Tri-Tip Failure


 
Chuck Dugas

Chuck Dugas

TVWBB Pro
Did my first Tri-tip last Sat. Turned on the Weber gas grill and set it to high.Seared 2mins then turned 90°and seared 2 more mins.I did the other side the same time. I then turned down the temp to 350° and did the tri -tip to an internal temp of 150°for medium. It was the toughest piece of meat I ever ate.Any ideas of what I did wrong? Or was it an old cow! My jaw bone still hurts.
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Thank God we didn't have company over.Paid $20.94 for both.
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I think you cooked it too long. I like cooking mine in the 250-275* range until around 110-115*. Raise up the grill temp then doing a reverse sear and cooking them to around 130-135* internal. After I slice the tri tip my wife will sometimes put her slices in an CI skillet to brown them up a little.
 
150* for this cut is too high. Too close to well done. It probably went up a bit too during the rest. FWIW, I did one 2 weeks ago on the kettle indirect at ~350* to 125* internal then briefly seared direct for color. Came out great.
I see yours labeled as tri tip steaks and small at less than 1.5 lbs each. Might have better luck with tri tip roast, about 2-2.5 lbs each. Yours look a bit on the thin side and cooked to 150* I don't doubt they were tough.
 
I just remember I did pull them at 140° and covered them for 15mins. The meat was not over cooked infact we like our meats done to medium (light pink inside),these were rare to med rare.very moist as the pictures show but tough.What I read here on tri-tips was that they will continue to cook about 10°covered.So thats what I did. I also tried to cut all different angles to no avail.I know you should cut against the grain but I was willing to try anything.thanks for your response John and Dave.
 
Yep, this cut needs to get pulled max 125 IMHO. I pull about 115 myself and foil. And slice thin cross grain.

Give it another try. It's a great cut but doesn't handle the higher finish temps well at all. At least to my taste/preference.

Cook indirect first and sneak up to about 110 (or 10 degrees or so under you desired pull temp) and then direct over the hot coals to sear on both sides until you get to your pull temp. Then foil.
 
I don't temp mine, just go by feel, but we eat ours Med-rare at the very most, any more and they are tough as leather. If yours went to 150 on the rest, yikes, I can bet you have jaws like a mule this morning. I do mine direct as hot as I can get it (Weber Egg configuration) then go semi-indirect for a little longer to get to where I want it. The grain in these is very defined, almost like a flank, so slicing cross-grain is the way to go, instead of eating it like a traditional steak, which may have contributed to your toughness as well.
 
Hey Chuck, they look good... if you had not said anything negative about the cook, I'd say it was a successful grillin'!
 
As everyone else has said, 150 is too high.

I'm also guessing you sliced it with the grain instead of against. On tri-tips, you slice length wise to go against the grain. If you slice it very thin with the grain (less than a 1/4 inch), it won't be as tough.
 
At nearly $8 a pound, what is the allure of Tri-tip???

I can buy a whole beef tenderloin for $9/lb and not have to worry about it being tough.
 
Hard to tell from your picture,but as stated above you need to slice across the grain. Based upon the doneness, they certainly were not overcooked. Tri's are my almost favorite hunk of beef.
 
I get Tri tip at 2.99 or 3.99 a lb in colorado on sale.

Slicing is key. Slice across the grain but also on an oblique angle. Position your knife across the grain and then rotate the back of the knife to the left so the knife is at 45-degree angle to the cutting board, then slice.
 
Thanks everyone for your comments. Terre,the allure was I never done a tri-tip.We don't see these around this neck of the woods very often.I cut the meat cross grain,I could not eat it when its blood red.If this meat is that touchy,I'm done with it.For the money,Like Terre stated I'll go with a good tenderloin or a Porterhouse.Maybe it was a bad steer or a bad job at the slaughter house.What ever,Again thanks guys for all the good statements.
 
When I can find them here, they are usually around 3.99/lb, so its not a big expense for me when I get them. If you can't do meat pretty rare, Tri may not be for you, as it just doesn't do well much past med-rare. But, now you can say you've tried it!
 
Typically 3.99 or so around here if you can find them. I get all mine now from a source in MD. I like the marbling in the ones I get. To me they definitely replace top round/london broil. Well they have 100% for me since I started to use them and found a reliable source. Better flavor too.

I posted temps for reference. I usually cook them like a top round or steak in general, by touch to medium rare or rare.

Cooked like that the ones I get have great flavor and also make great Philly style steak sandwiches when "chipped". I also love these in my tri tip chill recipe posted in the recipes section.
 
i cook it regularly. i usually indirect to a int temp of about 130 and then direct for a char for a couple of minutes on each side and then let it rest. but i have to say that no matter what, sometimes ya get a tough piece. i cooked some last week and actually over cooked them more than i wanted to but it came out juicy and soft. go figure.
 
$8 a pound?? YIKES! I wouldn't be too happy with it being tough at that cost. Cook it to 135, let it rest (untented) for 15mins, slice against the grain and enjoy.
 
I find them at Vons in San Diego on sale at $2.99 for untrimmed, $3.99 trimmed. The allure for me is that they've always turned out really tasty for me. I'm a NB, so my assumption (and hope) is that they'll just keep getting better.

Doneness is of course a matter of preference, but for the record I cook mine to about 120 or maybe 125, wrap in foil (I know some tent), let sit for maybe 10 minutes, then slice.

I must be a fool because I still confuse the **** out of myself every time I try to cut against the grain. Get figure it out for the life of me!

Hopefully you can find it at a better price and try again. It's got good flavor and is generally a tender piece of meat.

The ones I get are usually 2-3lbs.

Thanks
 
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