uploading photos, and I'll edit when there done.

Here ya go!

and the small slideshow, the chunks were for me, and was about all I ate today, hopefully I feel better tomarrow..


Brandon

 

[Bryan S]

Looks good, but as you, I like em a little more done. More Med-med well done for me. Nice looking Tri though Bud, nice sear on it too.

That would make some nice cheese steaks!

 

[Brandon A]

Yep, big note to self, 130 next time with a hotter sear (I would have liked a little more char).

I was happy with the 20 min rest, as opposed to the 10 I used on the my first tri. I had a lake of juice when I sliced the 10 min rest, at a little over 20 it retained alot more juice.

Lookin forword to doing it "right" next time

Brandon

 

[Bryan S]

Originally posted by Brandon A:
Yep, big note to self, 130 next time with a hotter sear (I would have liked a little more char).

I was happy with the 20 min rest, as opposed to the 10 I used on the my first tri. I had a lake of juice when I sliced the 10 min rest, at a little over 20 it retained alot more juice.

Lookin forword to doing it "right" next time

Brandon

Hey Bud, I pull the Tris at 132º for med- med well doneness. I usally get about 8-10º carry over heat cook on them.

HTH But this is cooking them on the WSM no water pan on the lower grate over lump. I leave the lid hang off as you know for about 10-15 min. The hot heat, will carry over cook them quite a bit.

You just need to find your zone.

 

[doug ep]

Sorry to hear you were sick. Your tris don't seem to be very triangular, but probably just due to the butcher hasn't done many. I guess just be glad he did them for you at all!

Click on thumbs to enlarge, then click on image to see extreme closeup

:


Resting...

Smoke ring.

Juicy puddle.

Full meal w/ pinquito(?) beans.

Sorry, but I didn't take pics while cooking, just these 4 pics when done.

 

[Brandon A]

Originally posted by Bryan S: That would make some nice cheese steaks!

It did indeed

Thanks for the idea Bryan! You just added something new to the family menu. Easy enough for a beginning cook, like me, and they taste fabulous. I bought 2 nice ~14" long bread loafs for buns, since I couldent find any hogies, sliced them both in half to make 4 buns. Sauteed some green pepper/onion, and chopped up the leftover tri slices, browned them up a bit more. Topped it with some shredded cheddar and farmers cheese. Nice quick meal for lunch! Sorry no pics, but I was in a hurry, to take a nap before work

Brandon