Tri Tip...too close to charcoal?


 
Tim L.

Tim L.

TVWBB Pro
I've been cooking a lot of tri tips lately as Vons typically has some really good deals on them. I don't have a WSM yet
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so I've been using the charcoal side of my Char-Griller side-by-side charcoal/gas/gas burner. I've tried indirect low and slow (around 225F) and direct heat. Between the two, I seem to prefer the direct heat, utilizing Chris' instructions on this board (except I'm using charcoal grill, not WSM).

Via Chris' method on the WSM, and from watching the folks up on the central coast, the cooking is done with the coals maybe a foot under the meat. For the traditional Santa Maria que, they have the adjustable grate and have a wide range of options.

Question: how far should the coals be from the tri tip during the majority of the cooking (not the searing part)? And what does one do if their grill can't get the coals further than maybe 6 inches away?

The problem I had in last night's cook is that the first side (20 minutes per Chris) came up a lot blacker than I'd like and in turn made the meat a bit dry. By the time I switched to the other side, the coals had really burnt down (using lump) and I was better off. In the end, I stopped at 125 and foiled. Turned out good, but drier and blacker than I'd like.

Thoughts?
 
Is it possible I simply had too many coals? My fear of using less is that they would not last the whole cooking session.
 
unless you got one of those fancy sm style grills you need to cook them indirect. so cook the tris away from the coals until they get to about 130 deg and then cook over the coals to get a char for about 3 min on each side. thats it. just did some and they came out great.
 
Hi Tim - I think George is about right on and thats why reverse searing has become so popular. By doing most of your cooking indirect you can better control your whole cook with your setup and then finish off with a sear. That way the amount of charcoal is not so critical. Just my opinion. Bob
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Thanks guys, appreciate the replies. Amazing to me as a NB how active and quick people are on this site. Awesome!

How much charcoal/heat would be used, or is it as you say "the amount of charcoal is not so critical" and what only matters is the temp of the meat?

Thanks!!!
 
Hi Tim... I began grilling tri-tips in SoCal over 35 yrs ago. But in the last year or so I been doing the "reverse sear" as described by George. The results appear to be more moist in my opinion. I just use the simple Santa Maria style; salt, fresh ground pepper and fresh garlic... and cook till medium rare.
I am using a 22.5 Kettle...

joe
 
I do mine mostly on the WSM, but in the egg configuration, so I can get intense heat, and get nice and close to the coals. I sear first, get it nice and crusty, then take it to med-rare indirect, which isn't very far off the coals on my WSM, since it is the 18.5" model. Always come out very good, although tri's are not easy to find in this part of the world. The store I get them at keeps a couple whole for me, the majority of them they cut into steaks, which makes me cry.
 
I say go direct, flip @ <15 minutes, flip every 7-8 minutes after that. Total cook time: 35-40 minutes.

Sear the whole time!
 
while cooking indirect i use the lid. when direct cooking i leave the lid off. if it flares, just move the meat. i have found overcooked tris to be tough and dry. but you can try and figure out where you like it.
 
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