• Revisiting One of My Favorite Cuts of Beef: Pre-Holiday Oak Smoked Tri-Tip Feast

[Moose]

I have many favorite cuts of beef – ribeye, chuckeye, flatiron, and hanger steak are all on the list, but one stands above all the rest when it comes to a larger cut that is both flavorful and is perfect for indirect/reverse sear cooking and that’s Tri-Tip.

Having spent nearly my whole life living in California, I’ve cooked and eaten hundreds of Tri-Tips over the years, and I cook the way it is traditionally grilled using oak, which imparts the perfect flavor to this marvelous cut of beef. I also haven't cooked one in quite a while, so I decided to change that!

Here is a fine specimen of Tri-Tip I picked up at Sam’s Club:

Seasoned with Oakridge Carne Crosta, Seasoned Salt & homemade coffee rub to help impart a flavorful crust:

Coals were a mix of KB and Royal Oak XL briquettes:

Seasoned Tri-Tip was positioned indirect, with a couple chunks of oak to get the meat nice and smoky:

After a couple of turns and 20 minutes later, the meat was reading about 120 degrees F internal, so I put it over the hot side of the grill to put a nice sear on it:

Right off the grill, temp was about 130F:

And sliced – I separated the point/tail from the flat for easy slicing against the grain:

Closer:

It was delicious – tender, prominent oak flavor, everything I was hoping for.


Thanks fer lookin’, and enjoy lots of festive holiday cookin'!

 

[Stingerhook]

Beautiful Richard!

 

[16Adams]

Tis a beautiful thing to have a great cut of meat and the talent to bring it to table.

It's a wonderful life

Merry Christmas

 

[Big George's BBQ]

YUM. Cooked to perfection

 

[4ever3]

Perfection on a plate Richard!

 

[Bury Me In Smoke]

Piece of art!

 

[creek bottom]

Noice!!!!!:clap2:

 

[bonehead762]

Tritip is my one of my favorites as well. That and ribeye. You definitely have a knack for bringing out the best of that cut of beef. Very nice!

 

[snadamo]

YESSIR! I always struggle decided if I should use carne crosta or santa maria on tri tips...I waffle back and forth.

 

[ssv3]

Tri Tip done right! Which reminds me that I'm overdue on doing a tri tip as well.

 

[Headgear]

I have never done one. It looks great. Although I have been doing a 24-hour water fast so the tile floor is looking pretty good too right now. Seriously though, I have got to try one. Thanks for posting it.

 

[thirdeye]

Moose, you're right... that is a great example of a tri-tip. For some reason, the meat cutters at my Sam's take delight in packaging tri-tip steaks.

 

[SmokinAussie]

Pretty as a picture Moose!

 

[okiej]

Beautiful Job!! My last tri-tip was a disaster, maybe I will revisit now that I have a good bit more experience. Always fun to learn from the best

 

[tom b]

nice looking beef! good to see you havn't lost your touch

 

[kevinstaggs]

Looks great. Beef over a wood/charcoal can't be beat.

 

[Harbormaster]

Masterful cook Moose.

 

[edmonds]

Great looking tri tip, especially at the end. Yum.
But that low grill would give me back ache.

 

[Robert]

Moose, you're right... that is a great example of a tri-tip. For some reason, the meat cutters at my Sam's take delight in packaging tri-tip steaks.

Boggles the mind. Rarely find a whole tri-tip in the case. And if you ask for a whole one they are as puzzled as a pig staring at a clock and direct you to the cut up package. Same way with their flanken short ribs. :der:


Good job Moose. what type of oak do you use?

 

[frognot]

Oh yeah! Nailed it!

Learned about tri-tip from this group and y'all walked me through my first ones. Then was lucky to attend some SoCal Bashes and got some advanced education on cooking em.