Smoked Tri Tip Beef Roast Recipe
A specialty of Santa Maria in California, this recipe for grilled tri-tip steak is sure to impress your guests. Tri tip is a crescent shaped muscle from the bottom sirloin just in front of the hip. It has big beefy flavor, it is very lean, so it must be sliced against the grain in order to ensure it is tender.
Ingredients
- 3 pound tri-tip roast
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Morton Coarse Kosher Salt (approximately 1/2 teaspoon per pound of meat)
- 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
Method
- Prep. Pat the meat dry with paper towels. Two to three hours before cooking, sprinkle it with salt, no more than you would if you were served the cooked meat. This dry brining will dissolve and get pulled into the meat and season it throughout. You can dry brine the night before if you wish.
- Just before cooking, sprinkle it with the spices, roughly equal amounts, and massage it in. Don't worry about over-seasoning. When you're done you're going to cut it into thin slices so each slice will have only a small lip of flavorful crust.
- Fire up. Set up your grill for 2-zone cooking with one side of your grill scorching hot and the other about 225°F to 250°F (107°C to 121.°C)
- Cook. Because this is a thick hunk of flesh, we can't put it close to high heat or the exterior will carbonize long before the center even warms. In Santa Maria, where the grills have a built-in elevator, they raise the meat up and flip it frequently during a cook that typically lasts as long as an hour. Unless you have a Santa Maria style grill (I have a Hasty Bake oven that is perfect for tri-tip because it cranks up and down like a Santa Maria grill), first put the meat on the indirect heat side of your grill with the thick end closer to the heat, close the lid, turn it every 20 minutes or so, and wait until the center hits about 110 to 115°F (43°C to 46°C), below your target temp. This can take 30 to 45 minutes, but you must use a good digital instant read thermometer to get the temp right, especially if you are not experienced with this cut. Then move over direct high heat for about 5 minutes per side or until it gets a nice dark even sear. I like to take it up to about 130°F (54°C) for medium rare. I know this is different than they do it in Santa Maria where they sear the meat first, but the fact is, this method is better. You will get a more even color through the meat if you sear in the rear.
- Remove the tri-tip from the grill. Now here's the trick to carving it. Begin with a carving board that has deep valleys cut into it or else the juice will run away from you. You will not believe how wet this is if cooked medium rare or less.
- Cut the muscle in half first.
- Then rotate each half and cut it from the tip to the cut end, across the grain, in 3/8 to 1/2" (9.5mm to 12.7mm) slices. Cutting across the grain insures that it will be easier to chew.
- The top slice is cut properly across the grain. It will be easier to chew. The bottom slice is cut with the grain. It will be stringier and harder to chew.
- Serve. Fan the slices on a platter, pour the juices on top, and serve with grilled garlic bread to sop up the juices. If there are any leftovers, store it and the juices, and it makes great sandwiches.
Video
Notes
About the salt. Remember, kosher salt is half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works.
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