Bull TriTip - Smoke like brisket or reverse-sear like steak??

[C. Keeper]

Here is a picture of a California tri tip trifecta last weekend. This was cooked at 200 degrees for four hours in our Bull. Pulled at 145 internal temperature. All I did was grab them from the fridge, coat with canola oil and toss on rub. Super easy and happy diners.

I'm getting hungry, looks wonderful!

 

[Roaniecowpony]

I like mesquite smoke for tritip. It's very distinctive and penetrates well.

 

[Pacman]

Sort of digging up the dead here, but I have always done tri-tip on my RT low and slow until IT of 105 - 110, then I crank the heat up to 400 and reverse sear. In the 1250, the transition from 250 to 400+ takes about 4 minutes so I don't pull the meat for the heat up.

I'm taking the "brisket" approach right now just to say I tried it. I've never been disappointed with my previous (and apparently other people's) method, but for a Tuesday afternoon/night cook I figured I'd give the longer, slower cook a try. Worst case, the dog will eat well for a few days.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

Sort of digging up the dead here, but I have always done tri-tip on my RT low and slow until IT of 105 - 110, then I crank the heat up to 400 and reverse sear. In the 1250, the transition from 250 to 400+ takes about 4 minutes so I don't pull the meat for the heat up.

I'm taking the "brisket" approach right now just to say I tried it. I've never been disappointed with my previous (and apparently other people's) method, but for a Tuesday afternoon/night cook I figured I'd give the longer, slower cook a try. Worst case, the dog will eat well for a few days.

I do kind of a hybrid method.
I apply rub, put the tritip in the freezer until it's starting to get firm, grill over the hottest charcoal fire I can build and not have flames, then put then back in the freezer while I reconfigure the grill (komado) to slow cook at around 200-225. It takes a while for the pit to cool down. That's ok, because the seared tritip needs to cool down so it doesn't cook inside.

Once a stable low temp smoking pit is ready, I put the tritip on with indirect heat/smoke (mesquite) and try to smoke at the low 200s to get the most smoke I can get before reaching medium rare.

Then I remove it from the grill and slice it, if we're serving it right away, or put it whole in the fridge for slicing after it's chilled the next morning.

The next part has become something I've come to really like about my tritip. I heat about 3 cups of rich beef stock, add some Franks hot sauce, Dales Steak Seasoning, and the rub I used on the tritip. Bring it to a boil and cool it down.

I pour the "au jus" over the tritip in a single layer container.

As the au jus spends more time on the sliced tritip, it imparts all the spices and moves the smoke deeply into the sliced meat. IMO, it's acutually better about a day later.

 

[JGW]

Regardless of where you are, most butchers can get you a tri tip. I've smoked it, grilled it, etc. Reverse searing seems the best way for us. Smoke for an hour or so 110-120 or so, then sear it.

 

[Pops]

Glad we are discussing, I did a tri tip a few months ago like a brisket. While it was ok, a little overdone and dry, but we were busy packing and I let it rest a long time and I thought that was it.
So following grill etiquette, if at first you dont succeed... I bought another one. I am going to cook like a steak and reverse sear!
Photos to come.

 

[Buckeye1]

Pops you will love it. that cut reverse seared is a family favorite.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

Glad we are discussing, I did a tri tip a few months ago like a brisket. While it was ok, a little overdone and dry, but we were busy packing and I let it rest a long time and I thought that was it.
So following grill etiquette, if at first you dont succeed... I bought another one. I am going to cook like a steak and reverse sear!
Photos to come.

Sounds great. But for the love of tritip, don't sous vide this holy grail of beef. That Frenchy stuff is not bbq and you can put a couple hours of smoke on your tritip if you keep the temp low enough. Use a strong wood flavor like mesquite since you aren't putting it on smoke for long.

 

[Pops]

Quick question, I am cooking my tri tip tomorrow along with a pork tenderloin!
I have only used my Bullseye for hot and fast. Do you think I can reverse sear the tri tip on the Bullseye or do I need to smoke on 590, sear on Bullseye? Again, have not smoked on the Bullseye, but willing to try!

 

[Buckeye1]

I have done the reverse sear on the bullseye many times. I pull the TT off while the bullseye and grill grates heat up.

 

[Simarti28]

Sounds great. But for the love of tritip, don't sous vide this holy grail of beef. That Frenchy stuff is not bbq and you can put a couple hours of smoke on your tritip if you keep the temp low enough. Use a strong wood flavor like mesquite since you aren't putting it on smoke for long.

You are absolutely correct! I did a blind taste test with family and friends for my birthday last year. One sous vide and one low and slow, both reverse seared. The low and slow was hands down the winner!

 

[Roaniecowpony]

I shot some clays with a friend on Saturday. He brought up tri-tip and said that his neighbor asked about the tri-tip I brought to my friend's 60th birthday party ... 4 years ago. My friend asked for the recipe on how I grilled/smoked it and the au jus it was served in. I've posted how I grill/smoke and the au jus here serveral times.

But I was thinking about how I sometimes order grilled steak in a Japanese restaurant. They often want to slop thick, sweet, teriyaki sauce on a sliced up steak. I'm not that crazy about that kind of teri sauce. So, I'll often ask for the meat to be without sauce and ask for a dipping dish of Ponzu sauce. Ponzu sauce is a soy sauce base with lemon juice and vinegar primarily. I found it makes for a nice, slightly tart dipping sauce on beef.

You can often find it in markets that carry Asian foods or you can find a lot of different recipes online. Pretty simple to make.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/ponzu-sauce/

 

[Simarti28]

I’ve always served it with homemade chimichurri, but will definitely give this a try next time.

 

[TurdFurg]

I have cooked a lot of them over the years. This marinade is the bomb. I typically end up cooking for about less than 2 hours. Pull it off, let it rest for like 10-20 mins, and then slice it thin with my meat slicer. Put it on some hoagie bread with some Provolone and some Horsey sauce (greek yogurt, 1 tsp of lemon juice, horseradish, and 1 tsp of dijon mustard). It's the best.

 

[vchelebian]

100% cook it like a steak. I usually smoke it at 225 for a little over and hour (until it reaches about 115-120) and then sear it on my Weber propane grill. Comes out absolutely perfect!

That's a great way of doing it....

 

[vchelebian]

Here is a picture of a California tri tip trifecta last weekend. This was cooked at 200 degrees for four hours in our Bull. Pulled at 145 internal temperature. All I did was grab them from the fridge, coat with canola oil and toss on rub. Super easy and happy diners.

Looks great...

 

[Zumozu]

Bought a beautiful 2.5 lb tri-tip yesterday. Was going to cook as steak but then saw Chef Tom from AllThingsBBQ smoke one like a brisket. Now I'm torn.

Have you done both? Which do you prefer? It is a lot more expensive per pound than brisket but it looks SO good!

This is the first I've seen around here (mid-NC) so not sure when I will see another one.

Here is the smoking video:

Here is the reverse sear video:

The last one I cooked was brisket style, watching Matt Pittman of Meat Church on YouTube

It turned out perfect.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

Sorry, I just can't go there. Tri-tip is such a fantastic meat at medium-rare. I can get good smoke into it and still get medium-rare. Drying out such a beautiful piece of meat just seems wrong. Maybe I'd think different when I loose all my teeth.

 

[TrojanUSC1]

Californian here. Tri-tip weekly for me. I really can't recommend cooking it like a brisket up to 200. I mean, experimentation is great, but it just seems like a weird thing to do other than once or twice just to try it. There are other meats that will do that just as well if not better at much better price points and at more even thickness (so a better smoke). I don't want to discourage experimentation, I've seen people ground up filet to make a hamburger just for the hell of it. That can be fun once. But as a standard way to cook tri tip to its full potential, reverse sear is the way here.

My process:

1. Smoke on smoker between 180-225 until internal temp is ~120•, usually 1hr to 2.5hrs depending on your temp and thickness. If you pull it off at 110 as some have recommended, you'll have to sear it a lot more and it's not as good IMO. I find any kind of wood works with tri tip, although generally prefer to avoid the fruits like Apple/Cherry as I like those on bird better.
2. Pull, remove probe, foil. This is a good rest, I don't see a difference or need to rest again after searing. Keep in mind the internal temp will go up while resting. If you did 180 it'll barely move but if you did 250-275 it'll keep moving real quick.
3. While it rests, change smoker to "full" with grill grates. Takes 5-15 minutes to heat up. Careful if you haven't cleaned your smoker in a while that grease build up may catch fire when you open the smoker @ full temp. Also, keep in mind "full" temp on your Rec teq will melt the hell out of any plastic near it. Make sure the ends of the probes or anything else you value don't come near even the outside of the chamber.
4. Once it's at temp, reverse sear 2 minutes per side (1 minute, turn, 1 minute, flip, 1 minute, turn, 1 minute) and then hold it a little on the fat edge to sear that too.
5. Pull off smoker. Check with probe, if it's 132deg then it's time to slice it. If not, you can foil it & rest it for a minute or two and it should get up to temp.
6. Slicing it properly is important (see image below for cuts, but this tri tip is over seared & burnt IMO). If you don't slice it right, it'll be tough but still good.

As for which source, I prefer Costco's 2-pack unseasoned. It's the most juicy, if a little large and unweildy especially when searing. The uneven thickness means my wife gets more medium pieces while I get my rare/mediumrare center. The vac-sealed pre-packaged tri tips (usually Santa Maria style) are good in a pinch, but are usually a lot less juicy than the fresh ones even though they're just sitting in that marinade forever... don't know why. Also, the Safeway tri-tips are horrible. Fat-cap on so once you trim it it is way more expensive than trimmed, and it's a ton of work. And they're just not as good. Just get the trimmed ones at Costco.

I usually dry brine, then use a rub. I find generally garlic/pepper and a splash of chipotle fits really well with tri tip. Not enough chipotle to be hot, just enough that someone discerning might notice.

Merry Christmas All!