Smoked Tri-tip

Many people compare tri-tip to brisket.  Some even say that tri-tip is the "poor man's brisket" when it comes to BBQ.  I couldn't disagree more!

Tri-tip is, literally, physically, the opposite of brisket.  While the brisket sits in the front of the cow, above the legs and under the chest, the tri-tip is the bottom of the bottom sirloin, at the BACK of the cow, above the REAR legs, under the butt!  Tri-tips are 1/10th the size of a brisket, they carry much less fat and connective tissue, and they need 1/10th of the time to cook.  While a brisket might be "king" when it comes to flashy pit-smoked BBQ, the tri-tip is also super delicious, but it requires 1/10th of the preparation effort and time in the pit.  In other words, if you haven't added tri-tip to your arsenal of BBQ weaponry, you should.  Tonight!

What you'll need:

• 1 Tri-tip roast
• Either:
• Kosher Salt and Pepper
• Or:
• BBQ Beef Rub of your choice

Here, we have a nice tri-tip.  Appropriately named for its three obvious points or "tips," this is a very well marbled, slice-able, affordable, hunk of meat, perfect for feeding a family of five.  The other thing I like about them is that my local restaurant supply store sells them 5 or 6 at a time, in bulk, for cheap!  This one weighed in at 3.2lbs, and considered BIG for a tri-tip.

I rubbed it down with Olive oil and seasoned it.  Purists preach that salt and pepper is all you need to season a tri-tip, and I'm sure it's delicious.  I upped the ante a bit by added some brown sugar and some Hatch chili powder.  Whatever you choose, just liberally season both sides and take it straight to the pit!

Preheat the pit first! This is important with tri-tip... Unlike a brisket which needs to sit for hours upon hours to break down gobs of connective tissue, a tri-tip only needs to cook up to medium rare, or 130 degrees.  Mine only sat in the pit for 90 minutes total, there's no need to let it sit there and dry out while your pit heats up to 225.  So... get your grill going and let it come up to 225 before laying in the roast, and inserting your temperature probe.

Let it sit, probed, until the internal temperature comes up to 125 degrees.  It won't take long!  I barely had time to pour myself a lovely beverage and to work myself into a proper recliner before the thermometer started beeping!

Once it reaches 125, take it off and wrap it IMMEDIATELY in aluminum foil!  Wrap it nice and tightly, and drop it into a regular room-temperature beer cooler (without the beer, unfortunately) to sit for 45 minutes.  Crazy?  No!  Magic things happen... it will cook up another 5 degrees or so, and all of the juice (lots and lots of juice), will settle and re-distribute itself inside.  I see lots of folks slice their steaks, roasts, etc, and brag as lots of juice runs all over the plate... Personally, I'd rather have the juice stay in the meat until it's in my mouth!  If juice is on the plate, it means the meat is that much LESS "juicy."

After your tri-tip has had a chance to rest, it's time for the slicin!  Cut it across the grain.  Notice here, the juice is sitting right there, inside that glorious slice of beef!  Tri-tip slices easily, it's super tender so it bites apart easily, and the flavor is top notch!