Tri Tip

[Adam Coleman]

Have a question about Tri tip on the WSM. I noticed the recipe on the website says to sear the tri tip at the end but I have seen a lot of other recipes that say to sear first. Does it make any real difference when you sear the tri tip?

 

[LarryR]

Absolutely! For years I did the traditional sear at the beginning of the cook, even chuckled when I read of the reverse sear; then, I tried it and have not gone back to a traditional sear first. I think most who try it favor it over the traditional sear first.

 

[Adam Coleman]

What about the reverse sear do you prefer?

 

[LarryR]

Good question. For me I feel I get a more evenly cooked, moister tri-tip.

Here's a picture of the my first attempt at it:

 

[John Solak]

I'm another fan of the reverse sear, especially on tri tips.

 

[Dave/G]

If you sear first, you might get a larger than desired amount of well done meat. Smoking first, then searing gives you a more uniform medium rare throughout the roast, assuming that's what you want, and a crusty exterior

 

[Scooter B]

Another fan of reverse sear here.

I do with a lot of my roasts. You get way better control on the "doneness" of your meat this way. Especially on something with a lot of fat (like a rib roast and even tri's) that can hold up to a longer low temp cook, you get a superior finished product I have found.

 

[Ernie D]

I have heard people say to sear at the beginning to lock-in juices. IMHO, that is just not a very good reason to do it at the beginning of a cook. It's nice to get that instant gratification when you brown the meat at the beginning, but you guys are exactly right... If you reverse sear, you get more uniform done-ness throughout the meat.

No more or less juice gets locked-in by searing at first. It can be a little bit more fun to sear first, but I'm sold on the reverse sear to get the best results.

 

[Adam Coleman]

Thanks for the help guys. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[Tim L.]

I've done reverse sear the last couple times and it seems juicier. Even if it's not, it's definitely not less juicy, so may as well do something new!

Not that you asked about this, but I tried low n slow on the tri twice and it just was not nearly as good as "regular" temps doing the reverse sear. Tri tip is not brisket and doesn't need low n slow.

Good luck

 

[Jerry P.]

I have heard people say to sear at the beginning to lock-in juices

Alton Brown debunked the "locking in the juices" myth on Good Eats a while back.

 

[Steve Whiting]

Originally posted by Jerry P.:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I have heard people say to sear at the beginning to lock-in juices

Alton Brown debunked the "locking in the juices" myth on Good Eats a while back. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The "Searing locks in Juices" theory has been debunked long ago but I do believe the Reverse Sear does produce a better crust. I may be wrong but I think it has something to do with searing when the meat has a drier surface as opposed to placing the traditional "wet" meat directly over the fire.

 

[Zeke]

I like reverse sear.

I find that if I sear first then cook at low temp the outside gets mushy over time.

If I sear last thing it will crispen and stay crisp for serving.