Tri-Tip Question


 
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K Lynch

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Its like pulling teeth trying to find a tri-tip in Ohio. Spoke with a meat cutter at Sam's who says he has a whole, untrimmed tri-tip weighing in around 7-8lbs. He also said its not the usual triangle shape, but is indeed tri-tip and that they usually cut it up for stew meat. Should I be concerned that this is not tri-tip due to:
a) weight (do untrimmed get up to 8lbs?)
b) the shape

Finally, any fool-proof ways to look at a meat and be able to tell that it is tri-tip? I've been offered sirloin tip, beef round tip, sirloin ball tip, etc. by butchers who don't know what this cut is.
 
This may not be of too much help, but do you have a Costco near you in Ohio? I live in Chicago and Costco has had tri-tip since I joined 1.5 years ago. Normally they sell it sliced into long strips (don't ask me why), which I have grilled in the past.
I noticed a few months ago they started selling (or atleast putting out in the meat cooler) the cryovac packs of tri-tips as well. They seemed to weigh about 20lbs or so, thing they were $3.50/lb.
As it seems most Costco's carry the same items you might want to try there.
Also, for those of you who can buy tri-tip, is $3.50 or so a fair price?
Also, anyone in Chicago have a FoodSaver that would want to split a cryovak of tri-tip with me? /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
Jamie
 
I've had the same issue here in St. Louis. I've seen a sliced cut at Sams labeled as tri-tip. I inquired further and found that it was from another part of the cow??? Anyways not sure if Costco is stating the same or not. I figure since they are based in the Seattle area they might be real tri-tip.

I did notice when I was at the farmers market in Kansas City a few months ago that they had a vendor there that sold "true" tri-tip as Santa Maria Style BBQ.

Being originally from the Cental Coast of California I asked him where he bought his tri-tips, since it's almost impossible to find west of Nevada. He stated that he had a private source that wouldn't sell to the public in KC. Does anyone know if there is a public outlet to purchase tri-tips in Missouri?

Thanks!
 
Eric,

Ask the butcher at Sam's one more time. They buy the Tri Tips in Cyrovac packs of 5-7 pieces and normally cut all of them into the long strips Jamieson mentioned above.

Get a hold of a morning butcher and ask him to hold you back a few whole ones. They won't spit open a cyrovac pack just for a piece or two. It worked a Sam's in the Dallas area.

Hope that helps!

Steve
 
Also, don't know if there's a Trader Joe's near you, but I noticed recently that they are selling Tri-Tips (which i've never seen before here on the East Coast).
 
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