Tri-Tip vs. Ball-Tip


 
Jerry N.

Jerry N.

TVWBB Emerald Member
I went to the butcher and asked for a Tri-Tip. He said he didn't have them but he did have a Ball-Tip. I looked at the chart and it is different. Has anyone ever tried a Ball-Tip and if so, is it basically the same as a Tri-Tip or is it a lot different? Should I keep looking for a Tri-Tip?
 
Jerry--

Ball tips aren't the same as tri-tips. Though they are cut from the same area of the bottom of the sirloin I don't find balls as tender as tris. They're good if you can cut them extremely thin or I cut them into thin steaks, pound them, marinate them and grill for satay.

If you can zip up to Ann Arbor or the Detroit 'burbs you should be able to find tris there at Trader Joe's--virtually all of them carry them. You might want to call and ask first to be sure. TJ's carries lots of other good stuff too.

Michigan locations for Trader Joe's
 
I zip all over town. Thanks for the link. I'm sure one of those will have it tomorrow morning. Bread store for french rolls and I'm cooking lunch!
 
Jerry you can also try Sam's Club or even a Walmart Super Center. The new one the opened in Sandusky, MI. is trying to get them in and he quoted me around $1.38 lb from what he seen in the other stores he has worked at.
 
I went to Trader Joe's and picked up a regular tri-tip and one that was marinaded. I cooked the marinaded one. The cook went well and I did like this cut of beef. What I didn't really like was the price (5.99lb) but I didn't get the impression that Trader Joe's was a discount market. For about $15, it's still a pretty inexpensive dinner. I'll probably try cooking the plain one next weekend. All in all a pretty good cook/eat. I will look at Sams Club next time I'm there. At $1.38lb, that would be a really good value for this cut of meat.

Thanks for the suggestions.
 
TJ is the only place I can find them. I asked someone in the meat dept at sams a while back and was told they don't have them. He acted quite preoccupied so I don't know if it is true. I wonder if I bought a case they might try to do a little better. I will ask again.

I haven't tried the marinated ones from TJ's and don't know if I will. I think the rub in chris's recipe is unbelieveable.
 
The only time I've seen tri-tip down in this neck of the woods was at Sams. They had some tri-tip steaks. Problem - priced the same as ribeyes.

I would love to try a tri-tip roast so I guess I'll keep looking.

I've checked a beef chart and they look close to bottom sirloin... ?

Paul
 
Bottom sirloin butt, actually, not the same thing--unless whoever is doing the labeling doesn't know what the bottom cuts are called. The problem is that the vast majority of meat retailers do minimal cutting anymore. They're not buying the whole sirloin and cutting it up themselves--in that case there would be no problem, though you might have to teach the meat person what and where the tri-tip is. Unless you can find someone that actually buys and cuts whole sirloins (some think they're getting them but they're not--a quick look at their 'whole' loin reveals that the bottom was cut off ahead of time) you're out of luck. Of course, if you can find someone that can get a hold of tri-tips directly (generally they're cut at the packers) so much the better.
 
Jerry N,

I did find them at my Costco out here, if you have one near you, you might want to check them.

Our Sam's has never carried tri-tip.
 
Bruce,
I'll have to check the one out on 8 mile and Haggerty.

I cooked the other Tri-Tip today. I followed the recipe on this board and it turned out very good. I got some buns and put some garlic butter on them and browned them. I sliced the Tri-Tip thin and made a sandwich. Very good.

The best part is that my father-in-law made some hot and sweet mustard. I don't know what all's in it, but it's basically yellow mustard, brown sugar and jalapeño. It spreads like a relish. Man, talk about good eats. Thanks to this board, something new and good was on the table today!

Good food takes a little of the sting out of a bad weekend of football. For what it's worth, I'm Lions fan and a Michigan State fan - not a good weekend. Time for a beer and the weekend wrap up. Thanks everyone!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top